After about 1 year worth of planning, we are very pleased to announce we are open for business in Southwest Florida. Our service area will include Naples, Bonita Springs, Ft Myers, Cape Coral, and north to Venice, Sarasota and Bradenton.

We’ve developed a comprehensive system for paver restoration and maintenance. We have highly skilled and experienced individuals on our team. We have an awesome support staff in our office to answer all of your questions and concerns. We’re friendly, courteous and very professional. At the end of the day, we want you, our customer, to be happy.

We’re not a franchise. All locations are owned by one owner who carries a lifetime of paver experience.

Our services include:

• Steam Cleaning of Pavers and Natural Stone
• Removal of existing jointing materials between pavers and replacement with polymeric sand
• Repairs to sinking, settling, shifting, broken, failed edges and more
• Application of the best quality paver and natural stone sealers
• Complete and unique process to preserve the integrity and enhance the beauty in travertine pavers
• Restoration of Chicago brick pavers (replacement of jointing material with polymeric sand and sealing)
• Regular maintenance plans to help you maintain your pavers and natural stone

Many homeowners who hire other contractors may be happy at first only to find that soon after the job is finished they become less and less happy. We aim to build a relationship with every client, and this is why we prescribe every customer upon the completion of their project a step-by-step guide that they need to follow to keep their pavers looking great. We also offer maintenance routines to compliment the customers efforts or full service plans to completely maintain the pavers and natural stone. What happens after a paver restoration job or seal job is equally as important as the job itself.

If you’re located in Ft Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, Cape Coral, Venice, Sarasota or Bradenton, FL and would like to speak with us regarding your paver or natural stone pool deck, driveway, patio or HOA area, please share your contact information with us by completing this contact form on our website. We will contact you promptly to discuss your project with you and get you set up to provide an estimate.

If you would like more information about why you should seal your pavers, Chicago brick, travertine or other natural stone, please click here.

{Video Transcript}

Should you seal new pavers?

Hey, it’s Mark with Perfect Paver Co here in the Boca Raton area. I wanted to discuss the question, should I seal my newly installed pavers or should I seal my pavers that were just installed? So this is a customer who just recently had these pavers installed maybe six months ago. They probably could have had us here a little bit sooner, but they’re doing the right thing and that’s getting them sealed early. Now a lot of people think that sealing pavers is more of an aesthetic improvement. You know, it’s kind of like cars. For example. The main purpose of a car is for transportation. The beauty of the car, how you look in the car, that’s secondary. When it comes to sealing pavers, most people think that sealing them is just for aesthetics. The aesthetics is the secondary reason why you seal. The most important reason you want to seal your pavers when they’re newly installed is to protect them, protect the color, protect the surface from deteriorating. 

Why should you seal new pavers?

As soon as you install pavers, the dyes and pigments that give the paver color start deteriorating from the sun’s UV rays that’s hitting them. Especially here in south Florida, you’re really gonna lose your color quick. So the sealer that we apply on pavers when they’re new acts like sunblock to the paver. It’s going to protect the paver from the sun soaking out the color. It’s also going to put a nice coat of protection on the paver that prevents the acid in the rain, and the deteriorating effect from the rain constantly pelting the surface. 

How long should you wait before sealing new pavers?

So, it’s very important to seal your pavers right away. Now we suggest maybe waiting 30 to 60 days, to let the rain really hit it, and wash off the construction debris, let that stone sit and breathe a little bit. But at that 60 day point, its ready to be sealed. So today, we’re going to be doing a light clean on this project, install polymeric sand and seal it. 

Sealing new pavers can also help keep mold away

You can see these pavers are starting to get some mold growth already occurring in the joints. So we’re going to steam clean it. We’re going to be getting all of that organic build-up out of the joints. We use steam because steam is actually one of the only effective ways at killing mold. Bleach does not kill mold. Chlorine does not kill mold. Bleach and chlorine simply remove the leaf from the microscopic mold spore and leaves the spore still intact to grow back. So the only effective way to kill the mold spore is with very hot water, which is why we steam clean, or with acid. And actually, when we finish your project, we’re going to be giving you some aftercare instructions on how to maintain your pavers with the usage of a special high acidity level white vinegar. 

