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need help with sealing pool pavers.

Need to ask for help on pavers customer is thinking he wants pavers sealed around the pool. I have never sealed pavers before so would not know what to use or charge
 

Carlos Gonzales

New member
Hey Chris..How may sq. ft are you looking at for sealing.

Prepping the pavers before you seal is important. You want to make sure that there is no dirt, stains, bird crap or anything else that doesn't belong. Since you are doing a pool you will want to make sure that there is no chlorine residual/stains around the pavers right at the waters edge.

Low pressure is the trick here because you do not want to 'blow out' the sand in between the pavers when washing. If it is a small area that you are sealing I would recommend just going with a hose rinse and a broom to agitate the dirty areas and rinse again.

Once you are done prepping you will want to get a leaf blower and dry the pavers completely. This is important. If you leave any "puddling" of water and apply the sealant to it it will "gum up" and look terrible. So ensure that you dry ALL areas. Don't worry if a little bit of the sand in between the pavers "lift out" from the leaf blower...this will happen. Keep in mind you want to keep the tip of the leaf blower far enough from the pavers so that you don't "Push" too much of sand out but close enough to dry the pavers as quick as possible. Keep the leaf blower moving side to side...never keep it focused on just one area. You may have to make a couple of runs up and down the area you want to seal to ensure that it is dry but it is worth the time and it is important that you do this.

If it is a sunny day I would recommend you go with a Water Base Sealant. Water sealants are easier to work with vs. lacquer sealants. The only draw back to water base vs. lacquer is that water base sealants tend to fail sooner than lacquer. You can get a good year out of water base sealants (depending on the climate). Lacquers will give you about 18 months to 2 years ~ again...depending on the climate.

Out here in Cali. we are paying about 159 per 5er for water base. Our lacquers start at 215 per 5 gal pail.

The application process is pretty much the same for both water and lacquer. You can either roll it on or spray it on. Either way you will want to avoid any puddling on the surface. If this occurs and it will...we keep a sponge in our back pocket to "blot" up the puddling.

Back to the water base. If you are using this you MUST use this when the sun is out and there are hardly any clouds. I recommend sealing during midday or early afternoon. You get the "shiny" look from water base sealants when the sun hits it directly. If you apply water base sealants when it is cloudy you will not get a "shiny" look. The appearance will be dull looking.....You don't want that I don't think. The product that I use out here also ask that the temps be in the 60 degree mark at a minimum. Whatever product you use please make sure you read the recommended temperature for applying....this is important also. If you apply water base sealants and the temperature is too cool...you will get a milky white result on the pavers...this is bad and you will find yourself removing it for the customer and ultimately losing money. In a nutshell...water base sealants are good but the conditions must be right for you to use them.

Lacquer sealants are more expensive but do provide a unique characteristic in which you do not necessarily need the sun to get that "shiny" look. Working around water (pools) you will need to be careful when spraying around the pools edge. Lacquer in the water is not a good combination and it will ultimately effect the pool filter system if you have too much over spray that goes into the pool. With lacquer you will also have to be mindful of the vegetation near the paver area. Cover the plants. As mentioned you can either roll it on or spray it. Spraying it can cause a little bit of a problem as the lacquer can and will 'gum" up at the tip of the sprayer. Keep the tip clean at all times.

For both Water base and lacquer...your spray pattern should be at a 'heavy to moderate mist". No straight streams. Side to side when you spray and make your sweeps even and overlap. Have a second person with you. His job is to roll the sealant as you spray. Go to H.D. and get a roller for SMOOTH SURFACES. You don't want a heave nap when rolling sealant. Screw the roller on a painter pole and have your helper roll and your spray.

Never walk on the wet sealant. You will leave a boot mark. So if you see a leaf or twig fall on the area that you still have wet sealant on...either:

1. carefully walk over to it if it is only a step or two away and pick it up. Try to retrace your steps back. Immediately mist the area that you walked on with sealant and then roll it.

2. Wait until the sealant dries and then go over and pick it up.

With Lacquers you may just only have to do one coat. This is why lacquers cost more.

With water base you will want to add a second coat...keep an eye on the sun and make sure there is no shadows on the pavers from the house. If you still have good sun then take another pass with the sealant. This time go "light" on your mist. You do not need to go heavy with application. Same rule applies with the roller like the first pass. Have your helper roll behind you. The key here is to make sure no puddling occurs.

You helper that is rolling should set the pace on how you two proceed across the pavers. I have seen way too many times where a guy is spraying and just leaves the guy rolling in the dust. If you are the sprayer...ask the roller while you are spraying how the pace is? Both of you should know when you are going too quick or too slow. It takes a few jobs but once you have a few under your belt the process of sealing should be natural.

I hope this helps.
 
Carlos what about sand the joints look like they need to be resand he has plants that are growing between the joints that he does not want there. What product are you using cal.
 

Carlos Gonzales

New member
If you have plants growing in between the pavers then this is a whole other step before you even start thinking about sealing.

Depending on the growth and how much is there...you will need to determine whether or not you can pull the plants/weeds by hand. If you can do this you will also pull out the sand along with when the roots come out. Try to keep the sand intact as much as possible.

If the there are a ton of plants growing in the pavers then you might have to go with a weed eater...tilt it sidewasy and edge out the plants. This is going to kick up all the sand in between the pavers. If you weed eat it out the plants roots are still there. What do you do because if you don't kill the plants they will grow right back? Round-UP. Spray it in between the pavers and make sure you add a liberal amount. Make your Round-Up and water ration 2:1. In other words go heavy on the round-up with your mix.

Remember you will be cleaning the pavers during the cleaning step and this requires water. You don't want to dilute the round-up anymore than you have to. The sand that you "kick up" try to save a handful of it because you will need to go the local landscaping supply store or wherever and get the exact same kind that is in the pavers. I don't know the area you are talking about (sq.ft) but 1 or 2 5 galloon buckets of this sand should be enough to cover a good area.

Your sand...make sure it is dry because you want it to fall down into the paver joints. If it is damp it will not fall down all the way. Take a broom and sweep the sand back and forth over the joints where you removed the plant. Gently tap the edges of the pavers with a hammer to make sure the joints are filled with the new sand.

Once you are done with this. Sweep up any excessive sand on the pavers and proceed to the cleaning phase!!
 

Lonnie Greenwood

New member
Chris get in touch with rich at seal and lock the product he has is the best on the market i have used it around here and it is all i recomend there is a lot of work involved depending on product you choose need to consider making more than one trip thats my thoughts good to see you over here on the uamcc bbs:clap::clap::clap::clap:
 
I will take pics tomorrow. I have go finish up the screen room this thing was to hug ate my 5 house wash still did not get all the mildew off the it I told him that will come back tommorow plus i also want to sale him on cleaning the screen room 2 times year how would I go about doing that I charge 195 for this size room two stories. I was thinking if he sign up for the second wash 6 months from this point I would charge 350 2 times year what do you guys think.
 
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