Resand Your Pavers Before the Rainy Season — Lakewood Ranch & Esplanade

Walk into a paver driveway anywhere in Lakewood Ranch, Esplanade, Greyhawk Landing, or Country Club East that's 4+ years old and look closely at the joints between the pavers. In most cases you'll see the joints visibly sitting 1/8 to 1/4 inch below the paver surface. That's missing polymeric joint sand — and it's the #1 reason older paver hardscapes fail.

What Polymeric Joint Sand Actually Does

Polymeric sand isn't ordinary sand. It's a fine silica sand mixed with polymer binders that, when activated with water, hardens into a flexible composite that locks pavers together as a single interlocking system. Without that interlock, individual pavers move independently — which is when you start seeing dips, shifts, and the dreaded "sunken paver" near tire paths or pool deck steps.

It also blocks weed germination, prevents ant colonization, and keeps water from running straight under the pavers into the bedding sand below.

Why Summer Storms Wash It Out

A Florida summer downpour drops more water in 30 minutes than most months in northern states. That sudden volume runs across the paver surface and finds its way into every gap. Even properly installed polymeric sand loses a fraction of itself every year to this washout — which is why every paver hardscape needs periodic resanding to stay locked.

Resanding Is Not the Same as Sealing

A lot of homeowners conflate these two services. They're different:

- Resanding = sweeping fresh polymeric sand into the joints, activating it with water - Sealing = applying a clear UV/water-resistant coating to the paver surface

You can resand without sealing. You should never seal without resanding (you'd be locking missing-sand joints in place).

For homes that are 3–4 years post-seal, we typically recommend a resand + reseal combo before the rainy season. For homes that aren't due for reseal yet, a standalone resand is one of the cheapest preventive maintenance moves available.

Our Process

1. Pressure wash the driveway / pool deck to remove old sand, debris, and biological growth 2. Allow full drying — at least 24 hours 3. Sweep premium polymeric sand into every joint, paying attention to corners and edges 4. Compact the surface to settle sand to the correct depth 5. Mist-activate the polymer with a controlled water application — never a flood 6. Allow 24 hours to cure before any traffic

Done correctly, resanding holds for years. Done sloppily (which we see all the time from cheap operators), the new sand washes out in the first big storm.

Book Before July

The rainy season hits peak in July, August, and September. Resanding before that window means the joints are locked when the storms come. Resanding after means you're working around constant rain delays.

Call 941-404-7000 or book online for a free paver assessment across Lakewood Ranch, Esplanade, Greyhawk Landing, Country Club East, and the rest of the Manatee/Sarasota corridor.