Seal your new pavers for the right reasons

So that’s that. But, it’s extremely important. Seal your pavers right away. Seal for the right reasons. It’s going to look, you know, enhanced when we’re done, assuming you go with our wet look sealer. And in fact, a lot of people are choosing not to seal their pavers because they don’t want them to look wet, they don’t want them to look glossy. And that’s okay too. You still need to protect them. We can use a natural look sealer, and it’s not going to change the way the paver looks, but the pavers are going to be protected. Your investment is going to be protected and they’re going to stay looking great for a long time. So again, Mark with Perfect Paver Co. 

Hire Us

If you’re located in Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio areas or Martin, St Lucie, Palm Beach, Broward, Lee or Collier County, FL then contact us to seal your new pavers.

Why should I seal my pavers or natural stone?

This is a great question, and one we feel isn’t asked enough. Each type of exterior surface needs maintained and protected in its own unique way and for its own unique reasons. Too often, we see companies apply a one-size-fits all technique to all surfaces.

Concrete Pavers – Most paver driveways and paver pool decks that you’ll see in Florida are made from concrete. When these pavers are made, the manufacturer mixes concrete with color pigments to achieve the color of the paver. Once these pavers are installed, they are exposed to the sun’s UV rays, acid in rain, impact from rain, salt in the air and in salt water pools, traffic, etc. The sun’s rays will deteriorate the color pigment in the paver causing them to slowly loose their color. The other elements cause a breakdown of the finer cement material on the surface of the paver exposing the rocks in the concrete mix. These rocks don’t accept the color pigment during the manufacturing process, so they will be their natural color and not the color of the paver.

These are concrete pavers. Notice the line down the middle. The pavers on the right appear more worn than the pavers on the left. That’s because the pavers on the left are under a roof overhang that blocks out the sun and rain. The pavers on the right get exposure to the sun and rain. Had these pavers been sealed, the pavers on the right would look like the pavers on the left.

Travertine, Limestone and Natural Stone Pavers – Unlike concrete pavers, travertine and limestone pavers are natural. No color pigment has been used to achieve their color, so you will never have to worry about color loss from natural stone. However, rain and salt in the air and in salt water pools will deteriorate travertine and limestone pavers over time. By sealing the travertine, this will help prevent this from happening. Properly protected, these types of materials will outlive the home. Unprotected when exposed to these elements, expect them to last as long as man made products.

Equally as important as sealing travertine, limestone and other natural stones is keeping the sand material locked in the joints or gaps between each stone. This is assuming these stones were sand set and not mortar set. On sand set natural stone installations, the sand must be installed in the joints for several reasons. A few are: 1. to create a cushion from one stone to the next to help minimize chipping, 2. Achieve friction between each stone so that the stones move up and down as one and not independent of each other causing unevenness, 3. The sand in the joints prevents heavy rains and cleaning from washing out and eroding the sand bed beneath the pavers. This is the leading cause to unevenness between one stone to the next. We see it often where a client has a travertine pool deck full of uneven stones. The thing they all have in common is, the joints are empty from frequent pressure washing or neglect. 4. When the joints are empty, they are prone to fill up with airborne organic material that blows across the stones and begins to collect. This organic material turns the gaps between your stones in to a mold and vegetation breading ground.

To combat all of this, our process on natural stone includes washing out the organic build up and sand from the joints and replacing it with our Polymeric Sand Grout which will lock itself in the joints preventing erosion of both the sand joint and the sand bed beneath the pavers.

The picture below will show you unevenness/settling in travertine pavers as well as deterioration caused by salt water in the pool.

Chicago Brick –  Although Chicago Brick and Clay Pavers are man made, their color is achieved in a completely different manor. No pigments are used. Instead, when these brick are made the color is determined by the clay used to make the paver and by how hot and how long the pavers are cooked in the kiln. These types of pavers will not loose their colors. However, similar to natural stone, they can deteriorate from salt in the air and in salt water pools. Therefore, they need to be protected when installed when these elements exist. Brick are very porous, so they can often store a lot of moisture. This constant damp environment can lead to major black mold growth. Sealing pavers with a water repellant type sealer will stop the penetration of water in to the paver which will dramatically reduce these issues.

In addition to sealing, we strongly suggest keeping the joints of Chicago Brick filled with sand. Due to the inconsistency in size of the Chicago Brick, there are almost always lager gaps/joints between each stone than other types of pavers. These joints, if not filled with sand, allow the pavers to shift and move. Overtime, this can lead to major issues. To combat this, our process on Chicago Brick includes washing out the organic build up and sand from the joints and replacing it with our Polymeric Sand Grout which will lock itself in the joints preventing erosion of both the sand joint, the sand bed beneath the pavers and keep help prevent the pavers from shifting.

