Pointing going green - Green pointing

[wilbs]

Hi, I am a small landscpaing contractor and have been laying Indian Sandstone patios for about 8 ish years. I don't often have cause to revisit my work but last summer I laid about 60 sq m of sandstone for my local pub. All is fine but the pointing is going green, there are no trees over head or near. I use/used a pointing mix of 3 parts building sand to one part cement, semi wet and 'ironed' in. The pointing is stable and solid but the landlord/owner of the pub doesnt like his pointing going green!

Is it purely that algae is forming and it needs more regular pressure washing and / or is there a way I can avoid this happening in the future and remedy the green pointing on his patio?

Thanks for your help.

[lutonlagerlout]

hi wilsb
read this page down to where it mentions berries and you will find a super cleaning mixture
my patio goes green every year because it is north facing , using this cleaning mixture is far more effective than jet washing alone
all the best
LLL

[Tony McC]

I'm about halfway through a trial of a product by the name of Wet'n'Forget which claims to be an anti-algae treatment for paving and other hard surfaces. So far, VERY impressed!

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[wilbs]

thank you for your replies, I will buy, try and report on your suggestions - thanks again. I have been a big 'viewer' of this site for quite a few years, first question I posted, a response in less than a working day - spot on! = thank you

[Tony McC]

Anyone else had any experience with Wet'n'Forget? I'm interested to see whether it's just me that's been impressed with its long-term impact or if others have seen the same sort of results.

[RAPressureWashing]

I'm about halfway through a trial of a product by the name of Wet'n'Forget which claims to be an anti-algae treatment for paving and other hard surfaces. So far, VERY impressed!

Read more

Had a look at the site, but I have to say that if the top after photo (patio) is the best it can do then not impressed.

[r896neo]

Is it plant safe in the case of run off? And does it have to be applied in bone dry conditions?

[Bob_A]

I'm about halfway through a trial of a product by the name of Wet'n'Forget which claims to be an anti-algae treatment for paving and other hard surfaces. So far, VERY impressed!

Read more

How much is it.
I can't seem to find a price.

[Tony McC]

I think Wet'n'Forget suffers because it's sometimes mistakenly assumed to be an instant cleaner, when it's not. It's a slow-cleansing anti-greening jollop, and looking at the half'n'half treated flags and pavers I have on the roof of the High Tech Research Facility at the bottom of the garden, it does what it says. There is noticeably less greening on the treated halfs.

I'm barely 3 months into this, but I suspect my results will show that, for best effect, clean the paving in the usual manner (whatever that might be) and then treat with the Wet'n'Forget. It's anti-algae colonisation powers seem to be much greater than it's slow-acting algae-evicting powers.

The other questions raised:
<ul>
<li> It's safe-ish with plants as long as it's dilute and rinsed off pretty quickly
<li> The treated surface needs to be dry before being soaked with the W'n'F
<li> Cost is around 20 quid for 5 litres but I blagged mine for free
</ul>

I'm not paid to be nice about it, and I'm not on commission or any other deal with the supplier. They gave me a 5L container to try out and that's as far as it goes. If the trial pieces start going green once the weather warms up, I'll report it that way, but for now, it's looking fairly good.

[RAPressureWashing]

I think Tony that this will always be the thing with these "The green stays away" products, they are not cleaners. If you were to clean any paving properly then you have a clean surface to start with, then maybe use one of these products, would it prolong the algae staying away longer?
As a few members on here know that we have cleaned for, all our cleans are a deep clean so same results achieved only quicker and usually get 6 months before they start going green again but then this is all subject to the type of weather we have, and last year was very wet so conditions were just right for algae to form. Not knocking the product, but for me these sort of products are ok for the homeowner, when expectations might not be as high as say ours are with cleaning and removing algae, moss, lichen etc.
If they want to Tony, I'll happily test it down here and give an honest appraisal.

[Tony McC]

I'll put it to them, Roger.....