We wash every lot before sealing it

Every lot gets a full wash first

A paver parking lot takes more abuse than a driveway ever will. Cars drip oil in the same spots every day, and tires grind dirt into the surface and down between the pavers. So the job starts with a pressure wash over every paver and into every joint. We work across the lot in rows, so dirty water never runs back onto a section that is already clean.

The wash also takes out the old joint sand, which is usually packed with dirt and roots by the time a lot needs this work. That is on purpose. Old sand full of grime will not take sealer, and anything growing in it comes straight back. Once the pavers are dry, fresh sand gets swept into the joints and settled until it sits just below the paver edges.

Sealer goes on last, and only on pavers that have fully dried out. This is the step that brings the color back, because a good coat darkens faded concrete pavers close to how they looked new. It also soaks into the top of the joint sand and binds it, so rain and leaf blowers cannot pull it loose. Seal a wet lot and you get a cloudy white haze that is hard to undo.

• Pressure wash over every paver and joint
• Old sand washed out of the joints
• Pavers left to dry before sealing
• Fresh joint sand swept in and settled
• Sealer to bring back color and hold sand

Florida sun and summer rain fade pavers

Concrete pavers are colored with pigment, and strong sun breaks that pigment down. A parking lot around Clearwater sits in full sun most of the year, with shade only where a tree hangs over it. Reds turn pink and charcoals go gray. Tires make it worse by scrubbing the surface in the drive lanes. Those lanes fade faster than the parking spaces beside them, where cars mostly sit still.

Then there is the rain. Summer storms drop heavy rain fast, and on a paver lot that water runs along the joints toward the drains. Every storm carries a little sand out with it, and nobody notices at first. Over a few summers, the joints near the drains empty out first. You can see those pavers rock when a car rolls over them.

Shade and moisture bring their own problems. Under oaks and along the north side of a building, pavers stay damp and grow black algae that turns slick in the rain. Sprinklers that run on well water leave orange rust stains wherever they hit the pavers. A pressure wash takes the algae off. Rust soaks deeper, and we tell you on site what the wash will lift and what it will not.

Sealer keeps the joint sand in place

The sand between pavers does more work than most people think. It wedges each paver against the ones around it, so the whole lot holds together as one surface. Cars turning in and out of spaces push sideways on the pavers every day. With full joints, that push spreads out. With empty joints, single pavers shift and knock into their neighbors until the corners chip.

Sealer is what holds that sand where it belongs. It soaks down into the top of each joint and glues the grains together into a firm crust. Rain runs over it instead of carrying it off, and a leaf blower will not strip it back out. It also makes the joints a poor home for weed seeds and ants. Florida ants will dig sand out of an open joint and pile it on the surface.

Skip the sealer and the fresh sand starts leaving with the first hard storm. That is how a lot that looked finished in spring can have open joints again by the end of the rainy season. Once the sand is gone long enough, pavers creep out of line and low spots form where water sits. At that point a wash and seal will not fix it. The sunken area has to be pulled up and relaid on a level base.

We keep spray off stucco and glass

Most commercial lots around Clearwater sit beside concrete block buildings finished in stucco. You see it on strip plazas, medical offices, churches and condo buildings from Largo up to Dunedin. Stucco is porous, and a pressure washer held too close can etch the finish or drive dirty water into it. So along the building, we aim the spray away from the wall. When the wash is done, the base of the wall gets a rinse too.

The sealer needs the same care. It is thin and drifts on a breeze, and a lot near the Gulf nearly always has one. We cover door glass and storefront windows close to the work and keep sealer on the pavers only. Wheel stops and curbs get the same attention. Dried sealer on glass or stucco is a much bigger cleanup than the few minutes it takes to cover it first.

The other thing a working lot needs is a plan for traffic. Cars cannot drive on fresh sealer until it cures, and most businesses cannot close the whole lot to wait. So a lot that has to stay open gets done in sections, with cars moved to one side while the other side dries. Michael Schacter, who hired us to fix his pavers, wrote: "The team worked quickly and left everything looking brand new."