727.218.4221
Pasco - Hernando - Hillsborough Citrus - Pinellas - Tampa
Warranty Information
WHAT OUR WARRANTY COVERS:
Dura-Guard warrants all residential sealing applications against defects in workmanship or material failure such as cracking, peeling, chipping, flaking or turning yellow as follows:
For a term of a 3-year warranty using Ure-Seal H2o, Dura-Guard will repair at no charge all defects due to workmanship or materials.
RESERVICE & REPAIRS:
Contracting Dura-Guard gives us the right to re-service, repair or refund invoice amounts of ALL CLAIMS. Customer service is our priority immediately following employee safety. We reserve the right to correct any issues our customers may encounter.
WHAT OUR WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER:
EFFLORESCENCE:
Efflorescence is not covered by this warranty but is occasionally covered by the stone manufacturer.
According to the “ICPI” (interlocking concrete pavement institute), "efflorescence is a natural process, in which a random white haze may appear on the surface of the brick, which is caused by lime or water-soluble calcium oxide that rises to the surface after repeated saturations due to rain or sprinklers. Efflorescence does not affect the integrity of the bricks and will usually resolve itself with time and exposure to the elements."
The proper sealing of concrete brick pavers can either retard or stop completely the efflorescence process due to the moisture protection achieved by the sealing process.
However, this warranty does not state or imply that efflorescence will stop as a result of the sealing process. Oftentimes, you will find areas undercover, or covered patios/entryways will usually experience efflorescence more so than areas exposed to the elements, as rainwater soaks into the brick and the sun evaporates that water, it allows the efflorescence to naturally 'purge' out of the individual bricks, and come to the surface, whereas brick paver surfaces that are out of the elements will retain that efflorescence for a longer period of time.
Sometimes, the introduction of water from our pressure cleaning can spark that efflorescence, and bring it to the surface. This will naturally pass on its own, and a great way to expedite that will be to soak the area down with water often, to allow that moisture to soak into the brick, and it will naturally evaporate out. Using a breathable sealer as we use, this efflorescence will have the ability to evaporate out over time.
There is no way to stop this from happening, as it happens with every cement-based product unless chemically treated during the time of manufacturing. Most brick paver manufacturers do not treat their products for efflorescence during the manufacturing process.
DURA GUARD DOES NOT WARRANTY ANY SITUATION INVOLVING EFFLORESCENCE - as no other company in the industry would either. It's a natural process that's completely unavoidable.
More information for Efflorescnese is available by clicking HERE
DETERIORATION/DEGRADATION OF PAVERS:
Concrete is made up of 2 components. Paste & Aggregate.
The paste is a mixture of water and cement, which typically composes 20%-40% of the paver mixture,
While the other 60%-80% of the mixture is aggregate, which is classified as both fine aggregate (usually sand) and coarse aggregate (small rocks and pebbles).
This coarse aggregate is the small white rocks you see in any concrete product like driveways, sidewalks, the slab of your house, and your pavers alike, which this mixture of aggregate composes a majority of the surface (60%-80%). The fine aggregate (sand) is tinted at the manufacturing plant, which is what gives the brick pavers the color they have. Whereas the larger, white pebbles, are just white & not tinted.
All concrete products have this aggregate in order for it to hold together and stay strong.
Depending on traffic volume, UV exposure, weather conditions, rainwater control from dripping off a homes roofline or gutter drip line, pool cage railings dripping, garden hose spigots, downspouts pouring directly on the surface & many other surrounding environmental or natural factors can contribute, it is very likely that aggregate will start to show through the paver. This loss of the thin top layer of the brick paver is caused by that, and other avenues of erosion. DURA GUARD IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY EROSION OF THE PAVER! Those factors are out of our control.
ANTS & INSECTS:
Ants and burrowing insects will do what they have instinctually done for millions of years. They will tunnel out of any area, come up through parking lots, and find a way to get their tunnels to the surface. Sealing your pavers WILL NOT stop ants or other insects from coming up through your sand joints. For that reason, we obviously can not warranty or make any promises or guarantees that these types of issues will not happen to your sealed surface.
It is encouraged that if this happens, use whichever preferred insecticide or poison you prefer to use around your home. This will not affect the integrity of the sealed paver system. and the small hole they make in the sand joint will not compromise the stability of the sealed joints.
WEEDS AND MOLD:
Sealing pavers will not stop weeds or mold. This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the paver sealing industry.
This is why we go to great lengths to inform our customers about this in every step of the way during every interaction with our company.
