The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Thu Sep 11, 2014 6:09 pm**

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice please

A few weeks ago I power washed my block paving and refilled the joints with kiln dried sand.
It all looks great - but I'm not planning on sealing it (mainly because I've had to do it on a budget and it would cost around Â£100 for sealant!).

What I'd like to do every 2 or 3 months is spray it down with something and then give it a good sweep to keep moss, algae & weeds at bay and keep it looking decent.

Is this possible - and what should I use?

I've got a big tub of Sodium Hypochlorite which I was originally planning on using to clean the paving - but then decided to go down the power-washing route instead.

So, is it worth weakly diluting the SH and spraying it with that? It seems a bit excessive to me to use SH every 3 months.
Or, would I get the same results from a simple dose of Roundup?
Then I could do the SH annually instead.

Thanks very much!

Posted: **Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:53 pm**

I would advise against power washing that often, a good stiff brushing would/should suffice.

Posted: **Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:10 pm**

Sodium Hypochlorite once a year

too much jet washing is a bad idea IMHO (sorry rog!)

it will abrade the surface and eventually it will cause the blocks to loosen if not done correctly

PPE is a must with Sodium Hypochlorite as it is highly caustic

other then that sweep the leaves etc up once a week

LLL

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:50 am**

lutonlagerlout wrote:Sodium Hypochlorite once a year

too much jet washing is a bad idea IMHO (sorry rog!)

it will abrade the surface and eventually it will cause the blocks to loosen if not done correctly

PPE is a must with Sodium Hypochlorite as it is highly caustic

other then that sweep the leaves etc up once a week

LLL

I agree with you Tony, for block paving 12-18 months for pressure washing sometimes longer, once you have it clean just a bit of routine maintenance for any weeds etc that come through. Now the paving is clean, there are products out there that might help to keep the algae at bay, you spray it on and they say it will keep the surface clear of algae for around 12 months, I'll find out the name and post on here later.

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2014 8:49 am**

Thanks all.

sorry - I should've been more clear... I don't plan on power washing it every few months. That'll be every 2 years or so if required.

I meant what can I spray onto it (like a weed killer) every few months before giving it a good hard sweep?
So looing forward to the recommendation from Roger

Posted: **Fri Sep 12, 2014 5:18 pm**

ZeeSaffa wrote:Thanks all.

sorry - I should've been more clear... I don't plan on power washing it every few months. That'll be every 2 years or so if required.

I meant what can I spray onto it (like a weed killer) every few months before giving it a good hard sweep?
So looing forward to the recommendation from Roger

Here you go,
http://www.algoclear.com
I haven't used it myself, but know a lot of people that are using it for what we call "soft washing" and they say the results are very good.

The Brew Cabin

Regular maintenance on block paving - Advice for regualr maintenance of paving