Hold off Sealing Your Brick Pavers until Spring

Proper conditions for sealing brick pavers is important

It's now Fall in Michigan and you should hold off sealing your brick paver patio, walkway, porch, steps, or driveway until next Spring.  Sealing pavers is tricky enough and trying to force the issue this time of year may result in costly and aggravating results. Believe me when I say it will be worth the wait if anything went wrong.

Even if the weather is dry enough for sealing, low temperatures & moisture in the paver joints can have an adverse effect on the performance of brick paver sealants.   White clouding, residue, or hazing can result from sealing in non-optimal conditions.  In Michigan, it is best to seal in surface & air temperatures between 60-75 degrees.

If the air or brick paver surface is too cold, the brick paver sealant may crystallize or turn white, leaving you with a costly and timely effort to correct. If the paver joints are too moist (wet), it can leave white lines in the paver joints and on the edges of the paving stones.

Another issue late in the Fall is LEAVES!  If you avoid them from leaving any leaf stains after fall rains, it is treacherous to avoid any from falling on freshly sealed pavers.  Usually most brick paver sealants are dry to the touch within an hour, but if leaves fall and lay flat on the paving stone surface during this curing time, this will usually result in a problem. 

During the Summer if the air or brick paver surface is too hot, usually over 80 degrees, you can experience blistering (bubbles) or have a white haze trap under the paver sealant.  High humidity days are also a no no and very windy days can adversely dry sealant prematurely creating blistering. Again if you force the issue, you will spend alot of time, cost, and effort trying to correct these adverse conditions.

As a brick paver sealing contractor, there is a small window of months in a Michigan season to perform this service.  When you add in days of rain, heat, excessive winds, and unseasonably cold days, you can see the frustration of completing this paver maintenance service each year. 

Our peak paver sealing season is usually mid-May to early July, then we get another stretch from Labor Day to mid October.  I do recommend that you go ahead and complete the power wash cleaning of the brick pavers and paver joints and re-sanding of all the joints prior to Winter.  When Spring comes around, you will only need to touch up the paver joints with sand and then get ready to seal when temps allow.

As always, only use an approved brick paver sealant on your brick pavers.  Anything at Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, or a Hardware store is NOT the correct product.  Always purchase or insist on a paver sealant that is distributed by a brick paver manufacturer. These sealers will typically last for 2-3 years before you will need to consider having another application.


Ask your brick paver contractor which paver sealant he is using and ask that he write down the brand of sealant or leave the empty container (properly sealed up) behind.  This way you can use the same brick paver sealant for future applications. Make sure prior to sealing that all paving stones and paver joints are dry.

Brick Paver Sealing : Spraying vs. Rolling

I am often asked what is the best method for applying brick paver sealant. The two methods that are most common for sealing brick pavers is "pump" spraying or rolling on with a foam roller. I have brick paver contractors that swear by both methods, but from my 25 year experience I prefer the "pump" spraying method.



Starting first with the Rolling method of applying brick paver sealant, I find that my time in applying the paver sealant is less. The special foam slitted roller spreads the sealer pretty evenly and efficiently. The rolling method of applying paver sealant will stretch the sealer so you will not have very much waste. The biggest setback that I experience when rolling on brick paver sealant is that the roller will sometimes roll the joint sand over the top of the brick pavers, especially if the joints are wide. Also, I am not satisfied with the amount of sealer that pours into the sand joints. Even though the paver sealant companies push their special rollers, I have yet to find one that satisfies me.


The Spraying method is my preferred method of applying brick paver sealer. When applying sealer for paver patios, walkways, and driveways, this method will apply sealer very generously while allowing sealer to soak into the sand joints as well. As long as you apply the paver sealer on a windless day, the coverage can be generous and effortless. You will use up more sealer with this brick paver applying method. The biggest headache for us brick paver contractors is that there are no real good brick paver sealer sprayers. Even the high dollar commercial sprayers require so much cleaning & maintenance to perform properly, most of us contractors have resolved to the cheap and disposable "pump" garden sprayers. After each brick paver sealing job, I just throw them away. The thermoplastics in the paver sealer harden up & eat up the rubber seals on the sprayers and make them unusable unless you thoroughly clean them out with acetone or thinner. I usually purchase a sealer sprayer under $20 at Lowe's or Home Depot. I feel my time is worth more than the actual cost of the sprayers.

No matter what brick paver sealing method you use, make sure you seal patio stones & retaining walls on a dry sunny day. Make sure all pavers and paver joints are completely dry and it will not rain within 4 hours. To get more information and instruction about brick paver sealers and cleaners, check out Techniseal for information and source near you!