Premium Paver Sealing & Restoration in Fort Lauderdale

You don’t have to seal your pavers any more than you have to wax your car, but it’s a really  good idea! Just like wax helps to keep your paint from breaking down from the damaging  effects of the environment, sealer on your pavers does the same thing (and sealer lasts  years longer than wax). Whether you inherited your pavers or had them installed yourself,  pavers are a big investment – protect them. (We’ve seen pavers that were regularly sealed  remain beautiful for 20 and even 30 years.)

Sealing your pavers has several benefits:

• Helps protect paver colors from fading
• Enhances whatever color is remaining in your pavers
• Helps to prevent erosion of the paver’s surface
• Offers resistance to algae and mold
• Offers protection from staining
• Makes pavers much easier for you to keep clean

The overwhelming response we’ve gotten from customers who have tried to seal their pavers themselves is, “I’ll never do that again!”

Here are some things to consider if you are thinking about cleaning and sealing your pavers yourself:

• Do you have access to professional-grade equipment and know how to properly clean and prepare the surfaces for sealing? (Unless your pavers are unusually clean, your little home rig probably won’t do the job.)
• Do you know which sealer is appropriate for your type of pavers? Be sure you get premium, professional-grade sealer if you want it to last (not the stuff from the big box store).
• Do you have access to the proper application equipment and do you know how to apply the proper amount (not too much, not too little)?
• Do you know how to keep your sealer from turning white?
• If you plan to do a standard 1500 sq ft driveway and have never done this before, it might be wise to allot your entire weekend (at least).
• Have plenty of Gatorade on hand and be prepared to sweat your b_tt off and get very dirty

. . . otherwise call us

That will depend on several factors including the size of the job, the difficulty, the type of  sealer being used, etc. (Remember we always offer our free, no obligation, on-site  consultation, and estimate.) One thing is for sure, enhancing and protecting your pavers  is pennies on the dollar compared to replacing them. We can tell you that our minimum  charge for a cleaning and sealing job is $795.00.

The general-purpose sealers that most homeowners, handymen, and even some other sealing contractors use might only last 6-8 months in our harsh South Florida environment. Our commercial grade sealers last 2-3 years and sometimes longer (that’s up to 4 times longer than some general purpose sealers – a better value for you!).

While sealing may help to keep weeds away for a while, honestly, they will eventually come back. Like Jeff Goldblum said in the movie Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.” . . . especially weeds and ants.

Sealing does have an inhibiting affect when it comes to mold and algae!

Our sealers are plant-safe.

Pavers typically whiten when xylene or solvent-based sealers are used. If these sealers are applied before the pavers become bone-dry there is a serious possibility the pavers will whiten.

We use only water-based sealers so whiting won’t happen.

After sealing some pavers, primarily travertine and natural stone pavers, they can become  slippery when they are wet. To avoid this problem we have special sealers containing  anti-slip agents to avoid this problem.  

So the answer is, done correctly, sealing will not make your pavers slippery.

In the past, we sanded pretty much every paver sealing job we did, but not so much any  more. The thinking was that this “stabilized” the pavers. While there may be some truth  to this, the overwhelming reason pavers start to move is when the concrete border  around the edge of the pavers begins to disintegrate.  

In reality, the vast majority of pavers jobs do not need this sanding “stabilization.” For  this reason, we typically don’t do “sanding” on our sealing jobs.  

That said, some people do like to have the paver joints sanded for aesthetic purposes.  Also, sanding the joints when combined with sealing can help to inhibit weeds. In this  case, we can sand your pavers . . . at an extra charge.  

If your pavers are moving, we can arrange to repair the concrete border and have your  pavers set back in their proper place.  

Our recommendations are:  

• You can walk on your pavers when they are no longer tacky (a couple to a few hours, depending on the weather and whether or not the pavers are in the sun or the shade).  
• Replace your patio furniture 24 hours after sealing. The exception to this rule is for things that air can’t circulate under like rugs and storage bins – allow 72 hours for these.  
• Keep vehicles off pavers for 48 hours after sealing.