Patio cleaning… gadget or chemical?

[ARHarh]

dickymint said:

ARHarh said:

TCruise said:

Anyone use BAC50 on sandstone?

Also after spraying BAC50 on, how long are you leaving it before rinsing off?

Thanks

I never spray it on, I just mix in a watering can pour it over whatever I want sorted and leave it. By the next day the green has gone. I have never scrubbed or rinsed it off.

Just about to my paths now as it seems to not be raining here today

Before and after shots please

Too late sorry I done it now, just didn't take any before shots so no point having after shots. But here are some I made earlier (last year) Second shot was 6.5 hours after the first shot.

[98elise]

JQ said:

Apologies, I have been following this thread (honest), but which is better for block paving - sodium sodium hypochlorite or BAC50 (Benzalkonium Chloride)?

I was literally just about to buy some BAC50 when the above post popped up about sodium hypochlorite, which looks fantastic.

It depends on what you're trying to clean off. My drive had white lichen on it which nothing seemed to shift, even domestic bleach which is 7% (IIRC) sodium hyperchlorite. I bought 15% swimming pool stuff and diluted it a bit. I roller it on to make sure I get even coverage, and controlling where it goes. You could see it reacting immediately, and within a couple of weeks the lichen was gone.

This is what it looked like before



This is re-treating a few years later. Nothing like as bad but I had moss in the joints and general alge.



Now I just use my jet washer once a year.

Edited by 98elise on Friday 12th April 15:07

[xerawh]

Semmelweiss said:

This is where I've got mine from, in the past.

https://liquipak-shoponline.co.uk/products/bac-50?...

Thanks for this - ordered 10L.

Is the mixing ratio 20:1 or has someone found a better mix for moderate staining?

[ARHarh]

I use 40:1 for bac50

[renmure]

dickymint said:

renmure said:

I also bought 10 liters of the BAC 50 stuff this week.

We only moved here last year and I don't think the driveway had ever been sprayed, scrubbed or cleaned in the previous 9 years. I ended up spending nearly 3 days blasting dirt off with a Karcher last summer then a couple of coverings with Patio Magic. To be fair, the transformation was massive but it was clear that it still all looked a bit less good than it should.

My intention was to use the karcher and the chemicals again this summer but by coincidence a neighbour was having their driveway cleaned by a commercial company with diesel powered pressure washers and some type of chemical cleaners so I got them to give me a very quick demo on a couple of sq/m of my driveway and Wow... it was like night and day. .Maybe that's part of the sales pitch because the cleaned bit looks out of place now.

Anyhow, I've booked them to come back in a couple of weeks and do it all. They estimate a day's work for 2 blokes. I'll see about getting some pics but hopefully I'll be able to keep on top of it a bit easier when it's done.

Make a note of what chemicals and strength they use and let us know

so....

Driveway, parking bit and some paths round the side of the house

They used diesel pressure washers. They connected up to a fire hydrant thing in the street to make sure they had enough water pressure. Can't remember how many litres/min the flow was but it was a multiple of what my little Karcher was.

Pressure Washing was followed by covering the area with Sodium Hypochlorite (so 15% bleach) and it was left for an hour then low pressure washed off. In my case it was diluted at 1:4 but apparently they do use it neat when things need it.

I also had a couple of bad rust stains from where the previous house owner had parked a skip for ever and a small area where I'd spilled fertiliser which had left a stubborn stain. These stains were additionally treated with something called Smelly Gel Pro which was left on for about 90 mins. It's a purple gloop and you can see it in one of the pics and was washed off after that time.

The results are great. They have to come back tomorrow, weather permitting, to re-sand the blocks and they are going to re-treat the rusty skip marks again just to get rid of any remaining bits. They are also going to leave me a batch of the Gel incase it needs a follow-up treatment.

The bit of path in the pic never sees sunshine so might do with a quick spray of BAC 50 as well.

Ongoing, they were recommending trying to keep on top of things on a 6 monthly basis using a biocide spray, so BAC-50 at 20:1 seems to fit the bill, on the basis that it's the green stuff that causes most of the issues rather than surface dirt so less need for pressure washing and subsequent re-sanding of the joints.

I'll see if I can get some better pics once the re-sanding has been done

Edited by renmure on Sunday 21st April 20:24

[Richtea1970]

Sod the driveway, what an amazing house Renmure!
Looks fantastic

[catfood12]

Any tips or experience for getting rust marks off a patio?





Our lawn was treated earlier in the year with moss killer that had iron in it. Some was sprayed over the patio and left the above marks.

[Sargeant Orange]

catfood12 said:

Any tips or experience for getting rust marks off a patio?





Our lawn was treated earlier in the year with moss killer that had iron in it. Some was sprayed over the patio and left the above marks.

I've been there and it was an absolute ballache on brick/stone. You need Oxalic acid but it's hard to apply to just the spots of rust, so you get patches that look new compared to everything else. I therefore ended up applying a weak solution across everything to blend it in.

It worked but took ages, and the dilution makes a huge difference to how it works.

Nothing else will help I'm my experience

[renmure]

As above, I’d suggest Smelly Gel Pro if only because that’s what the pros who did my driveway used.

https://puresealservices.co.uk/product/smelly-gel-...

I’ve tried to take a pic of my bit where the rusty skip sat for over a year but it doesn’t really show any markings. It used to look like someone had painted an orange rectangle on the ground.

I can probably still make some out but only because I knew what it was like before. It probably needs another treatment but I’ll do that over the next day or so.

[dhutch]

Half the people said:

Use 15-30% Sodium Hypochlorite (industrial strength bleach) at around 2%

The other half of the people said:

Use Benzalkonium Chloride (BAC 50) at around 2%

I no chemist, but obviously there is some overlap in the make up of the active ingredient. Has any done a back to back test?

[soupdragon1]

I use the sodium hypochloride as well. I just mix it in a mop bucket of water and mop it onto the area. Really fast way to apply it.

[ambuletz]

soupdragon1 said:

I use the sodium hypochloride as well. I just mix it in a mop bucket of water and mop it onto the area. Really fast way to apply it.

that sounds like a brilliant idea if you have an old mop and bucket. neighbours might think you've got a screw loose though if they see you mopping your driveway

[soupdragon1]

ambuletz said:

soupdragon1 said:

I use the sodium hypochloride as well. I just mix it in a mop bucket of water and mop it onto the area. Really fast way to apply it.

that sounds like a brilliant idea if you have an old mop and bucket. neighbours might think you've got a screw loose though if they see you mopping your driveway

True lol

Yeah, anytime its time for a replacement mop for indoors, I keep the old one for outdoor duties. I've got one of those sprayers things as well, but with the mop you can literally put down 10L of mixture in a matter of minutes.