Poly Sand ISSUES! We Tested - HERE'S THE RESULTS

If you are a hardscape contractor, it's likely you've had issues with poly sand over the last year or so. We certainly have. So we tested 5 brands of polymeric joint sand, and here is what we found.

The test plots actually performed a bit better than what we've seen happen in the real world with the Alliance G2 product. In the real world, we've had thousands of sq ft from dozens of our projects that had issues with not curing or setting up, eroding, crusting on top and not curing the entire joint, staying gummy, bubbling on the surface, etc. It was awful. The frustrating part is we've had to replace and re-do all these jobs on our own dime. Support from G2 has been weak and not helpful in finding a solution so far. Mostly they suggest we are doing an incorrect installation. 🤷‍♂️ Yeah... we've only been doing this for 30 years, I guess we could be doing it wrong eh?

We have done our due diligence, going through all the motions their support has asked us to. But no better outcomes.

I am convinced it is their new formula. They keep telling us our problems are odd and strange, as they haven't heard anything from other contractors. But our suppliers and their connections have been telling us otherwise, MOST of their contractors are coming back with problems and looking for answers. Based on the social media engagement we've had with other contractors, they've also been having issues.

Why did we do this video? Well, we hope it
- helps others looking for answers
-gets Alliance's attention and motivate them to take responsibility so we can solve this issue (not on our own dime)
-hopefully convince them to take a good hard look at their formula and re-evaluate.

Back in 2017, 2018, their sand was great! It was remarkable how well it set up and how little haze it had. Now... well... in the video you can see.

****June 1, 2021 UPDATE****
Alliance has helped us remove the failed poly G2 joint sand on a large project we did, and they provided us with their new Nitro sand as a replacement. Their new Nitro sand is their competitor to EZ joint. We have installed it a few times by now, and up to now, we haven't seen any negative aspects to it. Time will tell whether EZ joint or Alliances' Nitro sand is better.

Alliance also gave us free Nitro product in form of reimbursement for our costs in this fiasco. Which we genuinely appreciate. It's just never cool when you have to resort to these measures to get their attention, I guess you could say this video has served it's purpose. One bright spot, the new Alliance rep that has been assigned to us here in western PA has been excellent, and we look forward to working with him in the future. He was much more ready and willing to help then our past Alliance contacts.
****END OF UPDATE****

In the meantime, we've found Easy Joint.

You can talk to our rep Dale Weaver to find a place to buy it: 717-629-5471

It truly is an AMAZING sand, and to be honest, is a much more durable product then polysand ever will be. Regardless though, we'd still enjoy the option of having a solid poly sand available.

#polysandissues #polysandproblems #polysand #paversand #jointsand #polymericsand

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Social:

[zachariahsmith]

Great content guys...down here on the Delmarva Peninsula and I have seen this a lot also! Awesome to see the quality your desire to see and back your workmanship with correcting the issue💪🏾🙏🏾👌🏾💯‼️

[caddidon]

Thank you for doing this video, taking the time and sharing this great information

[elaine]

Mine never set up even in extreme heat and no rain. Basically the same problem you folks were having. Great video! I am changing the product I use. Thanks!

[adamkimo]

thank you great information. I"M doing my yard pavers bricks so it great to know about grout. Thanks great video

[byronsmail]

Fantastic video, the best video done on poly sand. Great job and thank you!

[rodplumb]

Great test, initially disappointed Easy Joint didn’t form part, but pleasantly surprised when it appeared late on. We’ve just laid 74 sq metres of 900 x 600 light grey Indian sandstone here in Hampshire, UK, using Easy Joint, Stone Grey in the 10 mm joints ‘Fabulous’ product!! Thanks again for very useful test.

[dw]

Great video - I am in the process of resending my driveway border bricks and decided to do some research.

[danieltelkamp]

Great video! Thanks for all the demonstrations

[jbbolts]

thank you for taking the time to do this much appreciated

[cocotat]

Thank you for your information. I am currently looking to re do my paver. May be I will give it a try on Easy Joint.

[geertslandwaterscapes]

Thanks Weston for putting this video out!
We don't do much Hardscapes but had my 1st 'Top Peeeling' issue with G2 sand last month on a slightly sloped driveway.
Been using G2 sand for close to 10 years with satisfactory results. I agree totally with the wetting problem at the top and the rest staying dry.
Had already a few of my Ottawa, 🇨🇦 Hardscaper friends change to EZJoint sand with great results. And I'm about to start using it too! I agree with you about the new shorter watering sessions for G2 can't simply go down all the way.😉

[edlockart]

Great video.starting my first flagstone patio, lots of inexperience.

[petersvan]

Terrific video, very useful. Thank you!

[JacanaProductions]

So I was about to use some of this polymeric sand from Home Depot and I came across your video the thing is I spent $2500 on the raw material another thousand dollars on the base and probably $10, 000 of professional time and I’m gonna throw down some cheap crap between the joints! I’ll definitely look at the easy joint stuff and will be taking my Home Depot stuff back.

[niallmartin]

Excellent clear video, no BS just problem solving. ☘️🇮🇪

[jasonpierson]

Good Video Weston... valuable information..

[chartmaster]

hey thanks for the video i got a huge patio done last year and the sand has gotten dirty and now i want to refill some joints and maybe re do all of it so the joints are clean im going to use ez thanks for the video

[octavianhd]

I've seen these issue on other sites with the G2 a few years ago. I have just used it myself at a new site now. Will come back to check

[erval]

I just installed my patio with Holland pavers. I used Techniseal and will be applying a wet look sealer hopefully that will give it more protection because my joints were really tight (about 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch) so I don’t think the polymeric sand went all the way through. It took my 3 hours to sweep it in (500 sq ft) no matter how much I swept back and forth some joints were left with little tiny holes but sand wouldn’t go through anymore. Thanks for the very informative and high quality video, I will recommend this to people!

[Rocketyt]

You are absolutely correct sir!! This stuff gets Rock Hard in minutes. I've been including this in my diet for about 2 weeks now and haven't had the need for one of those little blue pills since!! Thanks Bro!!