5 Signs Your Pavers Need to Be Resealed

How to Know It's Time

Most homeowners try to track the last time they had their pavers sealed and reseal on a schedule. That approach works reasonably well, but Arizona's intense UV and heat mean sealer can fail faster than expected — and there is a simpler method than calendar-watching.

Watch for these five signs. If you see any one of them, it is worth getting a free inspection. If you see two or more, it is past time to reseal. Acting at the first sign keeps the job straightforward and affordable. Waiting until full failure often means a costlier strip-and-reseal rather than a simple clean-and-coat.

Sign 1: Fading Color

Your pavers looked rich and vibrant when they were first sealed. Now they look washed out, chalky, or dull. That visual shift is not cosmetic — it is your pavers telling you the UV protection is gone.

Sealer contains UV-absorbing compounds that sacrifice themselves to protect the pigments in the paver beneath. As the sealer degrades under Arizona's extreme UV index, those compounds are used up. Once they are gone, UV hits the paver directly, breaking down iron oxide and other pigments that give the pavers their color.

What to look for: Compare pavers in a shaded area (under an overhang or near a wall) to those in full sun. If the sun-exposed pavers look noticeably lighter or duller, the sealer has failed in those areas.

Sign 2: Weeds Are Back

A properly sealed surface locks down the polymeric sand in the joints. That sand, when set correctly, creates a hard barrier that prevents weed seeds from taking root. When the sealer fails, the sand surface breaks down — and weeds push right through.

If you had your pavers professionally sealed and the joints were properly filled with polymeric sand, seeing weeds return is a reliable indicator that the seal on the joint sand has failed. The weeds are not a separate problem to treat — they are a symptom of a sealer that has run its course.

What to look for: Weeds growing directly out of the joints between pavers, especially along the edges where moisture collects.

Sign 3: Water Soaks In (The Drop Test)

This is the most reliable DIY test for sealer condition, and you can do it in under a minute.

Pour a tablespoon of water onto the paver surface and watch what happens:

• Water beads up and sits on the surface: Sealer is working. You are fine.
• Water absorbs slowly (30–60 seconds): Sealer is thinning. Consider scheduling a reseal soon.
• Water absorbs in under 30 seconds: Sealer is effectively gone. Schedule now.

A healthy sealer acts as a hydrophobic barrier. When that barrier is gone, water — and everything dissolved in it, including oil, minerals, and organic material — penetrates the paver surface and begins causing damage from within. In Arizona, that also means monsoon water can saturate the paver base and shift the substrate.

Sign 4: Stains Are Harder to Clean

One of the primary benefits of sealed pavers is stain resistance. Oil from a car drip, food spills on a sealed patio, rust from metal furniture — all of these should wipe up from a properly sealed surface with minimal effort and a standard cleaner.

When the sealer degrades, those same stains begin penetrating the paver material itself. The longer they sit without a protective barrier, the deeper they go — and some stains, particularly oil and rust, become permanent once they have fully saturated an unsealed paver.

What to look for: Dark spots that will not come out with a standard cleaner, rust marks around furniture legs, or oil stains in the driveway that seem to sink in rather than wipe off.

Sign 5: Sand Is Washing Away

After a heavy monsoon rain, walk your paved area and look at the low points — the edges, the drain areas, the street gutter in front of your driveway. If you see sand deposits washed to those locations, the joint sand in your paver field is no longer locked in.

Joint sand erosion is a structural problem, not just an aesthetic one. The sand provides lateral restraint for the paver system — it keeps individual pavers from shifting under load. When joints hollow out, pavers wobble, edges sink, and the entire surface becomes vulnerable to accelerated damage.

What to look for: Sandy deposits at the edges or drain areas after rain, visible gaps between pavers, or a hollow sound when walking on certain sections.

What to Do Next

If you noticed one or more of these signs, the next step is a free inspection — not a rushed reseal. The condition of your existing sealer determines whether you need a straightforward clean and reseal, or whether stripping the old sealer first is required.

Go Go Gloss offers free on-site inspections for homeowners in Scottsdale and Metro Phoenix. A technician will assess your paver surface, check moisture levels, inspect the joints, and give you an honest recommendation — including whether it is something you can hold off on for a season.

Call us at (602) 364-9304 or request a quote online. Most jobs are scheduled within the week.