By that, we include it on our Brick Paver Sealing page as well as our Travertine Sealing page. It is also mentioned in all of the videos that show our process, it is annotated on both pages 1 and 2 of your contract, as well as is written in the body of the email that the contract is sent in. It is included in your confirmation email and digitally signed by all customers in order for them to be put on our schedule. It is on the receipt all customers are given after completion of the job and mentioned in both the post-project video and in the body of the post-project email that every customer is sent at the end of the day after project completion, as well as right here in our warranty.
The reason we are so redundant about this very common issue is that It is impossible for us, or anyone else in the business, to promise that weeds and mold will not return in any amount of time on any application.
Although we take many steps to retard the growth of mold and weeds. We have even gone to the extent to add a weed and mold inhibitor to every project as a standard part of our process. If a customer is to experience these growth issues, using your normal weed or mold control products is suggested.
Another remedy to combat weeds that is all-natural is using white cooking vinegar. Pour it directly over the weed and leave it to sit. The vinegar will kill the weed without damaging the sealer. For mold growth issues, using a 50/50 mix of chlorine bleach poured over the moldy surface will kill that mold growth without damaging the sealant.
STAINS:
Sealing is only as good as the quality and condition of the bricks that are being sealed. No claim is expressed or implied that we can totally remove all stains prior to application. We remove as much as is possible with today’s technology, equipment, and chemicals, yet some stains such as paint, oils, and efflorescence are set deep into the pores of the bricks making total removal impossible without serious damage to the delicate patina and cement of the bricks.
Some stains can only be remedied by having the bricks replaced manually.
WE DO NOT GUARANTEE 100% removal of any stains we attempt to treat.
customers understand that contracting us to remove a stain isn't to be compensated based on the overall results, but based on the effort, labor, and materials used to remove whatever part of the stains we can remove.
We do use the very most powerful pressure washers commercially manufactured, as well as a full armament of all caustic and non-caustic degreasers, acids, stain removers, paint removers, industrial coating strippers, & rust removers on each truck, as well as all of the best stain removal tools. If a stain can possibly be removed from a surface, our equipment, chemicals, and training will remove it. If it can not be removed completely after our attempt, it just simply can't be removed without damaging or replacing the individual tile, paver, or stone surface we are working on.
Sealing your pavers doesn't mean they will not get stained either. If a contaminate is left to sit on the surface long enough, it can break down the sealer and stain the porous surface. Usually, a sealed surface is much easier to clean and remove stains, and we offer affordable stain removal to our customers.
JOINT SAND:
Depending on traffic volume, UV exposure, weather conditions, rainwater control from dripping off a homes roof, pool cage, garden hose, downspouts pouring directly on the surface & many other surrounding environmental or natural factors can contribute, it is possible for the joint sand to wash out from between the pavers.
Dura-Guard is not responsible for any sand erosion or final settling that may occur based on these abnormal conditions.
Other factors that will contribute to joint sand loss can be but are not limited to, high or low spots in the paver system, sand joints with pavers spaced more than 1/4 of an inch apart, shifting of pavers, and improper/lack of proper edge restraints.
Any customer-provided sand, or customer requests to have sand brought up higher than the standard joint sand level, will be voided from the warranty completely. Any surface where polymeric sand was used in the past also can not be protected under our warranty.
We do not express any guarantee that joint sand will remain in the joints for any length of time. Joint sand loss is to be expected during the lifespan of the sealed job. [CLICK HERE] for more information on ICPI standards for joint sand level.
Some sand loss should be expected during the life of the sealed surface. Unless there is a completely catastrophic loss of sand (where your pavers are shifting and wobbling apart) our customers should not be too worried about some minor aesthetic sand loss.
We offer sand "touch up's" for a small fee that will be dependent on each individual situation.
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PAVERS WHITE & MILKY:
The sealer we use is a urethane-based sealant. Its breathable. Meaning ground moisture is able to flow through it.
When pavers turn white, milky, and hazy, it's because a topical coat sealant was used.
The most common topical coat sealers are either Water-based, xylene-based, lacquer-based & solvent-based. Those sealers act as a thin layer of covering, almost like a big plastic sheet, that doesn’t allow moisture to pass through.
Those types of sealers WILL all eventually fail in Florida. We have a very moist, subtropical climate where we have a high water table and a lot of ground moisture while we sit atop the sand that’s just barely above sea level. That moisture permeates through the ground, and as it tries to go up into the atmosphere, it gets stopped by these topical sealers that are acting a lot like the plastic moisture barrier that we all have below the concrete slab of our home, to prevent this from happening to our home. That same concept is what is happens with those topical sealers.
