Re-sanding is the whole surface rather than the joints that have obviously emptied. It costs little more than patching once the crew and the equipment are on site, and it leaves every joint the same age, the same colour and with the same amount of life left in it.
Joint sand does not fail in isolated spots, it fails in a pattern: first where water crosses, then everywhere the surface is exposed, over about the same span of years. So the joints that look fine when we arrive are usually one wet autumn behind the ones that have emptied.
Filling only the visible gaps means a second visit inside a couple of seasons, another mobilisation charge, and a surface where half the joints are new and half are grey.
Doing the whole area in one pass costs a fraction more because the labour is in getting set up, not in the extra square footage, and it finishes level in both height and colour.
The exception is a large surface where only one section is exposed, and we will say so rather than quote you the whole thing. See how polymeric sand goes in, what joint washout means for the base, and when pressure washing comes first.
Re-Sanding
How It Runs
Four steps to a surface that finishes even
Clear the whole surface
Growth, debris and spent sand come out across the full area rather than only where the joints look empty.
Wait for it to dry
A cleaned surface needs a day or two before sand goes in, because a damp joint sets the binder before the sand is seated.
Sweep and vibrate
New sand worked in and tamped to full joint depth across the surface in one pass, so every joint is the same age.
Clear and water once
Faces blown clean, then watered to the product rate in a single sequence rather than repeatedly over the afternoon.
When To Do It
Re-sand before you seal, never after
Sealer over an empty or half-filled joint runs into the void, sets there and cannot be removed without stripping the whole surface. So the order is fixed: clean, dry, re-sand, then seal if you want it.
Anyone offering to seal a surface with open joints is selling you a repair you will pay for twice. See how paver sealing follows on, what polymeric sand actually does in a joint, and how pressure washing empties one.
Because the rest are a season behind. The labour is in setting up, not in the square footage, so doing it all costs a fraction more and avoids a second visit.
Yes, to about an inch. New polymeric sand needs to bond to the paver faces, and it cannot do that through a layer of spent material.
Around one to two dollars a square foot for a full surface, which on a typical driveway or patio is a few hundred dollars rather than a few thousand.
Foot traffic after a few hours and vehicles after about twenty four, weather depending. The binder needs that window to cure through the full joint depth.
Every five to ten years on most surfaces. If yours is emptying faster than that, water is moving through the joints and that is the thing to fix.
It has to be, and in that order. Washing empties the joints whether you meant it to or not, so a clean without a re-sand leaves the surface worse than it started. Anyone quoting a wash on its own is quoting half a job.
