Currently dealing with a client we should not have taken on. Too many red flags but we had a cancellation and this client filled it quickly.
I’ve sealed quite a few pavers and have never had a client request a specific sealer. (We use SealNLock, I believe in their product and have had great results.) During the sales process I was explaining our process in depth and the name of the sealer came up, the client had it in their head (from another quote) that SealNLock was a “bad” sealer and would not give the results she wanted.
The pavers were sealed 4 years ago by a contractor who uses Trident Cat 5 (I had not heard of this product until she brought it up) I asked how long that sealer had lasted before she experienced the weed growth and shifting shown below to which she answered 2 years (this seems low since my experience is with sealers lasting for 3-4 years if not longer)
Anyways, she decided to trust my suggestions. I did research on Trident, compared the specs to SealNLocks ultra wet and was not impressed.
We prep the area as always, re-sand the joints, and apply the sealer. She isn’t home when we complete so I shoot her an email outlining everything we did with photos of the sealer being applied.
Her following email was not pleasant and she was extremely disappointed with the “lack of gloss” on the pavers.
This patio is 20+ years old, in the Florida heat, no sealer will enhance the color to that extreme level which I explained.
Meeting with her tomorrow to discuss the issue and solve it. I was already going back to move her patio furniture (she’s 80) but this has thrown a total wrench in my weekend.
Photos below, we used SealNLock Ultra Wet (did not post after photos since I will be taking those tomorrow and new users can only post one photo at a time)
Any advice to improve the gloss for her? Aside from stripping and using a different sealer?
Used a bunch of Seal’n’Lock Natural Luster, but never actually got their wet products applied. (had one job ooked but the sealer got busted open, and we had to buy from HD last minute).
I haven’t had any experience with Trident products from the longevity standpoint, but their products seem good, their training and support are top-notch (which has not been my experience with Seal’n’Lock, nor have I been able to buy Seal’n’Lock for almost a year now. My guess would be that they ddn’t sand them well, if the growth returned ahead of expectations. The sealer itself will not stop growth in the cracks much, if at all, without paver sand to lock together. IDK if those pics are after cleaning, but it looks like virtually no sand in those joints at all.
Very little sand should have eroded out of those pavers, if any. If you hadn’t run a surface cleaner on it before those pics, then I highly doubt they really sanded them at all, for possibly the last 10 years…I can ask my Trident guy his opinion if you’d like.
So what am I missing here? Did you use the Seal n Lock or the Trident aka SEK? If you used the Seal n Lock, then you should know what to expect on the gloss.
I use UreSeal and the Trident. Have had no problems with the Trident, which is just the pressure washing industry name for SEK Surebond sealers. The paver mafia in FL wanted a different name for their products to differentiate themselves from the hardscape installers. SEK agreed. So they’re rolling out the Trident name for the pressure washing guys. Can tell by the stupid names they use it started in FL. Here in SC we still use SEK since no “Trident” around. I love the product and as Jason said the majority of their product is joint stabilizing. But as you know, a lot of decent sealers but execution of the job is probably more important than the product. I actually used it on my patio last year.
Typically to answer your question, most sealers, the more coats you put on them, the glossier they get. So the easy fix would be hit it with another coat. Perhaps you should have listened to her, lol. Usually, if someone wants a high gloss finish I go with the UreSeal but SEK/Trident has a 2 part urethane sealer also, but have never used it. A urethane sealer will always give you more gloss.
