patio cleaning

Indian Sandstone Patio Renovation Rushden

Renovating an Indian Sandstone Patio in Rushden

The following photos show an Indian Sandstone patio of about 100 m2 in size at a property in Rushden. It had been some years since it had been cleaned and as you might expect the patio was now covered in green algae and staining. Also, much of the grout had become cracked or loose from the effects of frost and had broken down and needed replacing.

Indian Sandstone Patio Rushden Before Cleaning

The beginning of the year is a perfect time to get a patio ready, the autumn leaves have fallen so there’s less debris causing stains, and of course you will be ready for the spring sunshine.

Indian Sandstone Patio Rushden Before Cleaning

Cleaning an Indian Sandstone Patio

I started the renovation by digging out all the loose grout between the pavers. There isn’t really a quick way of doing this, so it’s just a question of getting down on my hands and knees and scraping it out.

I cleared up the debris and decanted a few litres of Tile Doctor Patio and Brick Driveway cleaner into a pump-up sprayer. This product is a powerful outdoor cleaning solution formulated to power through blackspots, lichen, moss, and stains. It’s a very strong product, so if you’re doing this yourself do wear protection. It was then sprayed onto all areas of the patio and left to soak in.

This is used as a pre-treatment to pressure washing and is best left to dwell on the surface for fifteen to thirty minutes depending on the severity of the soiling. The longer you leave it the more time it has to work on breaking down embedded soiling, green algae and lichen etc. A five-litre bottle can cover up to 25m2 so for a patio of this size you need around four bottles.

My next course of action was to set up the pressure washer so I could clean and rinse down the patio. I use a van mounted Briggs & Stratton petrol pressure washer for this which can generate pressures of up to 300 bar. This is much more powerful than general domestic electric machines and the high pressure of the machine also removes any loose grout I missed earlier.

The client had asked me to replace the missing grout, which was approximately half of the area. I was prepared for this and had sourced a wet mix grout of a similar colour to the original. This was mixed with water and brushed into the grout lines, then re brushed to leave a level finish.

Sealing a Sandstone Patio Tiled Floor

Allowing for the patio and grout to dry overnight, I returned the following day to brush over excess grout that had dried on the tiles before applying Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer to help protect the patio from further staining and make it easier to clean going forward.

This product works by soaking into the stone, occupying the pores, and thereby preventing dirt from residing there, this keeps it on the surface where it can easily be rinsed away. Colour Grow also contains a colour enhancer that brings out the colour in the stone, something it does rather well on Sandstone which has a lot of natural character.

Indian Sandstone Patio Rushden After Cleaning

My client was very pleased with the transformation and left the following comment on our website:

“Very professional our patio was awful now it looks the same as when installed 10 years ago.”

Before leaving, I discussed our Tile Doctor Maintenance Plan which would mean we would return every year to maintain the patio. This would be a good investment each spring to keep the area looking good and ensure they could enjoy the outdoor entertainment area for longer.

Indian Sandstone Patio Rushden After Cleaning

 

Professional Restoration of an Indian Sandstone Patio in Northamptonshire

Renovating an Indian Sandstone Patio in Rushden Read More »

Flagstone Patio Before After Renovation Stanwick

Renovating a Twenty Year Old Flagstone Patio in Stanwick

I often get asked whilst I am on site what other services I offer; recently when I was polishing a Limestone floor at a house in the small village of Stanwick the client enquired if there was anything I could do with their 20 year old Flagstone Patio which was unfortunately no longer looking its best.

I advised him this is something I would be able to do, and that as well as cleaning all types of internal tile, grout and stone I also offer external stone cleaning using a professional pressure washing machine using up to date equipment such as the Honda Pro 2100 Pressure Washer which was an expensive but worthwhile investment.

Flagstone Patio Before Cleaning Stanwick

The patio had not been professionally cleaned since installation and now moss was growing between the pavers and the stone had darkened over the years, although the customer had used an electric jet washer a couple of times it had not made significant improvement and a thorough clean was now well overdue. The interior Limestone floor had come up well and they were very satisfied with that work, I was confident that they would be pleased with the patio outcome too.

Although the area was large, the benefit of working outside is there is no concerns about making a mess, so the job can be done relatively quickly. I gave the client a quote for the work and we arranged a time for me to return, although it was dependent on the weather.

Cleaning a Large Flagstone Patio in Stanwick

Thankfully the date we had selected turned out to by dry so a day in the fresh air was due. My first course of action was to pre wet the stone with a diluted 3:1 solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to help break down the heavy soiling and soften the moss. Tile Doctor Pro-Clean is a concentrated, multi-purpose high-alkaline cleaner, which strips and degreases heavily soiled areas. It is particularly good on mildew and algae on patios such as this where it makes light work of breaking down the soiling.

The product is left to dwell for a short time, once I could see that the soil was starting to lift, I then used the petrol driven Honda Pro 2100 pressure washer connected to a spinning tool to clean the stone. This is a very powerful piece of machinery and the difference was immediate. The patio tiles looked a completely different colour, in fact the client couldn’t recall ever seeing them this colour!

Flagstone Patio After Cleaning Stanwick

This work was carried out to the customers satisfaction who left the following feedback on my website.

