Paver Sealing & Sanding
West Bay Club

Recent West Bay Club listings include well and reclaimed irrigation. Well water is the classic cause of orange rust stains on Southwest Florida pavers, and reclaimed water can leave similar overspray.

Humid, preserve-side settings also keep pavers damp, which encourages algae in shaded areas and on pool decks. Removing it and sealing makes surfaces cleaner and safer underfoot.

Polymeric sand restores joints that storms have washed out, and a sealer closes the surface so stains stay on top where a rinse removes them.

Off Williams Road, beside the bay. West Bay Club sits behind a gate off Williams Road, east of US-41 in Estero 33928, Lee County. It covers 868 acres and borders roughly 500 acres of nature preserve and wetlands next to Estero Bay. Air coming off the bay carries moisture and some salt, and preserve-edge lots rarely dry out completely in the wet season. Pavers here are as likely to be green at the edges as orange in the sprinkler arcs.

Homes from 1998 on. The first residents arrived in 1998 and the golf course opened in 1999, with new homes and a new tower still coming. So the community holds paver drives over twenty-five years old next to ones laid in the last few months. Original drives often have joints washed low by years of pressure washing and storms; new ones may show white efflorescence bloom in the first months, which should be cleaned off before any film-forming sealer, because Techniseal notes such coatings carry a small risk of trapping it.

Nine neighborhoods, three building types. The club is organized into nine neighborhoods of single-family homes, condominiums and high-rise condos. Single-family homes are usually one-story CBS stucco with tile roofs and their own paver drive and pool deck. Condo and tower pavers at entries, drop-offs and pool terraces belong to the association, and we quote those to the board or manager with a COI. The final tower, The Island, was approved with 86 units.

Fairways by Pete and P.B. Dye. The golf course was designed by Pete and P.B. Dye and refreshed by Fry/Straka in 2018. Homes along it see course irrigation and fertilizer drift onto rear patios. Fertilizer granules can leave rust-colored dots that look much like well-water stains; both are lifted with paver-safe rust chemistry and rinsed to neutral before sand or sealer goes down.

Well water versus reclaimed water. Because listings show both sources here, we ask which your home uses. Well water tends to stain heavily and repeatedly, especially on light pavers. Sealing will not stop a sprinkler from hitting the drive, but it keeps the iron from soaking as deep, so maintenance cleanings go faster. Turning or capping the heads that spray the drive is the other half of the fix.

Joint repair the right way. Alliance Gator says failed joint sand should be removed at least an inch and a half deep, and warns against topping regular sand with polymeric. New sand goes onto a dry surface, finishes about an eighth of an inch below the paver’s bevel, and is compacted twice before a soft shower spray wets each section without letting any part dry out midway. Once cured, Gator says polymeric sand can usually take foot and vehicle traffic after 24 hours.

Rain and the gap before sealing. With afternoon storms off the bay, timing matters. Gator’s G2 sands can handle rain about 15 minutes after installation on a free-draining bed, but 24 hours on pavers set over a concrete slab. Sealer makers then add their own wait: SEK asks for at least 24 hours after sand activation or rain before SB-6000, Techniseal 30 days before its WA wet-look sealer. We use the label for the products on your job.

Pool terraces and the Beach Club crowd. Owners use the private Beach Club on the Gulf, which has been going through a renovation of more than twenty million dollars in phases, and come home with sand and sunscreen on their feet. Pool decks get degreased, rinsed, dried and then a slip-resistant sealer in a single coat. Techniseal warns that doubling up on low-porosity pavers can leave the surface slippery, so we do not apply a second coat near water.

Travertine around the pool. Some homes here use travertine rather than concrete pavers on the pool deck. Travertine gets a breathable penetrating sealer, not a film-forming wet look, so moisture from below can escape.

Ants, weeds and the preserve edge. Lots that back onto the preserve get a steady supply of seeds, leaf litter and ants moving into open joints. Mutual Materials, which distributes SEK Surebond, says joint-stabilizing acrylic sealers like SB-1300 and SB-7700 help hold joint sand in place and deter weed seed germination and ants. On those back patios we sweep out the debris, treat any green growth, and let the surface dry fully before sanding.

Access. Before every visit we check that our crew is on the gate list, either with you or with your property manager. Leave irrigation off overnight and the drive clear; we leave a written record of what was done.