Brick sealing uses a breathable sealer on clay brick so the masonry can still release moisture while the face resists water, staining and moss. Sealing clay brick with the wrong film forming product traps moisture behind the face and causes spalling. Brick paths, patios, columns and walls all seal well when the product is matched to the brick. Sarasota Paver Sealing Pros include a 3 year warranty.
Clay brick shows up all over older Sarasota neighborhoods: herringbone entry walks, garden paths, mailbox and gate columns, low garden walls, and the occasional original brick street edge. It has a warmth that concrete paver does not, and it holds its color for decades because the color is fired into the clay rather than mixed into a surface layer.
Brick sealing is one of our listed services. It calls for a different product than a concrete paver takes, and the wrong choice does real damage, so it is worth having someone look at the actual brick before anything goes down. We work across Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice and Lakewood Ranch. Call 941-266-5284 for a free on site assessment.
Why does clay brick need a different sealer than concrete pavers?
Because brick has to breathe. Clay brick and the mortar around it move moisture constantly, drawing it from the ground or from a wall and releasing it through the face. If you put a heavy film sealer over that face, the moisture cannot get out and it collects just behind the surface instead.
In Florida heat that trapped moisture expands, and the result is spalling, where the face of the brick pops off in flakes and leaves a soft, raw looking patch. It cannot be repaired, only replaced. That single failure mode is why we use breathable, vapor permeable products on clay brick and why we are careful about sealing brick that is already showing moisture problems.
| What you see | What is causing it | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Face of the brick flaking off | Trapped moisture behind a non breathable coating or salt | Replacement, and a breathable sealer going forward |
| White chalky bloom | Efflorescence, salts carried out by moisture | Efflorescence cleaner plus fixing the moisture source |
| Green or black growth on a shaded path | Moss and algae on damp brick | Root level treatment, then seal |
| Mortar joints crumbling or missing | Age, or erosion from high pressure washing | Repointing before any sealing |
| Bricks rocking underfoot | Joint sand washed out of a sand set walk | Clean out, refill, compact and seal |
| Dark staining at the base of a column | Irrigation spray or soil banked against the brick | Correct the source, then clean and seal |
| Orange staining across brick | Iron in well water from irrigation | Rust remover suited to masonry |
What is the white bloom on my brick and mortar?
That is efflorescence, and on brick it comes from soluble salts inside the masonry and mortar being carried to the surface by moisture, where the water evaporates and leaves the salt behind. It is white, chalky and comes back after a rain if the moisture source is still there, which is why washing it never seems to fix it permanently.
The treatment is a proper efflorescence cleaner, not pressure. But the bigger question is where the moisture is coming from. A sprinkler head hitting a brick column daily, a downspout dumping at the base of a wall, or soil piled above the damp course on a low wall will all keep producing it. We look for the source and tell you, because sealing over active efflorescence just locks it under the finish.
How do you clean brick without damaging the face or the mortar?
Carefully. Old clay brick and older lime rich mortar are softer than they look, and high pressure will erode the mortar joints and open the brick face so it holds dirt and grows moss faster afterward. Once a joint has been washed out, you are into repointing, which is a bigger job than the cleaning was.
We use low pressure with the right cleaner and let dwell time do the work. Moss and algae, which love a shaded Sarasota brick path, get a treatment that kills them at the root instead of just knocking the green off. Acid based masonry cleaners have their place on brick but they need real care around plants and metal, and we would rather use the gentler option that works than the fast one that scars.
What we look for before sealing clay brick
- Whether the brick is already spalling, which changes the whole plan
- Whether a previous coating is on it and whether that coating breathes
- Condition of the mortar joints, and whether repointing comes first
- Active efflorescence and where the moisture feeding it is coming from
- Irrigation heads spraying the brick and downspouts discharging at the base
- Soil or mulch banked up against a wall or column base
- Whether a walk is sand set or mortar set
- Shaded stretches where moss and algae have taken hold
Will sealing change the color of my brick?
A natural breathable sealer leaves clay brick looking essentially the same, just cleaner and slightly more even. That is what most owners of a traditional brick walk or column want, since part of the appeal of brick is that it does not look coated.
An enhancing product deepens the red and brings out the variation, closer to how brick looks right after a rain. It is a real change in appearance and it is not easily reversed, so we sample it on a small area of your own brick and let you look at it in daylight before deciding. We will not put a high gloss film on clay brick, because gloss on brick both looks wrong and raises the moisture trapping risk.
Can you seal brick columns, walls and mailbox piers?
Yes, and vertical brick has its own considerations. A wall or column is fed moisture from the ground upward and from rain driven horizontally, and the top of a column or pier is the most exposed surface on the whole structure. That is usually where staining, moss and cap joint failure start.
We treat the cap and the top courses with particular attention, check that the cap joints are sound before sealing, and look for the same moisture sources that cause efflorescence: irrigation spray, downspout discharge and soil banked up against the base. Vertical brick often gets sealed at the same visit as a brick walk or entry, since the setup is already there.
What about the joints in a brick walk or patio?
Older Sarasota brick installs are typically sand set, so the joints behave like any paver joint. Sand washes out, moss establishes in the damp remainder, and once the joints drop the bricks start to shift underfoot. Those joints get cleaned out, refilled with the correct sand and sealed so the sand hardens.
Some brick work is mortar set, and that is a different situation. Cracked or missing mortar in a brick walk lets water straight into the base and needs repointing before sealing, otherwise you are sealing a surface that is still taking on water underneath. We will tell you which type you have and what it needs when we look at it.
