Solvent based brick paver sealants in Florida.
Solvent based paver sealers. There are many different names for the same product. Solvent based, oil based, Acrylic based, Xylene based. So what is a solvent? A solvent directly translates to “Able to dissolve other substances”. These types of sealers create a thin film that overlies the brick paver or travertine surface that was sealed, preventing any moisture from passing down through the sealant and into the surface. Sounds great, right? Yes and no. These types of sealants are great up north, where there is not a lot of ground moisture present. Here in central and south Florida however, we have a subtropical climate. Sub tropical climates are indicative of having high levels of ground moisture. That ground moisture permeates through the soil, into the aggragate material that your brick pavers or travertine is floating on, is absorbed into your paver or travertine surface and now is trapped under that thin film I talked about earlier. That film is a double edge sword. Moisture can not pass through, weather from above, or below. Meaning, the ground moisture I just explained gets trapped underneath that film coating that smothers the pavers and will turn to a white, hazy finish. In some extreme cases we’ve ran into, it even looks like someone squeezed Elmers glue between the pavers in the joints.
Typically, the surface will look great for the first week or so after sealed with these types of solvent based sealers, or until the day after the first rain. That is typically when the homeowner will call the contractor back and the contractor will either not have a solution, as they are obviously inexperienced with sealing brick pavers or travertine in this area of Florida, ignore your calls, or call our company as we get at least 1 or 2 calls a week from other contractors asking our company, the states foremost experts on brick paver sealing, asking us what they did wrong, how to fix it and what the cost will be.
Lets save the trouble of the call, as im sure many contractors will read this blog post prior to calling our office anyhow, by answering the frequently asked questions.
What you did wrong, can be read above.
How can it be fixed? At this point – the only corrective action is to completely strip off that sealant that has failed, and it needs to be re-sealed correctly using either a water based sealer or urethane based sealant. (We firmly stand behind the product, UreSeal H2o brick paver sealant, the best brick paver sealant on the market)
What does it cost to strip pavers?
Typically, you can expect contractors to charge around $3/sq ft to strip off the failed sealer and re seal the area correctly. At this point – Hopefully the home owners that have this problem with a company don’t contract that same company to strip and re-seal.
Stripping brick pavers is a very specialized skill that very few contractors even know what chemicals to use, let alone the techniques to properly strip brick pavers or strip travertine sealer off. This process is VERY labor intensive and requires expensive chemicals, which is why the cost is so high.
It is very important you do your research on your contractor. Make sure it is a company that has a proven track record with successful brick paver sealing projects. Don’t trust a handy man, or the employee in the home depot garden center with your brick paver surface. There is a lot that goes into the business. Most pressure washing companies may offer these services, although they may have very minimal if any experience with the products or process. And surprisingly for some homeowners, the #1 culprit for destroying brick paver surfaces is the brick paver installation company. The busy brick paver installers may install 4 or even 5 new installs in a month. Out of those 5 they may upsell 1 home owner on sealing the brick paver or travertine surface immediately after installation in order to put an extra few hundred dollars in their pockets. Even using a high quality sealant like UreSeal H2o can prove to be a bad choice for sealing these surfaces so soon after install as the brick pavers will not have the opportunity for the 2-6 week long efflorescence process to pass through those brick pavers. Click this link to get more information on efflorescence in brick pavers or this link to find our blog post on efflorescence in brick pavers to get more information.
Save yourself the headache and expense of having to have your newly sealed brick pavers that you just paid for to now have to be stripped off and re done correctly. Contact the experts at Dura Guard Paver Sealing to take the proper care of your new or old brick paver surfaces the correct way, using the best, commercial grade products at very competitive prices. It doesn’t cost more to have the best in the business than what you pay the handyman jack of all trades to seal your brick pavers – so why would you settle for someone less experienced?!
We succeed where others fail. 727-218-4221 Dura Guard Paver Sealing, Servicing Pasco, Hernando, Hillsborough, Bradenton, Sarasota, Orlando and all surrounding areas.
