Installing a patio really does make your place look exquisite, but at what cost? When your patio was first installed by masonry contractors, you place must’ve become hard to recognize. A patio can make a really big difference and bigger difference when the bricks start coming off, or start to crack, or even maybe start sinking in the ground? Those bricks really stand out making your place from exquisite to average, judging from that one broken unattractive brink in the ground. So how do you fix a patio? Here we will help you solve the problem and guide you through the process.

The Reason Behind The Problem

Though you might not be able to exactly pinpoint what perhaps went wrong that the pavers or bricks of your patio are acting the way they are, you can still get the idea of whose fault is it considering the reason behind it. You can get a masonry contractor to find the fault too. If your patio was installed using pavers then you must know that they were installed on a solid sand base. Since sand moves over time, seasonally, pavers move along too making them look unaligned, sunken and loose. So there may be a chance that the patio builders didn’t make the base strong enough. There is also a fair chance for the problem to be related to drainage that’s flowing underneath or around your patio.

How To Repair Pavers?

To repair your patio that is made up of pavers, you need to start off by removing the bad broken paver first. You would need to soften the sand underneath the paver first so that it comes off easily. You could also make use of a flat screwdriver to help you loosen the paver. Insert the screwdriver, or a pry bar underneath the paver to pluck the paver off the ground.
Once you have your paver removed, start putting sand in the area bit at a time, and tap it down making sure that it is flat and smooth on the surface, where the paver is to be placed. The smoother and firm the sand surface is the better. You paver will be more secured on its newly founded base.
Adjust the paver accordingly, seeing that it is exactly levelled to the surrounding pavers and is not sticking out, nor sinking in. You can add or remove sand accordingly.
With the help of a rubber mallet, tap down the paver nicely into the ground so that it is exactly levelled and doesn’t look odd among the rest of levelled pavers.
Dust off the excess sand with the help of the broom for finishing touches and you have yourself a new paver.

Repairing Concrete Slabs/Concrete Patio

So, what about concrete slabs that don’t use sand as their base? Patio contractors will do the job just right but here are the steps for you to follow to replace the slab

Concrete slabs come in many shapes and sizes and if you want to replace a broken slab with a new you need to be absolutely sure that it is just the right match. Otherwise, that one slab will look totally out of place and it will be fairly evident that a hack was attempted at that particular area which didn’t turn out as planned.
Concrete slabs have concrete base so you need to be absolutely careful while lifting the slab off the ground. Be sure to wear safety goggles and heavy duty gloves while working. Use a plugging chisel or a club hammer to chip the surrounding concrete.
Use a spade to carefully lift off the slab, whilst not damaging the surrounding slabs.
Insert a broom handle under the concrete slab to make it easier for you slide the concrete slab off, rolling it out of the way.
If the concrete was installed on sand, you use the similar procedure given above. But in case of mortar; you chip it off and break it using a hammer or a chisel.
Create a fresh bed of mortar by mixing one part of cement with four parts of sand. Damp the back of the new concrete slab and carefully lay it on top of the newly laid bed of mortar.
Using a timber off-cut and a hammer to press down the slab against the mortar and level it with the surrounding slabs. Fill in the joint with dry mortar to make it look good as new.