Prolonging the life of your patio or driveway will help you to avoid unnecessary costs, but there are a few things that you need to do as part of the pre-sealing process. By following the steps we share below, you will learn everything you need to prepare for paver sealing.
1. Know the Product
The first step in the process starts before you’ve even left the house to purchase a sealing product. That’s when you go online and compare the products of manufacturers to see their specifications for sealing. It’s important that you know exactly what each product entails, the proper way to use it, and how to pick the one that’s most suitable for your needs.
Vital information you should look out for includes the waiting period before applying a sealer, waiting period after application, and how safe it is to use it.
2. Know the Weather
To get the best results from any sealer, you’ll have to do it when the weather is ideal throughout the entire process. That includes the day before, the day of the sealing itself, and the day after. It’s important to seal your pavers when it is dry, so you’ll need to make sure that there is no rain the day before the application.
You also don’t want rain on the day of application; neither do you want to apply any sealers in extreme heat. The ideal temperature is between 60 to 80 degrees. The day after the application, it shouldn’t rain. So, you need to monitor the temperature for three consecutive days and work according to the required conditions.
3. Clean the Pavers
Cleaning the pavers is one of the most important things you can do to ensure a long-lasting product. Part of the cleaning process involves freeing up the pavers from use for a few days before the process. Giving the timing of weather you also need to factor in, it’s important not to use the paved area a few days prior to cleaning it.
You need to thoroughly clean the pavers and ensure that there is no debris, garbage, or stains on the surface that you want to seal. Part of the process includes cleaning up any efflorescence that may be present on the surface area. Preferably, you’ll want to clean the area two days before sealing in case there is fertilizer on the pavers and so that you can be certain they are completely dry before application.
4. Get Rid of Contaminated Sand
Make sure that you follow through with the full process as it’s meant to happen—that includes getting rid of any contaminated sand that you might find in the joints. If you’re going to replace it with polymeric sand, you need to do an efflorescence cleaning before you seal and after the polymeric sand replacement.
It’s important that you follow all these steps to ensure that your paver sealing in Lakeland Florida is successful and lasts for a long time. Get in touch with us for more advice.