Is sealing your driveway worth it? An honest answer

Sealing gets sold hard, so it is worth being straight about where it earns its keep.

Worth it. Block paving benefits enormously. A breathable impregnating sealer stabilises the kiln-dried sand, dramatically slows weed growth in the joints, and makes oil and tyre marks far easier to lift. On Indian sandstone and other porous natural stone, sealing reduces the black spot lichen that is otherwise almost impossible to keep on top of.

Sometimes worth it. Porcelain rarely needs it — it is essentially non-porous already. Concrete flags take it well but the visual difference is modest.

Not worth it. Tarmac does not want a film-forming sealer. Anything still damp underneath should never be sealed; you simply lock the moisture in and get a milky bloom that takes months to clear.

Timing matters more than product. The surface must be fully clean, fully dry, and the forecast must be dry for at least 24 hours afterwards. That usually means sealing is a return visit a few days after the clean, not a same-day add-on.

Done properly on the right surface, a seal buys you two to four years of a driveway that only needs rinsing rather than restoring.