Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself without spending thousands of dollars.

On 03/25/2015 02:29 PM, wrote:
Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself without spending thousands of dollars.




Dig some of the dirt out so that the cracks are at least 2" deep, then
fill with patching cement. May take a little bit of work but the cost
will be very little.

On 3/25/2015 3:29 PM, wrote:
Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself without spending thousands of dollars.


Has this crack been slowly opening up over time. If so, you might have a sinkhole forming.

"Bill" wrote in message
eb.com...
On 3/25/2015 3:29 PM, wrote:
Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair legs,
and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am wondering if
there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not a carpenter...I
considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the sand mix for
pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large and my patio is
huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet wide. Help, I would love to
get some use out of my patio without anyone being injured. And, I would
like to be able to fix it myself without spending thousands of dollars.


Has this crack been slowly opening up over time. If so, you might have a
sinkhole forming.

That's what happened in my brain.

On 03/25/2015 08:00 PM, Col. Edmund Burke wrote:
"Bill" wrote in message eb.com...
On 3/25/2015 3:29 PM, wrote:
Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself without spending thousands of dollars.


Has this crack been slowly opening up over time. If so, you might have a sinkhole forming.

That's what happened in my brain.

Fill it with Silly Putty?

writes:

Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair
legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am
wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not
a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the
sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large
and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet
wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without
anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself
without spending thousands of dollars.

I'm guessing those 2 inch gaps are where wood used to be?

You can fill it with cement as another poster recommended but
it will look bad. If you don't care what it looks like,
cement is the easiest, cheapest way to go.

I think it would look better with wood.
You can stain the wood and pound it back in.

I had a similar situation and I rented a jack hammer, etc. etc.

Just built a whole new patio using pavers.

Pavers, sand, rock dust, compactors, jack hammers, none of that
stuff is expensive.

The work is hard though.

The patio job permanently cured my back pains.
Years of twinges and shooting pains in my back
and then around age 55 I made all that stop with
a few weeks of hard labor. That was 15 years ago.

I use the patio a lot now.

--
Dan Espen

On 03/25/2015 02:23 PM, Dan Espen wrote:
writes:

Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair
legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am
wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not
a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the
sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large
and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet
wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without
anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself
without spending thousands of dollars.

I'm guessing those 2 inch gaps are where wood used to be?

You can fill it with cement as another poster recommended but
it will look bad. If you don't care what it looks like,
cement is the easiest, cheapest way to go.

I think it would look better with wood.
You can stain the wood and pound it back in.

I had a similar situation and I rented a jack hammer, etc. etc.

Just built a whole new patio using pavers.

Pavers, sand, rock dust, compactors, jack hammers, none of that
stuff is expensive.

The work is hard though.

The patio job permanently cured my back pains.
Years of twinges and shooting pains in my back
and then around age 55 I made all that stop with
a few weeks of hard labor. That was 15 years ago.

I use the patio a lot now.


Split pavers would fill in the gaps, but take much time on your knees.
I did this around a pool area and grouted around the pavers. Looks OK
but I don't think I would do it again. Used tire irons to dig out the
sand in between the slabs to level the tops of the pavers.

Forgot the link.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded...0200/202074682

On Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 5:24:02 PM UTC-4, net cop wrote:
writes:

Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair
legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am
wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not
a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the
sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large
and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet
wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without
anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself
without spending thousands of dollars.

I'm guessing those 2 inch gaps are where wood used to be?

You can fill it with cement as another poster recommended but
it will look bad. If you don't care what it looks like,
cement is the easiest, cheapest way to go.

I think it would look better with wood.
You can stain the wood and pound it back in.

I had a similar situation and I rented a jack hammer, etc. etc.

Just built a whole new patio using pavers.

Pavers, sand, rock dust, compactors, jack hammers, none of that
stuff is expensive.

The work is hard though.

The patio job permanently cured my back pains.
Years of twinges and shooting pains in my back
and then around age 55 I made all that stop with
a few weeks of hard labor. That was 15 years ago.

I use the patio a lot now.

--
Dan Espen

+1

2" gaps? Wood having been there is the only logical thing
I can think of. And assuming that's what it was, the gaps
are straight, putting wood back in is going to look a lot
better than cement patching. Also, if pathched with cement,
it's going to crack along one edge or the other, large spans
need relief cuts.

On Wed, 25 Mar 2015 17:23:57 -0400, Dan Espen
wrote:

writes:

Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair
legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am
wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not
a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the
sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large
and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet
wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without
anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself
without spending thousands of dollars.

I'm guessing those 2 inch gaps are where wood used to be?

You can fill it with cement as another poster recommended but
it will look bad. If you don't care what it looks like,
cement is the easiest, cheapest way to go.

I think it would look better with wood.
You can stain the wood and pound it back in.

I had a similar situation and I rented a jack hammer, etc. etc.

Just built a whole new patio using pavers.

