Block paving cleaning, re-sanding & restoration
In short
The full sequence on a tired block drive — treat, clean, repair the odd sunken or broken area, re-sand every joint, vibrate and seal. It is the job that most often makes a replacement quote unnecessary, and it is worth doing before anybody prices a new drive.
Also called: Restore block paving · Re-sand block paving · Block paving refresh · Bring block paving back to life
Signs you need this
- A block drive that looks dark, green or generally neglected
- Joints visibly empty, with moss or weeds established in them
- A few settled or broken blocks on an otherwise sound drive
- Ant heaps of jointing sand appearing on the surface each summer
- Being quoted for a new drive on blocks that are perfectly good
- Preparing a property for sale or letting
Restoration is the answer to a question people rarely ask, which is whether their block drive is actually worn out. Concrete and clay blocks are extremely durable units; what ages is the jointing sand, the surface dirt, the weeds and the odd settled area. Deal with those four and a twenty-year-old block drive comes back looking and behaving remarkably close to new — for a small fraction of relaying it, and a very small fraction of replacing it.
The sequence matters and each step depends on the one before. First, treatment: a proper biocide on the moss, algae and lichen, left to work, so that what comes off is dead rather than merely dislodged. Then cleaning at a moderate pressure with a surface cleaner kept moving, which lifts the dirt without excavating the joints. Then repairs, while everything is visible: sunken bays lifted and rebuilt, broken blocks swapped, edge restraint made good.
Then the step that is most often skipped and matters most: re-sanding. Fresh kiln-dried sand is brushed into every joint and the surface is vibrated with a plate compactor over a protective mat, then topped up and vibrated again until the joints stop taking sand. That is what restores the interlock, and it is what makes the difference between a drive that has been cleaned and a drive that has been restored. Sweeping sand into joints without vibrating leaves them half full.
Sealing is the optional last step and it is genuinely optional. A stabilising sealer binds the new jointing sand so it resists washing out, deters weeds and stops ants excavating it, and it deepens the colour. It also needs redoing every few years. On a drive that has just been properly re-sanded it adds real value; on one that has not, it is a shiny coat over the underlying problem.
The other thing restoration does is tell you the truth about the drive. With the moss and dirt gone, everything is visible: which areas have settled, where the edge has moved, which blocks are cracked and whether the joints have been opening. A restoration that comes with a plain report on what the drive is doing is worth more than one that just leaves it looking clean — and where the honest answer is that the base has failed, that is worth knowing before spending anything on a sealer.
One thing worth mentioning about colour. Concrete blocks fade over the years, because the pigment sits in the top few millimetres and is UV-sensitive. Cleaning removes the dirt but cannot restore pigment that has gone. A colour-enhancing sealer will deepen what is left and make a faded drive look considerably better, but it is not a recolouring — and anyone promising to make a twenty-year-old grey drive red again is overselling.
What the job covers
- Moss, algae and lichen treated with a biocide and left to work
- Cleaned at a moderate pressure with the joints protected
- Weeds removed at the root rather than cut off at the surface
- Sunken bays lifted, base rebuilt and blocks relaid
- Broken blocks swapped, with donors taken from hidden areas
- Edge restraint checked and made good where it has moved
- Every joint re-sanded and vibrated over multiple passes
- Optional stabilising or colour-enhancing sealer once dry
What it costs
We don't publish a price for this yet, because a number pulled out of the air is worse than no number at all — your contractor has to honour it. On driveways it would also be close to meaningless: the groundworks are usually the biggest single factor, and how deep the dig has to go varies enormously house to house. You'll get a firm price for your actual job when they ring you back, before any work starts. The quote itself is free and there's no obligation either way.
Common questions
Is restoring cheaper than relaying?
Much cheaper, and it is the first thing to establish. Restoration is a cleaning and jointing job with a few local repairs; relaying means lifting the whole drive and rebuilding the base. Where the base is sound and only the surface has aged, restoration gets you most of the way to a new drive for a small share of the cost.
Will restoration make my blocks their original colour again?
Not entirely. Cleaning removes dirt and organic growth and the improvement is dramatic, but concrete blocks genuinely fade over decades because the pigment sits in a thin surface layer. A colour-enhancing sealer deepens what remains and looks considerably better. Nothing puts pigment back that UV has taken out.
How long does a restoration last?
The re-sanding and repairs are lasting work — properly compacted joints do not simply empty again. The clean will start to green up over a couple of years in a shaded spot, and a sealer wants redoing every three to five years. The structural part of what you have paid for stays done.
My drive has sunk in one corner. Can that be part of it?
Yes, and it is the right time to do it, because everything is exposed and the blocks are being handled anyway. A sunken bay comes up, the base is dug out and rebuilt properly, and the same blocks go back invisibly. Doing it as part of a restoration is far cheaper than as a separate visit later.
Need this doing in Macclesfield?
Tell us the job and it goes straight to our local contractor — one call back, usually the same day. Free quote, no obligation.