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.

Restoration of Brick Paver Patio & Walkway in Canton

After 13 years, this Raised Paver Patio needed some Repair & Restoration

In Canton, MI there are 1,000's of raised paver patios that need some attention.  This homeowner hired the original installing contractor who did not instruct him to sweep joint sand in the paver joints. The contractor also did not prep him for the event of the outside row of brick pavers settling behind the raised wall caps.  If unattended, the wall blocks & caps will begin to settle and lean out, leading to a more costly paver repair work. 

This paver patios wall blocks & cap started to sink in one area and the rest of the patio walls were at risk because 3 to 4 rows of  brick pavers were sunk below the height of the caps.  The homeowner contacted us at the right time to repair this patio before the cost became more expensive.

We lifted up and relaid 1-2ft of brick pavers behind the entire raised paver wall caps, re-leveled @6ft of wall blocks & caps that dipped, and reset some sunken individual brick pavers throughout.  We power wash cleaned all the brick pavers, wall blocks & caps, and the paver joints.  We re-sanded the entire pavers patio and ran the power plate compactor over the patio to relock up all the paving stones.

The paver walkway leading from the dirveway to the patio had become loose, gapped, and crooked from lack of attention over the years.  We relaid half of the brick paver walkway to straighten out the crooked lines and gapped outside row of pavers.  We also power wash cleaned the entire paver walkway and joints.  We finished with re-sanding the paver joints and ran the plate compactor over the walkway to relock the paving stones.

To complete this total paver patio restoration, we returned a few days later to seal the paver patio and walkway with an approved brick paver sealant.  Sealing enhanced the color and brought this 13 year old, neglected, brick paver patio back to life!  Now with continued low maintenance steps of sweeping joint sand in each Spring and resealing in 2 to 3 years, this pavers patio should perform beautifully for 20+ years.

Brick Pavers Patio Restored

Cleaning, Sanding, and Sealing performed on neglected Paver Patio

This past week we restored the original beauty of a brick paver patio in Ypsilanti. Due to unfortunate circumstances, the homeowner had not been able to maintain this paver patio the past few years.  Lack of attention and joint sand sweeping led to the ominous condition of the paver joints resulting in a neglected & unsightly appearance.

I assured the homeowner we could bring their brick paver patio back to life and create the original beauty they once enjoyed. This brick paver patio brought much joy and relaxation to her and husband in the past.  My team and I wanted them to once again let them experience the solitude & pride they cherished, especially during these tough personal times.

Repairs to the pavers were minimal but the cleaning & re-sanding was tedious and messy.  After the brick pavers and paver joints were dry a day & half later, we applied a generous coat of brick paver sealant to enhance the color and overall appearance. The paver sealer will temporarily keep the joint sand hard until needed touch-ups of sweeping the years to follow.  They should get about 3 years from the brick paver sealant but on-going joint sand sweeping will be needed.

As the homeowner became overwhelmed with emotion from this transformation, I explained to here that we offer at a small nominal charge a Spring Sweeping Maintenance service to maintain the beauty and function of interlocking pavers. This also gives us the opportunity to yearly inspect their pavers patio for any needed patio repair or signs of distress.

If you do not have the time or resolve to keep up with the minimal maintenance requirement need for joint sand sweeping, please set up a program with a brick paver contractor who can help you maintain the beauty & function of your brick pavers for years to come.  Something that may cost you $50 each Spring may save you $1,000's years later.