Why did my pavers fade?

Three different things can make a paver surface look faded from the curb, and each one leaves its own visible cue up close.

• A bare, unsealed surface that has weathered: an even paleness across the whole field, with no bright or dark patches.
• A sealer worn thin: faded or blotchy areas that stand out most when the surface is wet, which ASCC, writing about decorative concrete sealers, lists among the signs of a surface needing new sealer.
• Efflorescence: a whitish, powder-like haze sitting on top of the color rather than a change in the color itself.

Telling the three apart takes a look at the surface itself; a description or a photo cannot settle it.

Tremron, a Florida concrete paver manufacturer, puts it plainly on its FAQ page: "Over time all pavers will begin to fade if left unsealed." The same page says sealing is not necessary, and that sealing does retard fading of the color and gives a measure of protection from some stains. Whether a sealer slows that fade by any measured amount is a separate question, answered on whether paver sealer protects against sun fading.

A concrete paver's color is pigment in a cement surface, and years of sun, weather and wear change how that surface looks. None of the paver makers or industry bodies cited on this page explains the pigment chemistry of that fade or publishes a rate for it, so the mechanism is all this page can give, with no number attached.

ASCC, writing about decorative concrete sealers, lists "faded areas, and blotchiness, especially when the surface is wet" among the signs of a surface needing new sealer, and calls a sealer a sacrificial coat that should be expected to show wear over time. Unlike the even paleness of a bare paver, that wear reads as areas and blotches. How water shows where a sealer has worn is covered on why sealed pavers look darker when wet.

Sealer makers market their products against that look. Techniseal says of its own Protectors, "They are also ideal for giving a new lustre to faded pavers," and markets two of its Protectors, its wet-look and color-boost products, as enhancing the original color of pavers. Those are a maker's claims for its own product line, not a promise about any driveway. ICPI's description is narrower: most sealers darken the paver surface and enhance the color that is there, and none of the documents cited here says a clear sealer puts back pigment that wear has removed.

Whether a clean and seal makes old, faded pavers look new is answered on the paver cleaning page.

Efflorescence is not a loss of color. ICPI calls it "a whitish powder-like deposit which can appear on concrete products," and the deposit is calcium carbonate formed at the surface.

On newer pavers especially, that haze can be read as fading while the color underneath is unchanged. What the deposit is, in full, is on the efflorescence glossary entry, and whether a sealer would hide a haze or a stain already on a paver is answered on whether sealing hides stains on pavers.