Terrible block paving fade

[8-P]

Hi All

I guess this is a bit of a word of warning as block paving pops up on here every 5 mins.

I have no doubt the manufacturer would say its natural ageing, but my drive is north facing so sees little sun.

Had my drive done almost 3 years to the day, the blocks used were Marshalls Drivesett Savanna - well popular from what I can tell.

Looked great when originally put down.

3 years later I gave them a pressure wash because over the last few months or so I thought they really looked rather pinky and almost white in places, but some were dirty nearer the bottom of the drive so job to do - plenty of time on my hands.

Sure enough after a pressure wash(karcher attachment worked great), the fade on them is shocking, the drive looks like some sort of 80s pinky white faded horror show.

They originally looked like this




- https://www.marshalls.co.uk/gardens-and-driveways/...

Ill post the fade image later once dried after overnight rain(they still look nice when wet).

As I said, not even going to bother approaching Marshalls but word of warning for others. I wonder if clay blocks would have lasted better?

[Pamoothican]

Had the drive done with marshall blocks at our old house, must have been about 5 years ago, same colour but the more rounded edge ones than you have posted.

It was exactly the same as you have described, really faded when dry, tried a few different patio cleaners but to no avail.

Not sure if anyone has had any success with any sealers?

[8-P]

Pamoothican said:

Had the drive done with marshall blocks at our old house, must have been about 5 years ago, same colour but the more rounded edge ones than you have posted.

It was exactly the same as you have described, really faded when dry, tried a few different patio cleaners but to no avail.

Not sure if anyone has had any success with any sealers?

I considered getting some sealant - Resiblock seems popular on here. It may make it a little darker, but looking back at various threads it seems it does wear away in high traffic areas. Im not sure spending the best part of £100 is worth it, could be hard to get now(and a roller) anyway.

[Wacky Racer]

I have the same blocks (but tegular colour) on a very large drive. My house faces south and gets a lot of sun.

They have been down around fourteen years and have faded a bit but that's understandable, I don't think you can say it's a "fault".

[wolfracesonic]

Have a look at this stuff Lithofin MN colour intensifier. If you go on Paving Expert, they did a long term test of these types of products.

[8-P]

wolfracesonic said:

Have a look at this stuff Lithofin MN colour intensifier. If you go on Paving Expert, they did a long term test of these types of products.

Interesting thanks

[8-P]

Wacky Racer said:

I have the same blocks (but tegular colour) on a very large drive. My house faces south and gets a lot of sun.

They have been down around fourteen years and have faded a bit but that's understandable, I don't think you can say it's a "fault".

Mine are night and day different, really not what I originally purchased

[stuarthat]

Sealed mine looked like new for about 1 year.

[m3jappa]

Well the issue is they do fade i don't think they are made with as much dye as they used to be tbh.

I advise people to not go with coloured blocks iykwim as generally anything red based will go pink and anything else just looses that vibrant colour, i suppose some people dont mind if they look more weathered. We all have different standards.

One way to massively slow this down is by sealing it properly with something like resiblock superior in a matt finish which will hold the colour for a lot longer. You may find that by cleaning now and sealing now you will revive them to an extent.

You can also carefully acid clean them which will reveal some more colour but you need to be massively careful doing this.

I would be interested to see what they look like now, there is a chance theres a fault as we had an issue with some tegula in traditional which after a few months were bad with several being almost white. This was laid around 18mths ago iirc. Marshalls were excellent and paid to re do it. That said 3 years is probably too long and also i am an approved installer which will carry some weight with issues. Lets see the pics though.

[PositronicRay]

I put down some paves tone pavesett sunset rouge.

Not as sunsetty or rougie as hoped.

[8-P]

Here we go:



Guff init!

[8-P]

More - still not 100% dry because I washed it yesterday, but its there or thereabouts.

[8-P]

Mid build, the guy that did it generally did a pretty good job. I really liked it when we picked the blocks.

[Rewe]

I know it’s not what you want, but I really like the way they have faded!

[PositronicRay]

Rewe said:

I know it’s not what you want, but I really like the way they have faded!

Me too, they look grey in that last photo.

[guindilias]

Not just blooming, cased by the jet washing, no?

[mikebradford]

My mums drive is block paved, had to explain to her the reason it needed relaying after only a few years is her live of jet washing it with a commercial jet washer.

Blasting the joints at close range is not a good idea. Plus some of the block facings are definitely damaged due to it

[m3jappa]

That really isn't bad imo, not as bad as was expecting. All blocks will lose their vibrant colour to an extent. Remember block paving is basically fake stone setts. The reason block paving is so prevalent is its cheaper than stone in terms of materials and labour. It might look expensive but when you work it out against stone its bloody cheap

I think if you gave them an acid wash and then sealed them it would look good. I cant advise really with an acid wash as all types are slightly stronger/weaker. All i can say is dilute it right down and test and see how it goes, too strong and it will leave stains and marks you will never get rid of. Although nowadays it all seems pretty weak.

[edc]

I used Everbuild 405 to seal my 85sq m block drive. Should have sprayed it mistakenly got a roller and the extension pole wasn't long enough ... Still I had more than enough to do it twice and do my back in again 😂

[8-P]

mikebradford said:

My mums drive is block paved, had to explain to her the reason it needed relaying after only a few years is her live of jet washing it with a commercial jet washer.

Blasting the joints at close range is not a good idea. Plus some of the block facings are definitely damaged due to it

First time Ive washed it in 3 years, had this sat in garage for 2!

https://www.toolstation.com/karcher-t350-patio-cle...

It worked pretty well and Id say was more sympathetic than using a standard lance where you could if you wanted blast every grain of sand away. As it is, it doesnt need much sand applying because most of the original (and a bit of moss) is still there! The moss I dont really care about, the gaps between blocks are small, its been pretty good for not attracting much in the way of weeds - probably helped by the lack of sun - drive is dark, garden is South facing.

Thanks for all the suggestions anyway, Im going to leave as is, proper blocks next time! or gravel or something else.