Look at this mess. The installer is a really nice guy and performed a good installation. Unfortunately for our owner, his cleanup should have been much better. We had to refer her to the section in our contract concerning the removal of excessive construction and installation debris. Hint: If your floor looks like this after installation, you need to have a talk with your installer.

The white thinset left over from installation is removed meticulously by hand. The upper right hand corner has now been cleaned and is in the condition that the installer should have left it in the first place. The owner elected to spend a pretty penny to have our highly skilled applicators perform this additional cleaning in order to keep her project on time.

A total of 5 colors are actually hand-applied to this floor in varying degrees of intensity. The final look will be created with multiple layers of color. This floor is being stained prior to grouting because the owner wants a dramatic contrast to a lighter grout.

More colorants are applied

More and more colorants are applied. We encourage the owner to stick around during this phase to help shape the final appearance of the floor and ensure satisfaction.

The staining and coloring is finally complete. A very substantial pre-seal has also been applied at this point to protect the surface during grouting. Please note that a paver floor is often stained after grouting rather than the method you are reviewing here. The difference is that the grout will be stained as well. Staining after grouting will still yield a beautiful floor and usually saves time.

Once the floor was grouted we made a handful of touchups to the stain. This installer grouted very carefully with a bag as required for optimum results with a stained floor. A sloppy installer or one who attempts to grout too much, too fast can severely scratch the surface of the pavers, removing the recently applied stain. We do not mind a few touchups, however occasionally a floor will be severely damaged due to poor grouting. In these cases repair costs can be significant. The floor was coated with sealer and a high sheen finish designed specifically for pavers. It allows for vapor transmission, will not yellow and does not react to UV light.

What a beautiful floor! Our coating is superior in appearance and strength. We have no competition that would even imagine building such a finish!