Sealing concrete pavers?

[EricG]

I'm almost done with my patio - just need to do the polymeric joint sand, and a few passes with the tamper. I'm using concrete pavers from Borgert: Strassen Bavaria

What are your thoughts on sealers? The manufacturer's website doesn't mention anything about them that I can find, but I've had it suggested to me by some folks and have found some products out there. Would it make it easier to clean for food spills, grill grease, etc.?

 

[titanpat57]

Hi,

Not sure if it will make a spill easier to clean....but I do think it offers some much needed addtional sealing and protection from harsh winters.

Plain and simple..water infiltration, esp. with a "freeze, thaw cycle" will impact ANY finish material, vertical, horizontal...it don't make no never mind. So apply something to protect your investment...you won't be dissapointed.

BTW..just love the new polymeric joint fillers and believe they are the first defense in slowing the permiation of water to the product.

 

[Joe_E]

Not sure about sealing the pavers themselves, don't think i've ever saw that done.

I do agree about the poly joint sand! Have to go pick up another bag today to finish my sidewalk paver job. Really cool product.

 

[fsusteve]

H&C makes a really good sealer, I used it on mine, don't waste your money on Thompson's.

 

[VFRMAN]

I'm about to do mine. 2 years and still looks like new but I like the extra color depth the sealers are supposed to give you. Can't hurt with the weathering too.

I'll report back when I have the stuff and let you know how it worked.

FWIW we get miserable cold winters up here with a lot of freezing/thawing. -30 F a few times a year too.

edit: they do stain if you happen to eat and spill stuff on them. Sealer would have to help minimize the saturation I would think.

 

[EricG]

Cool, I'm interested to know what yiu go with and how it works out. I finished my projects yesterday - had enough brick leftover from the patio to do the front walk also. I probably won't bother to seal it this fall - has some efflorescence and such, which I think ought to be done by spring. Pictures aren't great, but here's what it looks like.

 

[sirenmoses]

^ dat's nice!

 

[VFRMAN]

Looks great.

I still get efflowhatever from my bricks on the front of the house in the spring. About 4 years old now. Only the red bricks, but every house in the neighborhood with red brick seems to chalk up a little in the spring. I never noticed it with the pavers though.

Looks like it slopes away from the house well. See a lot of people make them perfectly level and they sink/settle and all the water runs to the foundation. Nice work.

 

[EricG]

Looks great.

I still get efflowhatever from my bricks on the front of the house in the spring. About 4 years old now. Only the red bricks, but every house in the neighborhood with red brick seems to chalk up a little in the spring. I never noticed it with the pavers though.

Looks like it slopes away from the house well. See a lot of people make them perfectly level and they sink/settle and all the water runs to the foundation. Nice work.

Thanks - yea, it's got good slope. The only issue at this point is in the lower-left corner of the first pic. The pavers adjacent to the ones on top of the retaining wall blocks compacted to just lower then the pavers on top of the wall. So I'm getting a small puddle there. Don't think it's a big deal, but I'll keep an eye on it.

The other thing on these pavers is they have alot of whitish scratch/scuff marks on em - from the tumbling process I assume. I'm hoping that's going to weather off to the color of the brick.

 

[VFRMAN]

I think it will. Mother Nature evens a lot out over time.

The beauty of pavers vs. poured concrete: You can always take out the offenders and re-do them, with only some time wasted.