Pavers, stamped concrete need maintenance

Drive through any neighborhood in our area, and you are likely to see numerous homes with driveways, walkways and patios built with brick pavers or stamped concrete. And while these brick and concrete products certainly add to the look of any home, they need regular maintenance, just like a deck or any other area of the home.

If your brick pavers were installed properly, and you are happy with the natural look of the brick, you won't need much maintenance other than an occasional power-washing and sweeping in more joint sand between the pavers every few years.

Occasionally, the pavers will become lose or uneven, and you will need to re-set them by first removing the individual paver, re-tamping the base with the same slag mixture that was used during installation, re-setting the paver and then refilling the cracks with a good polymeric sand, making sure to wet the new sand so that it adheres to the paver and creates a solid seal against weeds and weather.

However, you might want your pavers to have that wet look. That requires some additional maintenance. The wet look comes from a sealer that you can put over the pavers. Mike Curmi at Oaks Concrete Products, (248) 684-5004, http://www.oakspavers.com">www.oakspavers.com, said the wet look is very popular, but it does have its drawbacks.

"People really like their pavers to have that wet look, but after a while, they lose their luster, especially after a tough winter or in high traffic areas," Mike said.

To maintain that luster and renew that wet look, homeowners can use a sealer like WL4 Protector from Techniseal, (800) 465-7325, http://www.techniseal.com">www.techniseal.com, to protect the pavers from dirt and grease, he said. Techniseal also has a complete line of products for paver maintenance, including polymeric sand and cleaners.

If you have applied a wet-look sealer in the past, one of the common problems that may occur is that certain areas of your pavers develop a cloudy haze to it, due to the moisture absorbed at the underside of the brick that evaporates out of the top. To revive that area, John Rightenburg of Theut Products, (800) 660-6903, http://www.theutproducts.com">www.theutproducts.com, recommends brushing on a product like Euco-Solvent from Euclid Chemical, (800) 321-7628, http://www.euclidchemical.com">www.euclidchemical.com.

If that doesn't work, John recommends Dad's Easy Spray Paint, Stain and Varnish Remover, http://www.dadseasyspray.com">www.dadseasyspray.com. He said all the cleaning and sealing products from Euclid Chemical work well on pavers, and a new Euclid product, Everclear, actually helps eliminate that cloudy haze by allowing the water underneath the pavers to escape through the sealer.

Another popular trend I am seeing in many homes is stamped concrete. And like pavers, the best way to minimize maintenance is to ensure that the job is done properly.

Ken Calverly at KC Masonry, (877) MASONRY, http://www.kcmasonry.com">www.kcmasonry.com, said that if the job was done properly and there are no problems, the only real maintenance that is needed is to power-wash the stamped concrete using the wide stream on the power washer (wear a good pair of safety goggles), and then seal it with a product like Super Diamond Clear Euclid Chemical. You also can add an anti-slip agent to the sealer to minimize the slippage that can occur with sealed concrete.

However, if the stamped concrete isn't installed properly, then the cement can crack. And that isn't something the typical do-it-yourselfer can fix.

"With stamped concrete, we see a lot of people who used contractors that gave them a great price, but they didn't do the job properly and now they have cracking problems," Ken said.

At KC Masonry, doing the job right means using clean, crushed concrete, commonly known in the industry as a six-bag mix, along with steel reinforcement and a proper drainage system to help eliminate the potential for cracks. Cement contractors should be certified by the American Concrete Institute.

As you can see, if your pavers or stamped concrete are installed properly, much of the maintenance you can do yourself. And just like a deck, regular maintenance using the right products will continue to give you bragging rights on your pavers and stamped concrete for years to come.

If you would like to suggest a question for Glenn Haege's Tuesday column, e-mail askglenn@masterhandyman.com">askglenn@masterhandyman.com. If you want to talk to Glenn Haege, call his "Handyman" radio show on WJR at (866) ASK GLENN, (866) 275-4536 between noon and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.