Rust stains on pavers

I just wanted to get your opinions on this before i quote this customer. This is a restaurant store front and has some rust on their pavers from the table and chairs. Normally ill use oxalic acid or F9 Barc if its concrete but is that safe to use on pavers? I’m afraid of staining the pavers or taking the color out.

They want me to quote to clean and then quote to re-seal the pavers. Im going there this week to take a look at it but i don’t know if they previously had any sealer on the pavers. So I’m unsure what products i can use to clean that wont stain. I also was curious, if they have old sealer, will the rust come up if i strip it? I attached some pictures that they sent me. Let me know what you guys think! Thanks in advance!

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This is interesting to me. I’ve never done any rust removal on pavers so I have no clue but hopefully this post will get some attention so we can both learn something.

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It works just fine on pavers. The only difference is etching. Because there is color in the pavers there is a potential to slightly dull the area. To avoid this being noticeable you should treat the entire area. No spot treating

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So your saying treat the entire area with either the Oxalic or F9 Barc, and it should come up? And then if it dulls a little, as long as its clean, and they approve me to do the resealing, the color should come back with a wet look i would assume, right?

I guess that could even be a selling point to get me the re-seal too.

After you clean, if the color dulls, you may look into Prosoco Sealers. They have a few that will color enhance as well as seal. They have gloss and matte finish types as well.

Had a potential client who had no idea what he wanted, so I ended up getting 7 different sealer samples from Prosoco and did samples for him. Some glossier than others, some more color enhancing, etc.

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I’ll have to look into them, i usually use the water based sealer from local company here in FL. Ive good results with it but being this is my first restaurant and i want to make sure they are very happy. This is a potential monthly account for me if i can do this just right for then.

Does FL have VOC regulations?

If not, then I would go with a solvent based sealer. They outperform water based.

Also, if you are not sure what they used before, then a solvent based sealer is the safest route to go. You can apply solvent over old water based sealer, but you can not apply water based over old solvent. Kinda like paint - you can put oil on just about anything, but latex should only go over other latex unless you have a love affair with surface prep.

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Yea we do. I dont know the exact numbers so I’ll have to look it up though.

I normally use the Water Based down here because of the humidity. Water based allows the sealer to breath better than a solvent base. The solvent puts a much thicker coat over the pavers too

Yes pretty much

Do not use solvent base sealers in FL. Water base sealers are meant for our environment. Solvent will fail due to trapping moisture. Remember FL is a swamp. There are many sealers deigned specifically for what your doing. Don’t let them sell you cheap solvent for $100-$150 per 5er good sealers are $250 per 5er and cover about 800-1000sqfr

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Excactly. That’s why i only use water based. And yes this company if i remember correctly is about $245 for 5gl. Its a 2 part mix and once done mixing you end up with 10gl

50/50 is the general minimum dilutions on products like ure-seal many pavers will require you to cut it even more. Just depends on the stone. If you cut everything 50/50 you may find yourself in trouble. Sometimes no penetration and slippery. Other times the stones may be to pores and the finish will not be all that great.

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Thats good to know. I havent run into any issues yet but thats definitely got info. Thank you!