The Brew Cabin

I've recently had a block drive laid (of the brick type blocks, such as brindles etc).
The blocks are laid on a bed of sand, and the the gaps between each block are in-filled with kiln dried sand.

Unfortunatly, ants are now continually burrowing through the kiln dried sand, leaving mounds of sand on the surface and creating gaps between the paving blocks.

Are there any tips or products I can use to remedy the ant infestation problem?

Thanks very much
Paul

Try Keybond - a joint stabilising product that you simply water onto the surface of the paving. It permeates the jointing sand and binds it together with just about enough force to resist ants.

It should be available from mots BMs.

Thanks for your advice Tony; I’ll have a look around some builder’s yards this week.

I’ve a little niggling concern about Keybond because Marshalls website states that its suitable for concrete paving but not for clay paving.

To show my ignorance on this subject, I’m unsure what material the pavers are made of, but looking at a section of a cut block it looks just like a normal building brick, so I’d have assumed they are clay.
Is there a simple way to tell the difference between clay & concrete blocks ?

Just one more question, but does Marshalls Keybond cause the blocks to become shiny or have a sheen once dried ?

Thanks once again.
Paul

Aaah! You didn't mention these pavers might be clay, in which case, Keybond might not be the answer, and you might be better using something like WJC from Resiblock Ltd.

How to tell if a paver is concrete or clay:
Surface texture - a concrete block tends to have a flat, pressed surfaces, with regular chamfered edges to the top face, and some evidence of colour 'smearing' on the sides, which are all dead straight and regular. A clay paver has a 'drag-wire' texture to its upper surface, with smooth, almost shiny sides. It's less regular, with obvious deviation in the surface and/or the arrises.

Broken-
A British concrete paving block, when snapped open, exhibits a blend of differently coloured concretes, with obvious 'matrix' and 'coarse aggregate'. This is not the case with European and Irish pavers which typically use a 'face mix' process, making it much easier to identify concrete products, as well as making best use of valuable resources. A clay paver is often much harder to break than a concrete, and the inside displays a homogenous material with graduated colour differences where the effects of firing have altered the clay to varying degrees.

Finished effect -
A pavement of concrete pavers normally has dead straight, regular joints, whereas a clay paved area will have joints of varying width, the alignment within the paved area is less accurate and the whole has a more organic, naturalistic look to it than the 'perfection' available with concrete blocks.

If you have a close-up photo showing a few of the pavers in detail, it's pretty easy for any paving contractor to identify which is clay and which is concrete.

To demonstrate my level of ignorance, I didn't mention they might be clay because I didn't even know there were different material paving blocks around !!

Anyhow, thanks to your description of the difference between concrete & clay blocks, I can now easily recognise them as being concrete.

If I apply the Marshalls Keybond you first suggested, what affect will it have on the appearance of the concrete blocks once it's dried out, ie, no difference, gloss, matt, sheen finish etc, etc ?

Thanks for your help Tony, I really do appreciate it.

Paul

Keybond has no long-term effect on the appearance of the paving. It does go a funny lilac-milk colour when first applied, but this effect disappears in a few hours and is in no way deleterious to the paving. Trust me. :)

You have my trust !!

I've been to a couple of BM's this morning, but neither of them stock Keybond.
I'll try another BM tomorrow, but if they don't have it I'll have to contact Marshalls direct and ask them.

Thanks Tony.

(Edited by paul45 at 1:23 pm on Aug. 24, 2004)