Will sealing make my brick paver driveway, walkway or patio slippery?
We get this question from almost every homeowner that we meet with. The answer is dependant on what type of sealer is used on your brick pavers and what type of brick pavers you have. There are some sealers that make brick pavers extremely slippery in wet conditions and there are others that do not change the texture of the paver at all.
The sealers that we use at Paver Protector DO NOT make brick pavers very slippery. A sealed asphalt driveway is much slicker than brick pavers sealed by Paver Protector. On most brick pavers you cannot feel the difference between sealed and unsealed brick pavers. On some newer more dense pavers you will notice a slight change but it is nothing that will cause slip and fall conditions.
The acrylic in our sealers is so fine that it fills the pores of the pavers as opposed to sitting on top of the pavers which would make sealed pavers slippery. Acrylic in cheaper sealers found at big box stores is not as fine and will create a slippery surface since it all sits on top of the pavers making them glossy and in turn slick in wet weather. The cheaper the sealer, usually the more slippery you can expect it to be.
We get a lot of requests to strip these cheap sealers from brick pavers not only because they are slippery but also due to premature failure and white hazing. In this case you do get what you pay for.
When Paver Protector comes to your home to provide an estimate and more information about sealing brick pavers, we will shw you a sample of a brick half sealed and half unsealed. So you can feel it for yourself. The sealed side has nearly as much traction as the unsealed side. You will be able to see and feel the sealed brick paver to make the decision for yourself.
For more information on sealing your brick paver driveway, walkway or patio please call 630-488-0069 or emailInfo@PaverProtector.com Paver Protector services much of Northern Illinois including St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, West Chicago, Elgin, South Elgin, Bartlett, Wayne, Barrington, Inverness, Schaumburg, Crystal Lake, Algonquin, Cary, Nutley, Hampshire, Woodstock and surrounding communities.