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Today’s question is,

Will Sealing My Pavers Make Them Look Brand New Again?

nfortunately, in most cases the answer is no, unless, of Typically, when a manufacturer makes a paver in an earth-tone
course, your pavers are brand new. So what I want to try color, they’re trying to make it look natural. The color isn’t going to
Uto do today is educate you on what you can expect from be as enhanced, it’s not going to be as vibrant, it’s going to be a little
sealing your pavers. I will start by giving you a little education on muted and feel more organic. When you go with reds, oranges,
how a paver is made and what happens as it weathers and how blues, and greens, it’s intention is to be vibrant.
that affects the appearance that you get when you seal your pavers. Therefore, when you seal a paver that has a vibrant style color,
How a Paver is Made like a red, green, blue, orange, you’re going to get a lot more
The first thing I want to do is explain to you how a paver enhancement, but still need to factor in the age of the paper because
is made. When they make a concrete paver, it’s a mixture of you can see a difference. This is a red paver here on the right and a
aggregates: medium-sized, small size, sand, and Portland cement. natural tone paver on the left. You will get more enhancement here
The Portland cement is the powder. That’s the gray stuff that you on the left, but this is a brand new paver. This red one is probably a
see mixed in around all of the rocks. Any color additive is also 20 year old paver.
mixed with the Portland cement, giving the paver its color. When This is how the initial color of your paver plays a big role in the
they make the paver, all of those ingredients- the sand, the small end result of sealing them. Reds, blues, green, oranges; they’re going
rocks, and the Portland cement are mixed together. to get more color enhancement, while earth-tone colors like tans
When you look at the top of a weathered paver, you’ll see and grays; will have less color enhancement from. But that should
some of those rocks because the Portland cement has started to be expected because you’re hoping for those colors to continue to
weather away. And, as I mentioned before, all of the color lives in be more earth tone, natural, and organic looking.
the Portland cement, so now see the natural color of the rocks. The How Well Have Your Pavers Been Maintained Throughout
more your paver weathers, the more rocks are exposed and the less Their Life
color containing product is still left in the paver. The third factor in determining how well your papers are going
Older Paver to react to being sealed is how they’ve been maintained throughout
The main cause of weathering in pavers is rain. As rain their life.
continues to hit the surface of the paver, it will start to wash away If it’s an older paver that has been regularly sealed, then it’s more
the finer material or the Portland cement from the surface of the likely to have less exposed aggregate because the sealer will help
paver and expose those little aggregate pieces. Older pavers will prevent deterioration from happening.
see some color enhancement when sealed, but they won’t look as Sometimes we get the most difference on pavers that have been
good as they could look because of the exposed aggregate. This previously sealed, especially pavers that have been previously sealed
to weathering in action if you look at your pavers that are under incorrectly. When a paver has been sealed incorrectly, the sealer
an overhang or roof at your front door and compare them to the will eventually turn a milky white and hide all of the color like the
pavers that are further out in your yard or your driveway. picture below.
Newer Paver It will appear as if all of the color in the paver has faded away.
When you look at a newer paver, you won’t see any of the However, when the sealer is stripped away, you see what you actually
exposed aggregate. Before sealing, there’s more of a muted look, have left in terms of color. This color comes “back to life” when we
that is enhanced pretty significantly by being sealed because reseal it correctly.
there’s more of the Portland cement that contains the pigment A well maintained paver, even if it has been incorrectly sealed,
left in the surface of the paver. Therefore, you’re going to get more will experience a dramatic enhancement when it is stripped and
enhancement when it gets sealed. sealed correctly.
Color of Your Paver This hopefully gives you a quick rundown on what you can
I’ve talked about how age and weathering plays a role and the expect by sealing your pavers.
results that you get from sealing your pavers. The other thing that
I want to talk about is the actual color of your paver. There are a
few different color ranges or color options when you get pavers.
You can have more vibrant colors like reds, oranges, greens, blues,
and you can have more earth-tone color pavers, like tans and grays.

28 Life in Naples | April 2024