Block paving brush for block paving

[Husqvarna King]

My block paved driveway is starting to look a little tatty with moss in the corners etc. I don't like using a pressure washer as it takes out too much of the jointing sand. The hand held scraper/wire brush with a long handle does the job but it takes ages.

Would rather use mechanical rather than spray/chemical wash.

Has anyone used a nylon or wire brush on a strimmer before. Was it any good?

Was thinking of trying something like this on a Stihl fs90r

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

27 minutes ago, Husqvarna King said:

My block paved driveway is starting to look a little tatty with moss in the corners etc. I don't like using a pressure washer as it takes out too much of the jointing sand. The hand held scraper/wire brush with a long handle does the job but it takes ages.

Would rather use mechanical rather than spray/chemical wash.

Has anyone used a nylon or wire brush on a strimmer before. Was it any good?

Was thinking of trying something like this on a Stihl fs90r

It isn’t ideal but I’d be pressure washing the joints then spraying hydrochloric acid all over the drive leave 20 mins then pressure wash the driveway leave a few days to dry then re joint the sets kiln dry sand is only a couple of £ each then seal and it’ll last years I’d say that wire brush will score the sets and make a mess tbh never use one so happy to be corrected 👍 if you do seal don’t use cheap stuff from Screwfix because it’s just watered down Pva and drys terrible 

 

Jack

[Husqvarna King]

48 minutes ago, Jwoodgardenmaintenance said:

It isn’t ideal but I’d be pressure washing the joints then spraying hydrochloric acid all over the drive leave 20 mins then pressure wash the driveway leave a few days to dry then re joint the sets kiln dry sand is only a couple of £ each then seal and it’ll last years I’d say that wire brush will score the sets and make a mess tbh never use one so happy to be corrected 👍 if you do seal don’t use cheap stuff from Screwfix because it’s just watered down Pva and drys terrible 

 

Jack

Thanks for the reply. Agree with the cheap sealer, I have often heard that it is terrible. 

I have a aco gulley drain across my drive and any washed out sand will just end up clogging my soak away. That's the main reason I don't want to pressure wash.

[Squaredy]

1 hour ago, Husqvarna King said:

Thanks for the reply. Agree with the cheap sealer, I have often heard that it is terrible. 

I have a aco gulley drain across my drive and any washed out sand will just end up clogging my soak away. That's the main reason I don't want to pressure wash.

Where does one get the decent Patio sealer?  My patio comes up lovely and clean, but within a week or two it is green again.

[AJStrees]

43 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Where does one get the decent Patio sealer?  My patio comes up lovely and clean, but within a week or two it is green again.

What are you using to clean your patio and what material is it?

 

Pressure washing with cold water will in some instances cause the stone/paving to green up quicker as the spores of the algae get pushed into the material. Hot washing kills more of the spores and keeps the patio cleaner longer. Sealing can be good depending on what material one is trying to seal. Otherwise I have used about 10 different products over the years for algae/moss/grime removal. Algo Clear is pretty good you leave it on and it gets rid of the moss/algae and keeps it cleaner longer. Block blitz works well and is easy to apply. There are quite a few moss/algae removers on the market. They take longer but keep the patio cleaner longer then pressure washing. 

 

Sealers work on concrete and other things. Natural stone sealers seem to be harder to get hold of. I don't know how long your patio would remain clean once sealed. 👍

[GarethM]

Try the 14% sodium hypochlorite first, that'll kill off the green algae.

[Husqvarna King]

1 hour ago, Husqvarna King said:

Thanks for the reply. Agree with the cheap sealer, I have often heard that it is terrible. 

I have a aco gulley drain across my drive and any washed out sand will just end up clogging my soak away. That's the main reason I don't want to pressure wash.

I was always told to use resiblock22  but it was over 10 years ago that I did the drive and I never got round to it, they have faded badly now 😬

[Squaredy]

7 minutes ago, AJStrees said:

What are you using to clean your patio and what material is it?

 

Pressure washing with cold water will in some instances cause the stone/paving to green up quicker as the spores of the algae get pushed into the material. Hot washing kills more of the spores and keeps the patio cleaner longer. Sealing can be good depending on what material one is trying to seal. Otherwise I have used about 10 different products over the years for algae/moss/grime removal. Algo Clear is pretty good you leave it on and it gets rid of the moss/algae and keeps it cleaner longer. Block blitz works well and is easy to apply. There are quite a few moss/algae removers on the market. They take longer but keep the patio cleaner longer then pressure washing. 

 

Sealers work on concrete and other things. Natural stone sealers seem to be harder to get hold of. I don't know how long your patio would remain clean once sealed. 👍

Concrete paving slabs and I have tried bleach, which works, and pressure washing which also works.  But in both instances they green up again really quickly. 

 

I appreciate your help with this.

[GarethM]

The sodium hypochlorite is cheap from any agricultural shop, it's used for washing down milking parlours.

 

20litres is like £20, removes practically everything organic from paving and brickwork etc, water it down heavily tho as it's bleach on steroids. 5% Vs 14%

Edited February 5, 2023 by GarethM

[AJStrees]

8 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Concrete paving slabs and I have tried bleach, which works, and pressure washing which also works.  But in both instances they green up again really quickly. 

 

I appreciate your help with this.

Have you tried using a hot pressure washer? Have you tried a product like algo clear that will kill the spores/mould to stop it coming back so quickly. Otherwise I think you can pick up sealer from B&Q and any other hardware type store. But you will want to have any living organisms dead first before you seal the concrete I would say. I use a product called block blitz which you dilute with water, it keeps stuff clean and kills moss and mould really quickly and keeps the material looking cleaner longer. 👍