(BPT) – Nearly 70 percent of homeowners spend more time outside after completing a landscaping project, according to a 2018 Houzz survey. While this is not a new trend, upgrading the backyard and the curb appeal of a home continues to be a smart investment, especially when hardscapes are involved. Few things improve the look and the value of a home like a paver driveway or patio, and it’s hard to beat entertaining family and friends around an outdoor kitchen or fireplace made of concrete stone.

As the primary focal point for outdoor living at most homes, the patio is a great place to start a backyard makeover. Unfortunately, that often means dealing with an old, worn-out concrete surface that’s not going to look any better after being painted or stained. An alternative is tearing up the concrete and pouring a new patio, which is expensive and time consuming. The fast, easy, attractive and affordable way to go is renewing the concrete patio with a sleek thin paver like Panorama Demi 3cm from Keystone Hardscapes, often called remodeling pavers.

The simplified process of laying these remodeling pavers over an existing concrete surface is less labor intensive than traditional paver installations, but homeowners are well served to understand the process before hiring a contractor for the job.

Image by Gregory Beaty from Pixabay

Installing Remodeling Pavers of Concrete Surfaces

  • Start by evenly spreading sand over the concrete, making sure to cover any cracks, uneven areas, joints or imperfections using a rake. This will provide a flat surface and prevent any issues with standing water. The sand should slope to force water to flow away from the home.
  • Lay out the remodeling pavers in the desired pattern from the truest 90 degree angled corner. This will help to keep your bond lines straight. Working back and forth in a pyramid, keep your patterns’ bond lines as straight as possible remembering to try and break up your bond lines whenever you can. The shorter the bond lines are, the stronger the interlock of the pavers.
  • When laying the pavers down, use the drop-and-click method, which is placing one paver up against its neighbor and letting it drop into place. Make sure that the joint is snug, but the spacers on the sides of the pavers will leave a slight gap in the joints. You can use a rubber mallet to give the paver a couple of taps as needed.
  • Near the edges, cutting pavers could be necessary. If you have a soldier course or band around the edges, measure and make cuts inside the soldier course in the field of the pattern by laying the pattern beyond the intended bond line. If there is a threshold at the door, make the cuts so the ledge of the threshold covers the cut side.
  • Once the field pattern has been finished, remove your soldier course, apply Quikrete Construction Adhesive and attach the soldier course to the edges of the old patio. This will hold your soldier course in place and act as a horizontal lock to keep the pavers from shifting and will also keep your pattern intact.
  • Fill in your joints top to bottom with Pavestone’s Patio/Paver Sand and work the sand back down into the joints with a broom.

Transforming an old, worn-out concrete patio into the envy of the neighborhood using remodeling pavers is growing in popularity. The full installation process is available on YouTube. For more information on outdoor living upgrades using pavers, retaining walls and other hardscapes, visit www.KeystoneHardscapes.com.