Re-sanding a driveway

[Koala2]

Has anyone done this? Is it hard? Any advice appreciated.

[PigletJohn]

Do you mean gravel?

What's wrong with it?

How old is it?

[WeAreEternal]

Do you mean replacing the sand in a block paved driveway?

DH does this to ours twice annually.
It's not difficult, takes him a weekend. He pressure washes it first and then uses special sand from the builders merchants, brushes it an and the excess away and then seals it.

[Koala2]

Yes thanks I do mean in a block paved driveway. It has lots of moss and weeds. No idea how old it is.

How do you seal it?

[PigletJohn]

you can scrape it out or powerwash it. Jet washers tend to loosen the bricks like old teeth as they may wash out the sand between the blocks.

I think it is worth using a weedkiller and mosskiller first, and giving the dead vegetation time to dry or rot so it comes out easier.

You can buy bags of fine dried sand to brush in. It is a bit grittier than bricklayers sand. Do it on a hot sunny day and the sand will stay dry and free-flowing. You brush it to and fro and it falls into the cracks and joints.

You might find that if you use Pathclear regularly, and mosskiller, and sweep it, that it does not need to be scraped out. Some lawn mosskillers may stain light surfaces. There was a product called Amatillox (sp?) that might still be sold as a soapy cleaner. It is used on mossy roofs.

Mine stays pretty clean but I used to have a shaded area that was prone to moss.

[PigletJohn]

Armillatox

[thenewaveragebear1983]

We used to wash ours twice a year with a strong salt solution. It would kill the weeds between the blocks. Then spray it out with a pressure washer and resand it. I couldn't be doing with the ongoing scraping and weed killer.

Not sure how useful this is, but in b&q they had today some weed killing sand for block driveways- presumably sand with a weed killer added to brush into the gaps. It was more expensive than regular driveway sand but it might be worth looking for reviews to see if it's worth the extra before you buy sand.