How To Fix a Cement Paver to a Concrete Surface

How do you fix a cement paver to a concrete surface without sand and cement?

Check the Liquid Nails Landscape specification

Selleys' product page and its dated technical sheet disagree on Landscape's chemistry, colour, paintability and pack size. Landscape figures below from the November 2020 technical sheet describe that document, not a confirmed specification for every current cartridge. Confirm the matching instructions before painting, choosing a colour, or relying on cure and loading times. See the source comparison and dated documents.

Selleys Liquid Nails Landscape is perfect for this. It is a grey, silicone-based construction adhesive ideal for sticking pavers down onto concrete, and bonding pavers to concrete is one of the applications named on its own technical data sheet. For Landscape, confirm the specification for your cartridge: the manufacturer sources disagree.

It is a premium grade, high strength construction adhesive that delivers a weather resistant, high strength, flexible and shock proof bond — which is the right combination for something laid outdoors, walked on, and heated and cooled every day.

The figures

Landscape values are from the November 2020 TDS; applicability to the current pack requires confirmation. See the source comparison above.

Property	Typical result
Technology	Neutral cure silicone
Colour	Grey
Packaging	300 g cartridge
Specific gravity @ 25°C	~1.35
Skin time	10–15 minutes
Tack free time	35 ± 5 minutes
Cure rate	2 mm / 24 hours
Slump	< 0.1 inch
Shore A hardness	~30
Elongation at break	>300%

Indicative data only, not intended for the preparation of specifications.

What the numbers mean when laying pavers

Skin time of 10 to 15 minutes gives you a strict five-minute working rule. The directions say to bring the surfaces together before the product skins, and to treat five minutes as the limit. In practice that means gluing and placing one paver at a time, not buttering a row and then laying them. On a hot, windy day the skin forms faster still.

The cure rate of 2 mm per 24 hours sets your timetable, and it is slower than people expect. Dobs of adhesive thick enough to bed a paver onto a slightly uneven slab are several millimetres deep, and the adhesive cures from the outside in. The published minimum is to allow no traffic for at least 24 hours; on thicker beds allow longer. Walking on a paver that has skinned but not cured breaks the bond invisibly, and it lifts a month later.

Shore A hardness of about 30 with elongation over 300% is why this works better than a rigid adhesive. A concrete slab and a cement paver both expand in the sun, but not by the same amount and not at the same time. A rubbery, high-elongation bond absorbs that differential; a hard, brittle one transfers it to the paver and cracks the bond line.

How to lay them

1. Ensure the slab is sound, dry and free from oil, grease and loose powdery material. If necessary, use mineral turpentine to clean the surface and allow it to dry. A slab with a laitance or curing-compound film needs that removed first — the adhesive can only be as strong as the surface it grips.
2. Check the paver backs too. Fresh precast pavers often carry release agent. Wash or abrade and dry them.
3. Dry-lay the pavers first and mark your setting-out. Once the adhesive is on, adjustments are not available.
4. Cut the cartridge tip, fit the nozzle and cut the nozzle to a suitable size opening — approximately 5 mm. Apply with a caulking gun.
5. Apply dobs or beads of adhesive of appropriate thickness to ensure sufficient contact and spread between both surfaces. To minimise squeeze-out, apply at least 12 mm in from the edges.
6. Immediately bring the surfaces together before the product skins — within 5 minutes — and apply sufficient pressure to spread the adhesive between both surfaces. Press or tap the paver down to seat it.
7. Do not wipe excess squeeze-out. Wait until the product cures and remove it by trimming with a sharp blade, avoiding cutting into the bond.
8. Leave undisturbed until the adhesive cures sufficiently. Do not allow traffic on stairs or use walls for at least 24 hours.

Where this method suits and where it does not

Adhesive-fixing pavers is at its best for a single layer of pavers onto a sound, existing concrete slab: a landing, a step tread, a threshold, a strip of pavers on a path, or a replacement for one that has cracked. It avoids building up the level the way a sand and cement bed does, which matters at a doorway.

It is not a substitute for a bed where the surface is uneven. Adhesive is not a levelling compound — the paver ends up wherever the slab puts it. If your slab has falls or humps you need to correct, that is a bedding job, not an adhesive job.

The same product also handles the neighbouring tasks on its data sheet: stabilising stone and interlocking masonry retaining walls, bonding capstones to walls, repairing rockeries, sealing between treated pine logs to reduce soil loss, and stabilising loose stone steps.

Limitations

• Not for soft or crumbly materials. A flaking or friable slab surface must be cut back to sound concrete first.
• Do not use as the sole bonding agent for structural bonding. Pavers on a slab are fine; a retaining structure is not.
• If repositioning materials, fresh adhesive must be applied to achieve bonding. You cannot lift and relay a paver on the same dobs.
• Not for permanent water immersion.
• Do not allow traffic for at least 24 hours, and longer on thick beds.
• Do not wipe squeeze-out — trimming cured adhesive is cleaner than smearing wet adhesive across a porous paver face.

Clean up and storage

Uncured product may be removed with mineral turpentine. Cured product can be removed with Selleys Sealant Remover or by mechanical action. Spilt or smeared adhesive is best left to cure and then removed by abrasion. Store the cartridge in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place out of direct sunlight, and away from foodstuffs.

Common questions about gluing pavers to concrete

Can I really lay pavers with adhesive instead of mortar?

Yes, onto a sound concrete surface. Bonding pavers to concrete is one of the named uses on the Liquid Nails Landscape data sheet.

How long before I can walk on them?

Do not allow traffic for at least 24 hours. Cure runs at 2 mm per 24 hours, so allow longer where the adhesive bed is thick.

How quickly do I have to place the paver?

Within 5 minutes, before the product skins. Skin time is 10 to 15 minutes, and less in hot or windy weather.

How many pavers will a cartridge do?

It depends entirely on how thick your dobs need to be, which depends on how flat the slab is. A 300 g cartridge is the pack size; buy more than you think for an uneven surface.

Can I use it to level an uneven slab?

No. Adhesive is not a levelling compound, and it is not for soft or crumbly materials. Correct the surface first.

Do I need to seal the joints between the pavers?

The adhesive fixes the pavers down; jointing between them is a separate decision. Landscape is also listed for sealing between treated pine logs to reduce soil loss, so it can seal a joint where you want one.

Will it survive frost and sun?

It offers superior weather resistance and a flexible, shock proof bond, and it is made for landscaping projects.

Can I lift a paver to check it?

No. If you reposition it, fresh adhesive must be applied.

What colour is it?

Grey, which disappears into a concrete joint.

What if I need to bond to fibreglass as well?

Fibreglass is not among the materials listed on the data sheet — see attaching limestone to a fibreglass pool for what to check first.