Pavers, sand, rock dust, compactors, jack hammers, none of that
stuff is expensive.

The work is hard though.

I don't think that begins to tell her how heavy and hard to use a
jackhammer is. Unless she's over 160 pounds, I doubt she could go 3
minutes with one. And most men would have to work up to more than 20.

She doesn't want to rebuild the patio, just fix it.

The patio job permanently cured my back pains.
Years of twinges and shooting pains in my back
and then around age 55 I made all that stop with
a few weeks of hard labor. That was 15 years ago.

I use the patio a lot now.

micky writes:

On Wed, 25 Mar 2015 17:23:57 -0400, Dan Espen
wrote:

writes:

Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair
legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am
wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not
a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the
sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large
and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet
wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without
anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself
without spending thousands of dollars.

I'm guessing those 2 inch gaps are where wood used to be?

You can fill it with cement as another poster recommended but
it will look bad. If you don't care what it looks like,
cement is the easiest, cheapest way to go.

I think it would look better with wood.
You can stain the wood and pound it back in.

I had a similar situation and I rented a jack hammer, etc. etc.

Just built a whole new patio using pavers.

Pavers, sand, rock dust, compactors, jack hammers, none of that
stuff is expensive.

The work is hard though.

I don't think that begins to tell her how heavy and hard to use a
jackhammer is. Unless she's over 160 pounds, I doubt she could go 3
minutes with one. And most men would have to work up to more than 20.

Actually, I'm 5'9" and 180 lbs.
Not a big person, just average, but I'll admit, in above average shape.

I rented an electric jackhammer.
I worked with it until the whole slab was in small pieces.
About a day.
I didn't find it all that hard.
You just hold on and pull the trigger.
When it gets stuck, just rock it back and forth and pull it out.
I was surprised to find my legs all bruised when I was done.

Those bruises were sort of brownish, and didn't hurt.

She doesn't want to rebuild the patio, just fix it.

I know, I talked about ways to "fix" it.
But there is a right way and a wrong way.
I just mentioned what I did as an example of the right way.

--
Dan Espen

Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair
legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am
wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not
a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the
sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large
and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet wide.
Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without anyone
being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself without
spending thousands of dollars.

How large are your patio "slabs"? How many gaps are we talking about?

It would help if you could post a picture somewhere and give us a link.

If you have large pavers (2'x2' or less) in a grid separated by gaps, there
may have been something like moss or grass planted between them at some
point. It's an interesting look, but not real useful for chairs and tables.
If that's the case, you're probably better off pulling up the pavers and
relaying the pavers without the gaps. Keep in mind the new patio will be a
bit smaller without all the gaps.

Otherwise, if you have large slabs, I don't think sand or gravel would hold
up well in 2" gaps. Depending on how many you have, I would probably mix up
some bagged concrete from the home center. Then fill the gap and trowel it
smooth. Ideally run an edger along each side to round over the edge. That
will look nicer and reduce chipping. If you want to get fancy, you can add
some color to the concrete so the gap fill becomes an "accent" strip.

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com

wrote:
Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair legs,
and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am wondering if
there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not a carpenter...I
considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the sand mix for
pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large and my patio
is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet wide. Help, I would love
to get some use out of my patio without anyone being injured. And, I would
like to be able to fix it myself without spending thousands of dollars.

is there a solid cement footing under the slabs
or are the slabs separate and put on a compacted
sand/base of some sort?

if the slabs are movable, take the crud out from
in between them and put them closer together.
the patio will be smaller, but the gaps will be
gone. no cost other than labor. the problem is
that perhaps the slabs weren't put close together
because they have slanted sides that can't be
pushed closer together. you won't know until
you look...

other alternatives are to put other stuff in
the gaps. cement isn't a good choice if the
slabs are still moving or are not on a solid
footing. it's hard to match anything like that
and cracks will form anyways. pea gravel and
sand will not hold up to a chair leg poking in
them.

still it might look ok to find other pavers
to cut and fit in between, but that is not going
to be cheap to do all that cutting/labor.


songbird

Amanda, it sounds like the original patio had 2x lumber dividers that
have rotted out. I had good luck repairing one by digging out the
rotted wood and dirt and filling the spaces with bagged asphalt. The
hardest part was creating a way to compact the asphalt. I used a 2
wheel dolly with a lot of weight that had hard wheels that fit the
slots fairly well. Still working fine.

On 3/25/2015 2:29 PM, wrote:
Hi, I have large-2 inch-gaps between the slabs in my patio. Chair legs, and feet, are constantly falling into their depths. I am wondering if there is any way to fill them other than wood? I am not a carpenter...I considered sand or pea gravel, or even caulk or the sand mix for pavers... I just don't know because the gaps are so large and my patio is huge! It is roughly 30 feet long and 7 feet wide. Help, I would love to get some use out of my patio without anyone being injured. And, I would like to be able to fix it myself without spending thousands of dollars.