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I recently removed the bricks from my patio and I put them back after I added more limestone in order to slope it correctly. The sand was put back using a a plate compactor.
Everything is fine excepting this: in the area where I have the patio furniture (table and 6 chairs) when it rains the water drips from these pieces of furniture and where the drops hit the patio they remove the sand from the joints between the bricks (see below)

Is this normal? Is there anything that I can do to stop this? enter image description here

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  • I don't use joint sand stabilizer, but you might want to check it out if the problem persists. – Mazura Aug 19 '15 at 2:56
  • Use polymeric sand – JonH Aug 19 '15 at 3:14
  • Polymeric sand locks in everything, you will have hard time to correct settlement problems – MiniMe Aug 19 '15 at 3:16
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It's going to take a few more re-applications of sand and more rain, until it will do it less. That's exactly what I'd expect it to look like after the first rain. 'Sand' it again.

Using a push broom and a garden hose, work the sand into the cracks. I'm guessing you skipped hitting it with water the first time, or the sand is too course to set properly. As those are some really tight tolerances on the gaps (nice work), I can see having a hard time getting it in there.

Work the problem areas with a stiff bristle brush while still letting water run over it, eventually they will fill.

If my assumptions about it not being filled all the way in the first place are wrong and it is getting washed away, once it becomes (grout) a mixture of dirt and what-have-you, it should do that much less.

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    I washed the patio but just enough to remove the dust from the surface, not enough to soak it properly. What you see there is after reapplication, that is why there is so much sand laying around – MiniMe Aug 19 '15 at 2:43
  • @user2059078 Watching the sand disappear as I hose it down the first time is my favorite part. When it stops filling, it's quite satisfying; now you know it's done. – Mazura Aug 19 '15 at 2:47

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