The picture below shows how bad mold will get on Chicago Brick. Notice in the after picture our Polymeric Sand Grout looks like the pavers had been grouted or mortared together.

We specialize in paver restoration throughout Ohio and Florida.

Currently, our Florida service area is Palm Beach County, Broward County, Martin and St Lucie Counties and Naples / Ft Myers / Bonita Springs.

If you would like to discuss your project with us, please visit our contact form to share your information with us and we will contact you. Feel free to also call us at any of the phone numbers listed at the top of this page.

Unfortunately, it’s very common to drive through just about any neighborhood in South Florida and see tons of paver driveways that have been sealed incorrectly. Even an untrained eye can tell its incorrect typically due to the white haze cast over top of the pavers. The paver sealing business is one of the easiest business to start so we constantly see new start up businesses jumping into the market claiming to be an expert at paver sealing. These are usually painters, pressure washing contractors, handymen, etc. They’ve heard that you can get $1.25 or more per sq ft sealing pavers and they’re going to get rich by offering paver sealing services as well.

They receive their first call, and you’re the victim. They meet with you and they seem nice. They are nice. They are just people like you and me trying to make a dollar and grow our business. Typically, they aren’t out to cause you harm or do a bad job. I think most of them actually want to do the best job. The problem is, its what they don’t know that eventually causes the harm. They give you a price of $800 for your 2,000 square foot driveway. That’s $.40 per square foot. What a deal, you think to yourself. With the money you’ve saved, why not go out this evening for a fine dinner with the family to celebrate.

So you give this contractor a 50% deposit to get started. He’ll insist on the deposit because he does not have the funds to purchase the material otherwise and he has not established a commercial credit rating yet that would allow him to purchase the products from a supplier on credit. He takes the deposit and drives to the local big box hardware store and walks straight to the paint section to pick out the sealer that he’s going to use. There’s one that’s $250 per 5 gallons and one that’s $99.99 per 5 gallon bucket. Which one do you think he picks?

Let’s hold that thought and do a little math. The most common sealer brands that we see applied are Seal N Lock or Cobble Loc. WE DO NOT USE EITHER OF THESE PRODUCTS.

Seal N Lock: As you’ll see here, the cost of a 5 gallon bucket of this sealer is $295.
Coverage Rate: They are saying you get 200 square feet per gallon or 1,000 square feet per 5 gallons.

First Problem: This type of sealer is called a joint stabilizing sealer. This means that the sealer is designed to soak down in to the sand between the pavers and when it dries, it turns the sand hard. There’s no way possible to apply this product at 200 square feet per gallon and have the sealer soak down in to the joint enough to properly harden it more than about 1/4″-3/8″. This means that if you’re applying this sealer at the recommended coverage rate, its only going to harden the top 1/4″-3/8″ leaving the remaining 2″ of sand soft in the joint. In order to adequately stabilize the sand joint with a water based sealer we recommend using a maximum of 100 sq ft per gallon for joints up to 1/8″ wide and a maximum of 70 sq ft per gallon for joints up to 1/4″ wide.

Why would this manufacturer give an incorrect coverage rate? Simple, they want their product to be the cheapest per square foot making contractors more profitable and more likely to use their products.

Second Problem (His Problem Becomes Your Problem): Ok, back to doing the math. Let’s just say for discussion purposes that you’re hiring this contractor to clean and seal your 2,000 square foot driveway and he’s charging you $800. So, we know that based on the “recommended coverage rate” of the manufacturer  of 200 square feet per gallon, he will need 10 gallons. Again, we’re saying there’s no way possible you’re getting proper penetration of the joints at 200 sq ft per gallon. So, the cost of 5 gallons is $295 and they’re saying it will cover 1,000 square feet. So based on this, your contractor will need to spend $600 + tax for the sealer alone. Since he charged you $800, he has less than $200 left over to pay for his time, his equipment, his truck, his insurance, his workers compensation, his taxes, etc, etc, etc.

