Shellock Pavement: Why You Need To Seal Them Today

Shellock is more than just a functional surface. They are also an elegant addition to the areas around your pools or other particular areas at home. Whether you put your shellock in a pathway or around your pool, you ought to consider sealing it to maintain this aesthetic feature of your home. Maintaining your shellock paver is worth every investment as removing it and reinstalling a new set of shellock pavements is much more costly compared to simply sealing it. 

Shellock pavers are known for their aesthetic features. The truth is, whether you opt to install your shellock pavers outside in the driveway or the pool or inside around your fireplace, this type of material makes a cozy feel that is both elegant and natural. However, when deciding on adding shellock pavers to your property, you need to consider the seriousness of having to maintain this material to keep its quality and functionality. With all this in mind, you may ask, “Do I need to seal my shellock pavers?” Instead of answering that question with a simple “yes,” see why you might think this is beneficial in this post. 

Do You Need to Seal Your Shellock Pavement? 

Sealing Shellock pavers is integral to the durability and maintaining the beauty of the shellock. Using a penetrating shellock paver sealer, like Ure-Seal, will increase the tensile strength of the shellock pavers by up to 30% while also filling all the capillaries and pores throughout the concrete that “locks” the seashells together. Once those capillaries and pores are filled, oils, liquids, and rust will not be able to absorb into the shellock tiles. After shellock sealing, chemicals and other natural elements may compromise the quality of the pavement. Instead of being absorbed, they simply bead up on the surface of the pavement and can be easily rinsed off with a garden hose! So don’t worry about the tipped-over wine glass on your shellock pool deck when it’s sealed, as the staining liquid won’t be able to absorb into the porous shellock paver tiles! However, if left unsealed, shellock pavements will be extremely vulnerable to absorbing stains, as nothing is protecting those pores. Without a seal, shellock soak any liquids, oils, oxidation, rust from metals, or that spilled glass of chardonnay!

Protect Your Pavement Increase Its Aesthetic Value and Prolong Shellock Life 

In addition to protecting the actual substrate, having your shellock sealed will stabilize the joint sand found between the tiles. If left unsealed, the joint sand that was washed or swept between the joints, that keeps them from wiggling or moving, the sand will wash out from rainwater, pool water, or roof run-off, and inevitably, your shellock pool deck or shellock driveway will have so much sand loss. The shellock tiles will begin to shift, wiggle, wobble, or in most cases, the sand base the shellock lies on will start to wash out from below, referred to as degradation or “Subsurface Erosion.” This will eventually make the shell lock tiles sink or rise in some areas creating an un-level and unsafe surface.

In addition to the maintenance benefits of having your shellock paver tiles sealed, you can also get a pleasant aesthetic look if you go with the wet look, semi-gloss or natural. Customers often have a common misconception that if the brick pavers, travertine, or shellock pavers being sealed are shiny, they will be slippery once wet. In some cases, this can be true. To solve this issue, Pavers contractors apply a non-slip polymer additive on our last coat of paver sealant to ensure that a lightly textured surface is left behind which will increase the coefficient of friction of the surface. If you do not want that gloss in your shellock pavement, we also offer natural finish, no-gloss, and wet-look options. 

Not sure about what you want for your shellock pavement maintenance service yet? We will be more than glad to help you decide. You can consult our travertine page to learn more about the coefficient of friction, and what that means for your surface becoming non-slip when we complete your residential or commercial brick paver sealing project. 

We Take Your Safety Seriously

Every time we accept shellock pavement sealing, we ensure we provide what you need and ensure that as we finish our work, your safety is a priority once you put your shellock pavement at work again. Whether you have your shellock pavements around the pool or in the driveway, or if you have this shellock indoors, maintaining them will be vital to your property’s aesthetic value and our safety in the long run. If you want to know more about our shellock sealing services, please get in touch with us today.