“Phil is a very hardworking and pleasant guy who kept me fully informed at all stages and the floors and patios look great. Many thanks – Michael B, Stanwick, “

 

Professional Clean of a Flagstone Patio in Northamptonshire

Renovating a Twenty Year Old Flagstone Patio in Stanwick Read More »

Sandstone Patio Brockhall After Cleaning

Large Sandstone Patio and Swimming Pool Area Cleaned in Brockhall

As the summer slowly approaches thoughts turn to sorting out those outside areas ready for use again, so it’s about this time of year I get asked to look at cleaning external tiled surfaces such as patio areas driveways. These external surfaces suffer from a heavily build-up of soils due to the general wear and tear caused by exposure to harsh weather conditions. We have all the high pressure equipment and fantastic results can be achieved by pressure washing in combination with quality products.

The photographs below were taken in January at a lovely property in the small village of Brockhall, near the market town of Daventry in Northamptonshire; my customer has a large Sandstone tiled patio and swimming pool area and as you can see the weather had certainly taken its toll and it was now in need of a thorough deep clean.

Sandstone Patio Brockhall Before Cleaning Sandstone Patio Brockhall Before Cleaning

Sandstone is typically a hard wearing tile, but if neglected for a long time it can, much like any other type of stone, very easily lose its appearance without regular maintenance.

Pressure Cleaning a Sandstone Flagged Swimming Pool Area

My first thought when dealing with swimming pool areas is to protect the pool from contaminates thrown up by the cleaning process, fortunately in this case the pool was well secured with a black cover which was tightly strapped down.

Sandstone Patio Brockhall Before Cleaning
The next step was to deal with the particularly stubborn areas of dirt with an application of a high alkaline cleaner, known as Tile Doctor Pro Clean. Being an alkaline based product Pro-Clean is suitable for use on many different types of natural stone tiles, including Sandstone, Granite, Limestone, Slate and Travertine, and can be applied to both internal as well as external surfaces.

The cleaning solution was applied to the problem areas agitated so it could get to work on the dirt. This was then followed up with the application of a special circular pressure washing spinning tool running at very high pressure.

Sandstone Patio Brockhall During Cleaning Sandstone Patio Brockhall Cleaning Equipment

I have a truck mounted pressure system on the van however in this case it was easier to use a standalone industrial petrol jet washer to drive the spinning tool.

Sandstone Patio Brockhall During Cleaning
The spinning tool allows the water to be applied under high pressure, and removes dirt and stains at the same time.

Sandstone Patio Brockhall After Cleaning
As you can see from the photographs, the results achieved were amazing. My customer was so impressed, in fact, that he booked me in to restore his Sandstone tiled kitchen as well the following week!

Sandstone Patio Brockhall After Cleaning
 

Professional Cleaning of a Heavily Soiled Sandstone Patio and Swimming Pool Area in Northamptonshire

Large Sandstone Patio and Swimming Pool Area Cleaned in Brockhall Read More »

Patio Cleaned and Repointed in Rushden

Cleaning and Repointing a Patio in Rushden

You may be surprised but we just clean interior stone and tile we also specialise in exterior stone cleaning as well as you will see with the post below where we cleaned and re-pointed a neglected patio at a house in Rushden.

The first photo shows the condition of the patio which hadn’t been professionally cleaned for over forty years, weeds and moss had eaten through all the original mortar and made any remaining cement very lose and would need to be replaced after pressure washing.

Patio Before Cleaning and Repointing in Rushden
The second picture shows the equipment set up ready to pressure wash the patio, the power of the pressure washer blasted away most of the dirt and we used Tile Doctor Remove and Go on any stubborn stains that became evident.

Patio Before Cleaning and Repointing in Rushden
The third picture below shows the results after the patio has been pressure washed; you can see that the remaining mortar had all but washed away.

Patio Cleaned not Repointing in Rushden
After allowing a few days for the patio to completely dry out I returned to site to repoint all joints between the slabs. There are a few different colours to choose from and on this occasion the customer chose a light grey. The final picture shows the finished patio after it had been sealed.

Patio Cleaned and Repointed in Rushden
The customer was over the moon with the results as she had no idea that the slabs were different colours under the 40 years of dirt, grime and weeds.

Patio Cleaning in Northamptonshire

Cleaning and Repointing a Patio in Rushden Read More »

Paving Slabs in Achurch After Cleaning

Power Cleaning a Patio in Achurch

These photographs were from earlier in the year at a residence in Achurch which had a number of paved areas and patios which like any patio in the UK had discoloured over winter and the colours in the stone had become grey and un-inviting. Being a Tile Doctor and Carpet Cleaner requires an investment in high pressure cleaning equipment which lends itself well to external patio cleaning.

Paving Slabs in Achurch Before Cleaning Paving Slabs in Achurch Before Cleaning

Patio Pressure Washing

With less preparation required when working outside to protect other surfaces I was soon setup and started by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose cleaner and stripper which being an alkaline rather than acidic product is safe to use on stone, tile and grout. The solution was left to soak into slabs for a while so it could get to work the grime and it was then scrubbed in using a yard brush. The next step was to use a high pressure washer running at a medium pressure so as not to blow out the mortar between the slabs. The pressures available on the truck mounted pressure washer are much higher than those available on domestic machines so you do have to be careful.

Paving Slabs in Achurch After Cleaning Paving Slabs in Achurch After Cleaning

The job took half a day and I think you will agree the patio now looks newly laid.

Patio Cleaning in Northamptonshire

Power Cleaning a Patio in Achurch Read More »

Scroll to Top