J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

as per the title, is this a good or bad idea, any pointers, trying to spruce up the front of the house so I dont want to paint it all and then blast mucky water over it so I will clean the paving first, its in good nick but a bit mossy and there is residue of my car ownership history, oil, brake fluid, antifreeze, my blood, bile, dissapointment etc etc.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Don't start unless you're sure you can finish. I did my patio a couple of months ago and the transformation was amazing - but the contrast between the areas I'd done and the bits not yet done was such that a half finished job would be horrible.

BOB.T

It's fun for 5 mins then gets really tedious! Wear wellies, waterproof trousers and keep the lance at a constant distance from the surface to avoid stripes

Spoon

Agree with Andy. I do mine every year but it takes me 50 hours from start to finish.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

50 hours How big is your patio ffs?!

Took me about 2 hours. Cold, wet hours I'll grant, but nothing like 50, however long it may have seemed at the time.

Regacy

I did mine at our last house but I'm sure the moss and general grime came back faster and thicker than it was at the start.
Are the stones more prone to lichen and moss after they've been blasted clean?

Spoon

It's a fair old size then there's another 10 hours on the driveway.

All with a powerful Kárcher too and not a squeezy bottle

Spoon

Some areas do appear greener the following year in colour but the reduction in "growth" lessens.

The real problem as Andy has said is the almighty visible difference in colour that makes you continue.

midget1500

yeah, using a range topping karcher takes about 2 full weekend days to do the back and driveway. it is slow and dirty work! defo wear wellies and waterproof trousers. wear jeans and after an hour or so you will hate it.

oh, and get some tape to keep the trigger depressed otherwise you'll have a nasty cramp in your hand at the end of the day!

Spoon

Granted, you get absolutely filthy. Don't be tempted to wash your hands with the washer either, without thinking, it kin kills for hours!!

Deffo get something to tie the handle up with so you don't have to hold it. My other half kindly donated her thong that she was wearing to sort that out. Made the job that much better.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Ewww, too much information!

Spoon

Probably right, forget the bit where I mention that you get filthy.

IWatkins

You could ditch the power washer and get a good stiff broom, a watering can and a couple of gallons of Jeyes patio cleaner. Does the job just as well (I reckon better) and won't lift all the sand out of the block paving.

Sure, it is hard work, but no where near as messy.

To keep moss and weeds off it, treat the whole area to a good dose of PathClear afterwards, works a treat, lasts a year in our case.

Cheers

Ian

Spoon

Ian, you want to take that statement to the comedy store, it'll go down a storm.

Fancy coming to my place and trying your Paul McKenna induced method?

I'd píss myself laughing for a decade!

Nobody mentioned patio table!!

Gordo

I wouldn't even start, if I were you.

I did it at our last house (similar logic, wanted to clean all the algae and ****e off the back patio before we sold the house). Took 2 full weekends.

Wet, miserable, soul destroying, dirty - the one at the new house could do with cleaning but it's 4 times the size and I have no intention of ever doing it - I'm learning to live with algae and ****e - it looks nicer every time I remember the hours spent jet washing the last one.....

Gordo

dexter

Get it done, you know you want to.

It is worth it though, and once you have, just apply some weedkiller via a watering can, and all the moss, weeds and other crap will stay away.

Diablo

Spoon, mate, want to share the joke

LOL

Was going to suggest this as well.

Patio cleaner, brush it in, rinse it off.

Works a treat

Brendan Hughes

Have you tried powering the jetwasher with electricity?



Seriously, why so long? Is it that you all have brick setts? I have 60x40cm slabs, it takes 2-3 hours to do about 100m2.

Spoon

There is about 750m2 made up of Brick setts, original cobblestones, crazy paving and tarmac.

Leslie

Karcher do a special lance which is supposed to do that kind of job much more easily.

Les

Spoon

Leslie- I have several lances for the different surfaces. It's not a difficult job in the slightest, that's never been the issue.

It's merely time consuming due to the amount. It's a great job in the sun naked, and rewarding too when you see the results.

RS2 JIM

iTrader: (5)

I did the patio at my parents house a few years ago after a party i'd had there got a little out of hand and the beer keg ended up being drained onto the lockblock.

I set out with the best intentions of 'suprising' mum and dad with a newly cleaned patio out of the goodness of my heart, whilst destroying all evidence of the weekends debauchery. I used our karcher power washer with the rotating high powered nossle on the lance. 5hrs later the lovely pink and grey lockblock was looking brand new and all the nasty moss was gone. I proudly informed my parents of the new look patio and was somewhat surprised when a few hrs later my dad presented me with a broom and a few bags of sand and told me to fill the cracks with the sand again!!! That took me 10hrs to do as i had to go over it all twice! After all that it turns out my neighbours happened to mention the party to my parents as they arrived home after the weekend so they knew already!!! doh!!!

Still.....it looked awesome once the sand was done!

Brendan Hughes

"my dad presented me with a broom and a few bags of sand and told me to fill the cracks with the sand again!!! "

is why I imagine brick setts to be so much more difficult and time-consuming than large slabs. I have the karcher rotating nozzle and I try to keep it on the edges for as little time as possible. Setts must be a nightmare. I'm just re-paving my garden at present, ripping up the crazy and re-laying it but without all the little sections that the previous people had used, sticking to big slabs only, a lot for this reason. (Plus it looks "tidier".)

Spoon - please lay off the details. First we get your wife's thong on the trigger, then you do the job naked and are rewarded by the results. Finbarr Saunders is already bouncing off the walls, you'll drive the poor guy insane if you keep up.

Spoon

Brendan, I said I enjoy it but that's taking it too far!!