Paver Sealing & Sanding
Riverstone

Where irrigation water carries iron, it oxidizes orange wherever sprinklers hit hardscape. On Riverstone’s light pavers it shows clearly from the street.

Pressure washing harder does not remove it and can scar the paver face. Paver-safe rust treatment loosens the iron, and a careful rinse takes it away.

Bikes, scooters and two-car households wear on driveway joints, and storms wash sand out a little at a time. Polymeric re-sanding locks pavers in place.

Sealing finishes the job. It closes the pores so iron, oil and algae have less to grip and every future cleaning goes faster.

Light pavers also show tire marks, oil drips and the dark patches where cars sit overnight. We pre-treat those before cleaning so the whole drive comes out one even color before the sealer goes on.

GL Homes built Riverstone to a fairly uniform, recent standard, so many drives on a street share the same light paver. One drive that stays clean and evenly toned stands out for the right reasons, and the written record we send helps with HOA files and resale.

A GL Homes community from 2012. Riverstone sits off Logan Boulevard, north of Immokalee Road and east of I-75. GL Homes held its grand opening in late January 2012, drawing over 2,000 visitors and recording 42 sales that weekend. Listings show homes built from 2012 to 2017, so the oldest drives are well over a decade old. That is about when joint sand loss starts to show as dips along the garage apron and weeds in the walkway joints.

640 acres with lakes and preserve. The community covers 640 acres, with roughly 300 to 372 acres of lakes and preserves depending on the source. Lake lots stay humid, and paver patios that face the water dry slowly after rain or irrigation. We rinse toward the lawn on lake lots and roll sealer near the bank rather than spraying it, so nothing drifts onto the water.

Bigger homes, bigger drives. Floor plans run from about 2,081 to 4,742 square feet with two to six bedrooms, and most homes have three-car garages, tile roofs and paver drives, walkways and patios. A three-car drive with a side walk usually falls in the standard driveway tier, and a large patio or pool deck is quoted on its own line. Because pavers run from the curb to the back patio on many homes, we often seal the entire property in one visit so the color matches.

Families, bikes and sports. The six-acre amenity center includes a 13,000-square-foot clubhouse with an activities director, a fitness center, an indoor sports complex, a resort-style pool, a lap pool, a playground, basketball, a sports field, tennis, pickleball and a walking path. With that many active households, drives carry bikes, scooters and sports gear daily. Bike tires and kickstands are hard on joints, so we pay extra attention to compacting sand near the garage, where wheels turn.

Pool decks and patios out back. Many Riverstone homes have a paver pool deck or open patio facing a lake or preserve. Sunscreen, pool chemicals and grill grease leave films that sealer will not bond to, so we degrease those areas before sanding. On decks people cross barefoot and wet, we use a slip-resistant sealer and keep to one even coat.

Young pavers and white haze. On homes from the later build years, pavers can still push out efflorescence, a chalky white bloom from inside the material. It should be cleaned off with a suitable cleaner before sealing; otherwise a film-forming sealer can lock it in and leave a cloudy look.

The entrance waterfall sets the tone. A 40-foot cascading waterfall marks the entry, and the streetscape is kept tidy. With so many similar light drives side by side, a stained one stands out. If you plan to change the finish from natural to wet look, check with your HOA first; we provide the product name and finish details for the request.

Sanding the joints. Polymeric sand only goes down after the pavers are completely dry. We sweep it to roughly an eighth of an inch below the paver’s top edge, run a plate compactor over it, sweep and compact once more, then mist each section with a gentle shower until it is evenly wet. Where old sand has broken down, Alliance Gator recommends clearing it at least an inch and a half deep before refilling, and we follow that.

Rain and the wait before sealer. Some sands are rain-safe within about 15 minutes on a draining base, while others need a full day. The wait between sanding and sealing ranges from about a day to as long as a month, depending on the sealer. Sand cure before sealing follows the label, and we tell you up front whether your job will take one visit or two.

Keeping light pavers light. Many owners here prefer a natural, penetrating sealer that keeps the original pale color and leaves no film. An enhancing sealer deepens color, which some owners like, but it can darken light pavers more than expected, so we test a small corner first. Pool decks always get a slip-resistant product in a single coat.