The sealer we use is a fully breathable sealant. Meaning it is completely 100% chemically impossible for the sealer we use to trap moisture and turn white. The only instances this could happen where another sealant was never used is when the brick pavers lie in a heavily moisture-ridden substratum (due to improper drainage or pavers installed over concrete) which may cause the bricks to retain moisture and cloud the bricks.
Only proper drainage will correct the problem and is not the responsibility of Dura-Guard.
STRIPPING PAVERS:
Any jobs we strip or recommend to have stripped are not covered under our warranty. We can not guarantee any work that has already failed prior to contracting our company. In addition to that, when we strip hardscape surfaces, our goal is to get 90% of the old sealant off. If we can remove 90%, we have achieved our goal. Although, with some stripping projects we can get 100% of the old sealant off, there are other, rare situations where we are only able to get 50% of the old sealer off. When contracting Dura Guard, customers understand they are paying for our effort, labor, materials, and trip & time involved. Not the finished results. When stripping along painted walls, it is standard in our industry to keep at least a 2" gap along the painted surface with the stripper, as the fumes alone from the stripper will remove the paint where the pavers meet the walls. This chemical does not discriminate against coatings. Our technicians will get as close to painted surfaces as the chemicals will allow prior to causing damage. Some stripping projects will require higher pressure than our vacuum recovery system will allow us to put out. Our trained technicians will make the decision of having the ease of using the recovery system, or if they have to work harder and use a "turbo nozzle" for parts or the entirety of the area to be stripped. The recovery system is much less labor-intensive and removes less stubborn sealers 10x faster (20-inch path at a time) than our turbo nozzle (2-inch path at a time) Customers will not be charged additional if our tech has to go the harder route of using the turbo nozzle. When we are on a stripping project, and at any time prior to the new sealer being applied, the customer is not happy with the stripping results and would like us to stop the project after the stripping attempt, the customer is responsible for 75% of the total job cost. Once the sealer has been mixed or beginning to have been applied to the hardscape surface after stripping, the customer understands that they are responsible for 100% of the project cost.
SHEEN, SHINE & DEPTH OF COLOR:
Some pavers are much more porous than others. Even inconsistencies on the same surface can occur from one paver to the next, which can impede the level of "sheen" or "shine" as well as the depth of color enhancement a surface can have.
Dura-Guard does not in any way guarantee your pavers will hold a high shine or any shine at all, and we make no promises on any level of color enhancements or the length of time a sheen or color enhancement will last, as these aesthetic advantages are solely aesthetic and do not play in part of the form or function of the overall quality of the job that was done, or its durability, as these aesthetic enhancements are paver by paver dependant.
We do offer an additional high gloss additive, that is an additional coat of a wet look/high gloss sealant over your sealed surface, which has been known to increase the shine drastically in 99% of our applications, Although we can not guarantee it will in every instance, this service will include an additional cost to the customer. We also can wait for your annual maintenance and apply another coat of sealant across the surface.
Lighter-colored pavers (whites, ivory, tans, and some grays) will not have a drastic color enhancement or shine. Thats just the nature of the pavers. Those light colors will only darken and shine so much.
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SLIPPERY:
Note that the sealer can be slippery in some cases, which we can not be liable for. We do provide Shark Grip, a non-slip additive on the 3rd coat of all of our jobs we do, as well as offer an extra display of Shark Grip for an additional charge, as noted on all estimates given, but some surfaces with a high concrete content, all-natural stones (Slate, flagstone, marble, travertine, etc) will reduce the coefficient of friction (COF) of the surface with the appplication of any sealant coating. That is mitigated with the addition of Shark Grip, but can still be slippery once wet.
Shark grip is a polymer abrasive that sits on top of the surface and is held together by the sealer. It will wear off based on traffic and other natural elements.
The only way to re-apply additional shark grip is to clean the surface again and re-seal the entire area with an additional coat of sealer and shark grip. This is what our GOLD MAINTENANCE is. And any customers that want us to re-apply another application of shark grip are subject to the fees of the gold maintenance.
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POOL CLEANING:
We do usually deploy our own self-contained, robotic vacuum system when working around pool areas. However, they do not clean 100% of what may get in the pool. Our techs are very well trained on the best cleaning methods when working around pools, however, the slope of some pool decks or pool decks heavily soiled in mold/mildew/weeds, pool decks that require stripping or turbo nozzle treatment to remove polymeric sand, or very sandy pool decks can get more sand in them as opposed to a deck that doesn't have these non-typical circumstances.
Projects with pool areas should expect some additional cleaning after we are done that is beyond the normal cleaning.
Filters should be rinsed out daily, each day after we finish the sealing until no debris is remaining.
Allow your pool system to do its job. It is designed to filter impurities like leaves, sand, bugs & debris out of your pool bottom and from the water column. Allow it to do its job.
