First a quick introduction - my name is Phil and I represent the western US for Techni-Seal. I'm a bit hesitant to post here as I may receive responses I don't have time to answer (resulting in me and by extension my company being perceived as unresponsive and / or lazy) and I may get sharpshot on competitive product information. With that bit of disclosure in mind, I'll attempt to provide some info in as transparent and honest a manner as I can, but caveat emptor should apply as always for you, the customer.
I'll answer PSUscaper's final question first and then get into some detail.
Quote:
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Is poly sand nothing more than a marketing scheme to convince contractors and clients to buy something that does nothing more than add another expense to their installation[?]
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Yes and no. Or should I say no and yes, since the 'no' came first but the 'yes' is gaining strength. When polymeric sand was first introduced to the market roughly a decade ago, it solved a significant problem associated with pavers, and that as you all know is the erosion of joint sand (which can lead to loss of vertical interlock) along with weed and insect infestation. As polymeric sand has gained in acceptance and popularity however, a number of competitive products have emerged that simply do not perform well enough or long enough to justify the added expense. This is a fact of life in a developing product category with no ASTM or CSA standards to define performance characteristics for the product. Basically, anyone that has access to binders and the ability to bag can produce a product and call it "polymeric sand." It would be nice to see this change one day so that minimum performance standards exist. This is not meant to be a blatant commercial for my sand or any of our good competitors; it is simply meant to add a bit of clarity (in a long and rambling manner) to my answer to the question posed by PSUscaper. To sum then, NO not all polymeric sands are simple marketing schemes. There are some that do provide real value and are backed by years of expensive R&D.
So if we narrow the scope of the debate to only quality polymeric sands, we can look at the rest of the discussion points and address them in kind. Looking at cost, from a material perspective only, using polymeric sand instead of unbound sand on a paver project typically results in a 3-5% increase in total material cost (base, bedding sand, pavers, jointing sand and edge restraint). From a labor perspective, there are a couple extra steps required (more careful sweeping and the wetting process) versus unbound sand, and while it's not my place to dictate whether this cost is or is not prohibitive to the individual contractor, my experience has been that the cost is considered minimal by most installers. For this cost increase one receives the features of excellent weed and insect infestation control and the virtual elimination of joint erosion. The resultant benefits are as follows: less homeowner maintenance required, fewer callbacks, fewer weed infested jobs when the homeowners don't do the maintenance, better looking jobs acting as "always on" advertisements for more work, the ability to use pavers on pool decks without ruining filtration systems and perhaps the best benefit of all...the freedom for paver producers to introduce more interesting products with irregular molds and wider joints. While I don't mean to discount the real cost associated with using polymeric sand on a job, I think it's important to not focus only on the cost without a realistic look at the benefits.
As for the health risks, I can't answer for every manufacturer, but the TS brand's polymer is listed as Non-Hazardous on the MSDS and has no associated exposure limits. However, there are exposure limits associated with the crystalline quartz and silica of the sand itself as well as the small amount of cement that's in the bag. As a result, PPE in the form of a respirator would be a good idea. The personal hazards of the product though are no greater than and probably much less than a bag of Portland Cement or cutting dust or any number of other hazards on a jobsite. Again, not an effort to minimize any health risks, only to put them in realistic perspective.
As for the ICPI standardizing polymeric sands, Stonehenge already answered it very well in that the ICPI doesn't have the authority to force anything down anyone's throat. The ICPI is an industry body made up of industry members that collaborate to further the use of Interlocking Concrete Pavements throughout North America. While determining best practices is certainly a portion of their activities (to the betterment of the industry), their mission goes well beyond that and into lobbying the government, conducting training, providing continuing education opportunities for installers, increasing awareness of our niche amongst specifiers and sponsoring and coordinating trade shows. I would highly encourage anyone in the industry to attend one of the bi-annual meetings (just had one last week in Montreal - next is in six months in Denver) or even to become a voting member to help steer the direction of the industry going forward. The ICPI could definitely benefit from more contractor involvement.
Is polymeric sand right for every application? Well it certainly isn't required for every situation, but it's not necessarily wrong for a given application either. An untumbled Holland job or a paver without spacers may not need polymeric sand if laid tightly. However, I've seen a number of jobs in this category that didn't use polymeric sand and are covered in weeds and grass. Those "tight joint" jobs also require less sand, resulting in less cost increase in using polymeric sand.
Concrete overlay? Without some sort of drainage under the pavers, (weep holes in a concrete curb work), it is typically not recommended to use polymeric sand as the sand needs to be able to shed moisture in order to regain compressive strength. R&D continues on this front.
Final thought: As an industry, we are approaching 1 Billion square feet of pavers installed annually in North America. Of that number, almost 80% of the pavers are going into residential settings. While pavers have wonderful performance characteristics, they are overwhelmingly selected for their aesthetic qualities. Weeds, ants and loose sand all detract from the aesthetic of a paver job, hamstringing the primary selling point. Polymeric sand all but eliminates this negative at a minor cost increase. As long as this cost can be rightfully passed to the customer and the job doesn't become cost prohibitive, the decision should be fairly easy. Good discussion in this thread; I appreciate seeing forums like this where contractors share ideas and best practices to mutual benefit and the overall improvement of the industry. If I missed anything that anyone wants answered, let me know. I'll monitor this thread for a couple weeks at least and see if anything comes up.
Excellent article by the way Stonehenge.
Thanks all.
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