I know this topic has been mentioned before, but I wondered what the current state of thinking is about these machines.
Last summer I spent an inordinate amount of time on my hands and knees cleaning the crevices of my front drive, which consists of paving bricks, with the edge of a trowel, followed by hosing and brushing. Now the weeds are worse than ever and, with a big family event a couple of months away, I really can't face the hours of labour involved in repeating my exploit.
So the question is this: for cleaning a smallish drive such as mine, what machine do you recommend to do the job without maxing out my plastic?
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First spray the weeds with glyphosphate weedkiller. Then, I've found that washing the paving with a strong solution Jeyes fluid make a big difference. Pour it from a watering can, scrub with a yard brush and leave it a few days to dislodge moss and dirt and help sterilise the sand between the bricks.
Lastly, wash off with a garden hose or lighter spray from a power washer - I have the smallest of the Hozelock models sold in B&Q. That will keep the paving clean for several months, compared to a few weeks after vigorous power washing alone.
If you need to replace the sand eventually, I'm told you can buy paving sand with something like simazine weedkiller in it that resists new weed growth - but I haven't tried it myself. Otherwise, applying more Jeyes to the joins between the paving stones - but at the strength used to sterilise greenhouse soil/compost, as directed on the can - should help.
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Some years ago I bought a Challenge pressure washer at Argos for £50 - that price included a £30 small portable vacuum cleaner as a bonus...:-)
The pressure washer has been used many times, often for much of a day with virtually no break and has never missed a beat. The current model listed is even cheaper at £40:
www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7420274.htm
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Doesn't this depend a bit on what the slabs are? I just had a new patio laid with Indian stone and that seems to be non-porous and isn't gathering much dirt. The bloke who laid it told me that it wouldn't need sealing or pressure washing.
However he said the front was the other type of stone and is porous. That takes quite a bit of cleaning each spring and autumn with the pressure washer. This year I took his advice and liberally used sealant and now the water (and dirt) does have a tendency to run off rather than sink in, so I'm hoping not to have to do the bi-annual clean this year.
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Several houses round here had blockwork drives cleaned and treated professionally in the Spring. Pressure wash plus sealant plus weedkiller.
Still look good a few months later. Test will be whether you can tell next Spring.
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Probably the same stuff they're selling to gullible pensioners round here as 'thermal coating' for their roof tiles.
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I have been doing this same job at my dads this year as I have to do every summer.
I bought one of these
www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/garden/brushes-and-rakes/spear-and-jackson-block-paving-and-patio-brush-439822
which are very effective and efficient and not as back breaking as getting down on your hands and knees with the trowel.
I will then power wash with the patio cleaner attachment which is very good and much less messy than the jet on its own.
However I need to replace the nozzles on the patio cleaner and as its a non descript Aldi or Lidl one then its impossible to get the spare parts!
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Local pool supplier and buy a drum of sodium hypochlorate (ie, bleach). Soak thoroughly, pressure wash thoroughly after 20 minutes. Worked on my decking, suspect previous owner had never cleaned it and it went from green to sparkling new.
Be careful the pressure washer doesn't start to strip the wood away though, otherwise you'll be getting splinters in your feet for weeks.
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I realised that I hadn't responded to the advice here, but things have been a bit stressful and busy recently, for personal reasons I won't bore you with.
The systemic weedkiller I have been using, Jeyes fluid I kind of knew about but hadn't considered its relevance, and the Homebase thingy is new to me. I had the opportunity to examine something similar at a National Trust property at the weekend, priced at £19.99, which I didn't buy!
So I'll be using those three things and will give the power washer a miss.
Thanks to all.
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Power washing is great fun FP.
I do the patio then look at the walls which are white, and as it's all splashed up them I have to do those too. I then do the path and look at the archway, and have to do that too. Then the arbour looks a bit green so I do that too. Then as Im' putting it away I see all the flowers need a wash so I have to get the hosepipe out and do those too.
Then I go in and look at myself and finally realise why I'm so happy and enjoy it so much...and get in the bath.
That's why I love big, pink proper pigs, I have an affinity with their ability to wallow in a mud bath and enjoy it.
Pat
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BBD will love that comparison, Pat :-)
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Power washer/patio cleaner - Gromit
