Brick Paver Restoration Steps

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Brick Paver Restoration

Brick Paver Restoration Steps

Written by Scott Paul - Over 17 Years of Experience

Restoring Exterior Brick Pavers

The steps needed to restore your Brick Pavers are relatively easy. All you need to do is clean, resand if needed, and apply a sealer. Paver Sealers can enhance the natural colors of your brick and come in Matte, Semi-Gloss, and Higher Gloss shine. If a "shiny" appearance is not desired then you can just add a Concrete Water Repellent for Protection only.

The use of a pressure washer is suggested when cleaning the brick pavers. Cleaning chemicals are not needed when removing dirt, grime, and vegetation. If you have stains on your brick pavers then we would suggest using a cleaner that is specific to the type of stain. i.e. Rust remover to clean rust, Oil stain remover to clean oil drips, etc.
Removal of old paver sealers is suggested if your previous sealer has failed. Usually this is noticeable by a yellowing or whitening of the old sealer. If you do not have any discoloration, then it is not needed to remove the old coatings. Paver Stripper
Allow the brick pavers to dry thoroughly for 1-2 days.
If needed, sweep in new jointing sand between the stones. There is many types of sand that you could use. The most popular is playsand or babysand. Other options can be jointing sand and polymeric sand. These types of sand are usually found only at paver stone yards. Make sure the sand is dry and not wet!
Blow or sweep off excess sand. We strongly suggest that the sand level is at least 1/4" from the top of beveled edge of the paver bricks. Be very careful to remove all the sand!
Apply sealer by rolling or spraying. If rolling, take extreme caution to make sure that you are not removing the sand from the joints and leaving it on top of the pavers! A sponge type roller usually works better then a nap roller. If spraying a solvent based sealer, you must use a heavy duty metal sprayer. Cheap plastic sprayers will not work with solvent based brick paver sealers but they will work with water based. Do not apply sealer to wet or high moisture content pavers! The sealer will turn whitish in color.
Let dry for 3-4 fours for foot traffic and 24 hours for vehicular or heavy duty traffic.

*Make sure that you follow all manufacturers instructions.

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Comments (12)

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Very Good information to have. I did not know that you could sand and apply a sealer. Was sure that I would have to rip up what was there and replace with new brick or something different. It will be much cheaper to just sand and seal.

Can you do this with fireplaces and other outside brick as well?

attgirl , March 10, 2009

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No this is the process only for Brick Paver walkways, patios, driveways, etc.

TheSealerStore , March 10, 2009

problem with sealer

I recently had a brick sidewalk installed. A concrete sealer was applied with a wet look. a couple of days later I washed the gutters and some dirt splattered on the walk. I rinsed and swept the walk. Now the walk looks dirty all of the time. Not ammount of washing make it look clean. Some of the bricks looked a little whitish. Would any cleaner or stripper solve the problem?

barbara barner , June 11, 2009

excuse typos.

I meant to say that no ammount of washing will make it look clean. Would washing it with a detergent help?

barbara barner , June 11, 2009

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Was the sealer that was applied a water based or a solvent based? If solvent based you may want to try applying a solvent to restore the shine. Xylene should work.

TheSealerStore , June 12, 2009

Cleaning up pressure sprayer

I purchased SuperSeal25 from your firm. I have a Chapin 1949 sprayer and will be using it to apply the sealer. I normally use the sprayer it with water soluble stuff and always use water to rinse after use What is recommended to clean and wash out sprayer with after using the SuperSeal25?

qaviar , August 07, 2009

re:Cleaning up pressure sprayer

When cleaning up a solvent based paver sealer such as the SuperSeal25, you should use xylene or lacquer thinner.

TheSealerStore , August 08, 2009

White stain on brick porch

I was using play sand to fill cracks and joints on our brick paver porch (3 steps) as well as a portion of the walkway; the sand dried and now most of the brick appears "white" or very light in color. I have tried using plain hose water to spray then a scrub brush to replenish the look but to no avail. Do I need to power wash, re-sand, then apply a solvent sealer to replenish and enhance the original look (shine)?

Bernard Patterson , October 13, 2009

Paver sealed with sand

I used play sand to fill the cracks and when I sealed the driveway the sand picked up in the roller. Now, all the extra sand is sealed on my driveway!!! It looks like I mixed cement on it. I tried pressure cleaning again but it didnt loosen the sand. Is there a solvent I can use to dissolve the sand and sealant and pressure it off?

shari smither , November 30, 2009

re: Paver sealed with sand

Did you use our paver sealer or a solvent based sealer? If so then yes you can apply a solvent to soften the sealer and pressure wash off the sand. I would suggest doing this in sections as the solvent will dry fast. You may also need to reapply the paver sealer when done. You can use Xylene or our Aromatic Solvent.

It the sand is really bad then you may need to strip off all of the old sealer:
Brick Paver Sealer Stripper

TheSealerStore , November 30, 2009

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I am looking to remove the sand that's sealed on the driveway. I used a sealant equivalent to Thompson's. I don't care if the sealant comes off in the process but I need to get the sand off. What solvent do you recommend to remove the sand stuck to the paver?

shari smither , November 30, 2009

re: Paver sealed with sand

Was the sealer you used a solvent? Your questions were answered in the post 2 up ^

TheSealerStore , November 30, 2009

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