Run your pool vacuum as you normally would. If you have a pool company maintain your pool, schedule their service no sooner than 24 hours after job completion.
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TIRE MARKS:
We can not guarantee or warranty that your sealed surfaces will not get tire marks. In most tires, there is a compound called 'plasticizer' which is designed to slightly melt from friction heat and gum up your tires to increase traction, oftentimes, this rubbery material may transfer onto some sealed paver surfaces. Additionally, ride-on lawnmower tires may transfer rubber tire marks onto the sealed surface. Stopping abruptly or accelerating quickly where your vehicle tires can slide across or spin on the sealed surface will also obviously leave tire marks.
Dura Guard is not liable for any tire marks that may occur on your sealed driveways.
It is recommended that for the first 10 days, you do not make any hard or stiff turns on your newly sealed driveways. Do not pivot or turn your front tires on your sealed driveway pavers without the vehicle rolling in motion for the first 10 days of the surface being sealed.
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PLANTLIFE:
Dura-Guard takes many measures and steps to protect any surrounding plant life or foliage from our cleaning solutions. In some cases, plants can be damaged if the surrounding soil comes in contact with our solutions. Some plants are very susceptible and vulnerable to our cleaning chemicals and can wilt or brown. Usually, these plants will drop those leaves and will re-grow usually fuller when they 'bounce back'.
If you experience any damaged foliage or grasses to your surrounding paver areas, water those areas directly & vigorously for the next 10 days. Please let our office know what you're dealing with and keep us informed on the progress.
POOL CAGE CLEANING & EXTERIOR HOUSE WASHING:
During pool cage cleanings, the low-pressure chemical application is designed to kill off the plant life growing on the surface, it will not remove oxidation or scuff marks on the aluminum railings or screens.
In some instances, screens can be so damaged by the natural erosion of plant life growing, which eats away at the structure of the screens and the thin rubber seams. If during our cleaning process, damages occur to the screens, we are not responsible for those damages.
Dura Guard does not include soffits, facia, gutters or any parts of the roofing system as part of our house wash process due to the risk of water damage in soffits and into the attic.
Its recommended a professional licensed roof cleaning company cleans those areas.
When doing an exterior house wash, we do not clean the windows. We will spray them down to remove mold, mildew & moss growth, but oftentimes, the soft wash chemical can leave a film on the windows. Please note, you are responsible for the final cleaning of the windows. We work with several window cleaning businesses we can recommend.
WHAT WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY:
- Customer neglect (includes, but is not limited to, pressure washing of the sealed area, customers applying their own sealant, using chemicals on the sealed surface, customers scrubbing or using abrasives on the surface)
- Allowing another contractor to work on your paver surface after us. (we can not guarantee anyone else's work)
- Failure to pay upon job completion, or pay in full.
- Issuing a bad check.
- Being rude or verbally abusive to our staff. (we expect to be treated with the same professionalism as we treat our customers.
- Leaving us a bad online review will immediately void your warranty and future business with us. We strive to make every customer 100% happy and go to great lengths to maintain our excellent reputation. Slandering us online will do nothing but hurt us, and we will not work with you any further.
HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR WARRANTY:
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DURABILITY:
In addition, no claim is implied on how long the sealer will last (condition, quality, and how well the pavers are maintained can affect durability) To maintain your warranty, Dura-Guard requires annual maintenance. We have 2 different annual maintenance packages which can be found by clicking [HERE]The cost will be based upon the square footage of the surface under warranty. Annual maintenance options must be completed no later than 15 months after the last application.
ANNUAL MAINTAINANCE:
To maintain your warranty, annual maintenance is required. You must have Dura Guard return to the project between 10-15 months after the initial project date to have us provide either the "Gold" or "Silver" maintenance options.
Sealing exterior hardscapes is not a "1 and done" process. Like anything, routine care needs to happen to keep your surface looking good and functioning correctly.
Please visit our MAINTAINANCE tab on our website to get more pricing and info. Any projects that surpass the 13-month post-project mark may not qualify for that maintenance option and will be subject to disqualification of warranty. DO NOT PRESSURE CLEAN YOUR PAVERS! If your pavers are pressure cleaned, you will damage the sealer finish, and cause premature loss of sand and premature failure of the pavers. Having your pavers pressure washed will void your warranty.
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Warranty is subject to change at any time without notice as industry products and processes change throughout time. IT IS STRONGLY SUGGESTED that customers print the current warranty of time of services rendered to ensure they receive proper coverage.
This is the only warranty given by the warrantor.
Last revision to warranty made 08/06/2016