He starts doing the math himself and realizes, he’s not going to make any money on the job. When he gets the product, he realizes he’s in control of mixing the product. You see, these types of sealers give you part A and part B and you mix those together with water. If you want to increase your coverage rate, simply add more water. This means more profit for the contractor and lower quality for you. So he does your job and doubles the recommended amount of water, and he gets away with it. It looks fine for a couple months. So he keeps doing it on every job. If its a big job and he really wants it, he just adds more water so that he can get the cost down even lower.

Keep in mind, we’re saying at a minimum, if you’re trying to stabilize the sand joints, which is the secondary purpose of this joint stabilizing sealer, he should be applying it at 100 sq ft per gallon. So, now lets do the math based on the coverage rate that he should be using.

2,000 square feet / 100 square feet per gallon = 20 gallons of sealer. AKA (4) 5 gallon buckets x $295 (the cost of the sealer per 5 gal bucket) = $1,180.00 and he only charged you $800. Hmmmm. He’s either A. not going to be in business long because he’s loosing money, B. He’s diluting the sealer with way too much water or B. He’s not applying the sealer at the recommended coverage rate.

I say this every day. “There’s a race in Florida to make the cheapest paver sealer and then there’s a race to be the cheapest applicator/contractor that applies it. These are two races we’ll never participate in”.

The types of sealers above are water based sealers. Water is the ingredient or vehicle that takes the “plastic” in the sealer down in to the paver. The water evaporates or drains out leaving the plastic to protect the paver. The more water, the less plastic. In Florida, we strongly recommend using a water based sealer. However, just because you’re using a water based sealer, doesn’t mean it’s good. Water is not the key ingredient in water based sealers. It’s the type of “plastic”, the % of water, other ingredients that prevent stains and block UV rays from the sun that make one water based sealer better than the next. The best water based sealers are acrylic water based sealers.

The other types of sealers we see used in Florida are called solvent based. When these types of sealers go bad, its a nightmare. We see these used a lot by painters and handymen because they’re rolled on. The problem with these solvent based sealers is that they almost always, eventually turn a milky white over time requiring them to be stripped off. They are typically slippery. They show roller marks. And they are very high VOC (not environmentally friendly). If your contractor wants to use a solvent based sealer on your pavers, RUN. These sealers are thick and lay on top of the pavers. They prevent any moisture and water from penetrating the surface. Consequently, they also prevent water or moisture from escaping from the ground. Florida has a high water table level and this water and moisture is constantly trying to escape up through the surface. When the water tries to evaporate up through the paver, it gets trapped by the sealer. Over time, this process develops a hydraulic pressure that eventually breaks the bond that the sealer has with the paver. We call this delaminating. When the sealer delaminates, a void is created that fills up with moisture. The moisture and trapped air gives a white appearance to the sealer. When this happens, the sealer must be either chemically stripped or sand blasted off the surface. Both of these are very costly.

Bottom line, like with most things in life, but especially with paver sealing, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. I feel that we’ve done a great job of offering a superior value, we’ve just not figured out how to be the cheapest. And we never will so long as people continue to hire the types of contractors I explained above. I broke down our business in to 4 categories: Our Materials, Our People, Our Equipment and Our Customer Service. I set out to offer the best in each of these categories so that I could offer the best to you, our customer. Each of these 4 categories come with a price. We add those costs up, and that determines how much we charge you. Decrease the quality or eliminate one or more of these categories and the price goes down. Which ones are you willing to give up? But that doesn’t fit our business model. We’ve found that there are enough quality minded people who are willing to pay a little more for peace of mind, and those people hire us. Potential customers tell me all the time, “these types of contractors wouldn’t be in business if they were doing what you say”. The reality is, many people will take huge risks to save money. If they hear cheap, that don’t hear anything else. Some people hear cheap and they run away; others run towards.

If you’re wanting a great value at a fair cost, we’re the best choice. Just keep in mind that how fair the price is, is relative to how great the value. Give us a call at (561) 614-1277 or (772) 249-3460 or complete the estimate form on our website.

We service all of Miami-Dade, Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Sarasota, Broward, Palm Beach, St Lucie and Martin Counties. For larger projects and commercial projects, we service all of Florida.

Miami, Palm Beach Gardens, Port St Lucie, Palm City, Jupiter, Hobe Sound, West Palm Beach, Wellington, Vero Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Lake Worth, Palm Beach, Naples, Ft Myers, Venice, Sarasota and everywhere near by and in between.

Thank you for reading – Mark Rhodus | President