The Brew Cabin

With all previous issues resolved or being remedied ( dodgy pointing etc ) we have now encountered a rather bizarre problem on our new sandstone patio. It looks like we've been dumped on from above by something out of Jurassic Park. There is a 8 x 6 inch black and white spodge with smaller outlying splat marks in the middle of one of the stones. Not only does this seem to be waterproof but it has absorbed into the stone. So that after scrubbing away at it with detergent / warm water using a wirebrush /scourer there is now a dark stain on the stone. Any ideas as it does look very unsightly.

Have you tried one of the proprietary 'Patio Cleaners', Steve? A lot of them are acid-based, so you have to be careful using them with concrete flags (not a problem for you, I know), but a couple of folk have emailed me in the past to say that they shifted previously immovable bird droppings using Jem/Gem(?) Patio Cleaner.

I can't seem to find any reference to a Jem / Gem cleaner, just stuff like Jeyes / Thompsons. Any chance you could dig the info out or suggest a site that might sell it ?

Well, it's taken me over an hour, but I found one of the emails and it states..."I bought some Gem Patio Cleaner from a garden centre and it cleaned up the bird shit as well as cleaning the flagstones".

I don't have any company details or contact information - I just filed away the name in case I ever saw it for sale, so that I could buy some and conduct my own trials.

I've emailed the bloke, asking where (in the country) he bought the stuff, and if he still has the container with company details, so, as soon as I get a reply, I'll let you know.

Thanks as when you search on the web you just get a load of references to precious stone polishing ( even with the word patio included ! )