I am at the stage of applying poly sand to my pavers but I have a few concerns. The product is Unilock's Uni-care Polymeric Sand.
I would like to tap into the invaluable experience you have had out there with this product, and see how you deal with it.
My first concern is Temperature. The instructions say it should not be applied below 60 F. and if applied in cooler conditions, it would not harden and set properly. I usually tend to heed the instructions on a lable. After all, it is their product and one would think that they must have conducted extensive tests to come up with these numbers. However, I am running out of time here - these few months we have had a lot of rainy days and now, the temperatures are in the low 50s at best. So, my question is, how critical it is to adhere to the specified temp figure, and how you would handle it if you were in my position. Incidentally, the job site is always tarped when raining to minimize dampness from rain water.
My second concern is the application method. The conventional way is to sweep the sand and use the compactor to pack the sand in the grooves, which makes perfect sense of course. But for those of you - and I am one of those - who pre-compact the bedding layer and do not use the compactor on the pavers, is sweeping alone adequate?
And finally - and this may be off topic - how do you go about compacting small areas like stairs that, i.e. measure 2-3 feet in depth (thread). Idially one would like to use the plate compactor, but it is very inconveniant, especially when it is a one way compactor. The obvious alternative of course is the hand tamper, but I always wondered whether I am missing something here. Any other ways to achive a good compaction in these cases?
Looking forward to any ideas and suggestions.
Admin edit: This discussion has been included in the site beginner's polymeric sand page.