Question
We have patio bricks outside and the previous owner applied a clear coat to them.The coating has turned very cloudy and milky. I power washed all of them ( 1652 of them). The bricks look like new again, but is it required to apply a clear coat protectant again ? The bricks are clay ( red).

Answer
Hey, Perry.

I'm not sure why anyone would clearcoat brick since, by its very nature, it is porous. The only way any type of coating would help is if you immersed each individual brick into a bucket of clearcoat so that every porous spot in the brick is filled with the clearcoat liquid. Without doing that,  any water that penetrates the brick will want to evaporate, and it will try to do that by rising throughout the brick, so the clearcoat eventually will peel off the brick and/or turn an ugly white color.

If you want new-looking bricks, a simple washing once a month should do the trick.