Wet look

Two makers carry the phrase in a product name, and their own descriptions show what it refers to.

Techniseal's product guide says its Wet Look Protector enhances the original color of pavers, forms an ultra-durable protective film, is solvent based and is labeled Gloss. Seal 'n Lock calls its two-part, water based urethane Super-Wet-Look and says it appears white when first applied but dries crystal clear. Read together, the two descriptions point to what the wet in the name means: a clear, cured coat that deepens the color underneath, not water left on the surface. ICPI uses the word too, in passing: Tech Spec 5 says some sealers add a glossy sheen or wet look to the pavement, printing wet inside quotation marks, and describes the effect elsewhere as gloss and enhanced color. Between Techniseal's Gloss and Matte labels sits a third finish, defined at satin finish.

Gloss and darkening are what a wet-look finish trades on, and the paver cleaning page's comparison of sealer finishes sets that finish beside the flat one penetrating sealers give.

Darkening is not unique to gloss. ICPI says most sealers change the appearance of a paver surface by darkening it and enhancing its color, so how much darker a surface gets under any product is its own question, answered at will sealing make my pavers darker. A glossy coat is also a film that wears, and ICPI's only service-life wording, written for acrylics, is that they generally last a few years before re-coating is required. How many coats a wet-look product calls for is a label instruction, covered at how many coats of sealer pavers need. Whether an association's appearance standards reach a change in sheen is taken up at does a wet-look sealer need HOA approval. Its flatter counterpart, natural look, names a finish rather than a chemistry, as the entry at natural look explains.