Paver Repair & Re-Sanding in Royal Oak

On the way to a door, where people walk in the dark with their arms full, one raised paver becomes the spot everyone learns to step around. The Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association (CMHA) says any paver standing more than 1/8 inch above its neighbors should be fixed before winter, because shovels and plows catch the raised edge. It also counts uneven pavers as a pedestrian hazard.

Two forces can lift a walk like this. The first is roots. The canopy over most residential blocks, from the Vinsetta Boulevard corridor to Northwood, is century-old oak and maple, and a root growing under a walk pushes up the pavers above it. Iowa State University Extension notes that pavers and brick accommodate root growth better than poured concrete, though they still rise. Because pavers are set on sand, a lifted section can be taken up and relaid. What a reset cannot change is the root. Removing a major root can kill the tree, so we do no root work; whether to touch it is a call for you and an arborist.

The second is frost. Heave needs freezing weather, a soil that wicks water and the water itself, and uneven lift tips pavers out of line. A downspout emptying beside a porch landing can add water right where the pavers sit. Resetting relevels the surface but leaves the soil as it was. CMHA's remedy for frost heave is a frost-resistant subbase, a bigger job than a reset.

Newer paver work, on teardown lots or in Normandy Oaks, has fewer winters and fewer years of root growth under it. Spares left by the builder are worth keeping for the day a unit cracks. Joints that only need sand can be re-sanded on their own or as part of paver restoration, which adds cleaning and sealing.