Ruined patio

roki · Post: # 110348Post **roki** Mon Jul 25, 2016 8:40 am

I really need some advice we recently completed a 2yr plan of our garden. The patio is my problem we purchased a aqua limestone which when layed a year ago was great, the firm we purchased it from advised us to leave it a year before we applied anything to allow it to settle. 2 months ago we cleaned it with a basic patio cleaner and applied a sealer recommended for limestone it was applied as per instruction on a dry 2 weeks so was ideal weather, it appeared slightly enhanced in colour which was what i wanted to achieve then we went away for two weeks and came back to a stained mottled effect all over the patio. needless to say i was heartbroken. my husband recleaned with the basic patio cleaner and scrubbed each slab and the stains lifted slightly but the overal effect now is a patio covered with mottled slabs that looks like its been down for 10 years and i am not sure what to do with it other than ripping it up. i would appreciate any advise. i have a collection of photos if you need to see.

Captain Concrete · Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:12 pm

Need photos really.

Post: # 110363Post **seanandruby** Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:10 pm

Patio cleaners usually contain acid, best not to use them.
look here

Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:52 pm

if you have used an acid based cleaner it is probably ruined Kim
pictures please
thanks
LLL

Post: # 110376Post **Tony McC** Tue Jul 26, 2016 1:04 pm

Is it the cleaning that went wrong or is it the sealant?

Have a read of this FAQ Sealants Gone Bad

RAPressureWashing · Sat Jul 30, 2016 11:51 am

roki wrote:I really need some advice we recently completed a 2yr plan of our garden. The patio is my problem we purchased a aqua limestone which when layed a year ago was great, the firm we purchased it from advised us to leave it a year before we applied anything to allow it to settle. 2 months ago we cleaned it with a basic patio cleaner and applied a sealer recommended for limestone it was applied as per instruction on a dry 2 weeks so was ideal weather, it appeared slightly enhanced in colour which was what i wanted to achieve then we went away for two weeks and came back to a stained mottled effect all over the patio. needless to say i was heartbroken. my husband recleaned with the basic patio cleaner and scrubbed each slab and the stains lifted slightly but the overal effect now is a patio covered with mottled slabs that looks like its been down for 10 years and i am not sure what to do with it other than ripping it up. i would appreciate any advise. i have a collection of photos if you need to see.

What did you seal it with & what did you use to clean the paving? Product names please. Also can you post photos so I can see the damage.

Post: # 110477Post **Tony McC** Sat Jul 30, 2016 1:59 pm

It's that "basic patio cleaner" bit that scares me. So-called basic patio cleaners tend to be acid, but limestone and acid just don't play nice.

Some photies she's sent.....

.....and the accompanying explanatory text......

, these are two further picture of what im left with nearly all the
slabs are mottled and ruined.
i have been in contact with company who supplied the sealant and
although at first they were not helpful
i made myself a verbal nuisance, they sent me 3 different samples to
put on

extreme clean, pro strip, and sealer stripper,

only two of them looked like they did something but once scrubbed in
and power washed as per instructions they dried the same. They now
suggest that there was moisture in stone after talking to paving man
who supplied stone he assures me that limestone are hard and dense.Then
it was suggested it was the pointing between slabs ??? which was
concrete/sand, How???

as you can see i am getting alot of things suggested but they will not
come and view my slabs so help and advice is what i need. If you can
transfer these over to forum i would be grateful

RAPressureWashing · Sat Jul 30, 2016 7:30 pm

For me there are a couple of thing going on here, the dreaded "patio cleaner" has hydrochloric acid in it & then the sealer (re the cleaner most of them are acid based, how they get away with selling this stuff for natural stone is beyond me !!! and is not suitable especially for Limestone, don't care what the label etc says sorry) So you you cleaned the paving with the "patio cleaner" this then did it's damage, which at first you might not have noticed, then sealed which will and has made the damage stand out. This can most probably be sorted/rectified but isn't going to be cheap I'm afraid. What sealer was used?

roki · Post: # 110498Post **roki** Sun Jul 31, 2016 10:31 am

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Pictures showing the paving when wet.

roki · Post: # 110499Post **roki** Sun Jul 31, 2016 10:56 am

as a newby i am struggling to put pictures on so really wanted you to see these after a downpour of rain. wrong way but there! so you asked me what we used to clean patio Everbuild patio cleaner. The sealer applied on my lovely patio before disaster struck was Natural Stone Sealer suitable for limestone by Smartseal.

RAPressureWashing · Sun Jul 31, 2016 1:10 pm

Please tell me it wasn't this one
http://www.everbuild.co.uk/401-Brick-And-Patio-Cleaner

As for the sealer Smartseal, I'll keep my mouth shut re this one.

roki · Post: # 110503Post **roki** Sun Jul 31, 2016 7:44 pm

yep thats the one ----omg

what do i do now then??
do you think that smartseal product not responsible??
sand blast it????
Help someone :O

r896neo · Post: # 110512Post **r896neo** Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:41 am

Roger aka R&A pressure washing Is the forum expert on this stuff. Wait for his advice and follow it to the letter.

I think it can be sorted but it involves massive amounts of work re-honing the surface and using all sorts of very nasty chemicals. As a result is not cheap.

RAPressureWashing · Mon Aug 01, 2016 5:13 pm

roki wrote:yep thats the one ----omg

what do i do now then??
do you think that smartseal product not responsible??
sand blast it????
Help someone :O

No the Smartseal rubbish you have used won't have done this, what that sealer is, is a surface sealer (acrylic) and is totally the wrong sealer for natural stone, don't care what smart seal state or claim. You use an impregnating sealer for natural stone and with Black Limestone a colour enhancing impregnating sealer. As for the patio cleaner you have used, you might well have damaged the stone, I'd hope not beyond repair. The sealer is going to have to be stripped off, re-clean the surface and re-hone, allow to thoroughly dry the use a decent sealer, how big an area is this? would you feel confident of doing this? Reason I ask is the machine you are going to have use is around 60kgs and can be a handful.

Post: # 110527Post **Tony McC** Tue Aug 02, 2016 11:16 am

How would you advocate stripping the sealant, Roger? Scrubbing with xylene?

And you mention re-honing. Wouldn't this remove any sealant as part of the process?

I've not seen re-honing in-situ, so it intrigues me. I did oversee a sand/grit blast clean-up and the guy in charge was adamant that the sealant had to be removed first before blasting could take place, but couldn't explain why other than the usual "coz that's how we do it" reasoning.