cleaning block paving etc

Antispam

Our block paving gets some weeds/moss and some small fern like thing growing in between.

I am planning on killing weeds we a good weed killer, cleaning the paving with power washer. Putting dry sand in the joints where needs and then resealing.

I read on paving web site Polyurethane sealant is best.

Any tips on what to get. Drive way is mainly used for walking and odd time car is parked. The driveway is fairly steep up hill and just enough room for car I dont use it much for car. I do have some paving round side of garage it doesnt get much light due to ours and next doors garage and is west facing

wallbash

Reading your post, your paving is already sealed??? and has broken down ??

I just kill/powerwash and sand, never sealed.

Antispam

Thanks. the main problems is gaps the joints, a good clean also and weed are a constant problem although not as bad as I seen some drives. I get this fearn type thing that seems to grown in between the cracks, its very small just a few mm but seems to cover a large area, other weeds arent too bad. I use a tool to get in between the gaps but I have to do it every few weeks in Summer.

wallbash

What sort of weed killer are you using , .... use a stronger mixture.
I tend to only spend a couple of hours maintenance a year, and its a in/out drive with two garages and parking for a number ,

Antispam

I just use a spray its Tescos own one, but I dont tend to use it much

I just want to get it looking nice for a few years at least with constant working through year weeding etc. They are lots of areas that need some sand too and I lave a lot of green around side of garage where it dont get much sun

I only used powerwasher once and got a lot of sand that came out so dont want that to happen again, I believe some sealers can cut this down

Ebe_Scrooge

In my experience the sealants are not much good. They soon break down and you're back to square 1 again. You'll always get some weeds - even though a weedproof membrane should have been, and probably was, laid underneath the paving, seeds will naturally find their way into the exposed sand in the joints. Personally I go for the powerwash / resand / spray with pathclear or similar. I find that about once a year keeps on top of things, and it doesn't cost much to maintain. By all means give the sealant a try, but everyone I've spoken to says it's a waste of time.

Pretani

Sealers are slippy when wet and especially dangerous in the winter.

spray week killer on it, if that doesn't do your job right you'll have to pressure-wash it and apply more weedkiller, then refill with sand.

Ebe_Scrooge

Thinking about it, it may be possible to refill it with a dry sand / cement mix, so that over time it will absorb moisture then harden off. This would stop any weeds. The only problem I can see with that is that you'd have to make sure you removed every trace of the cement from the surface of the bricks whilst it was still dry, or else it will discolour them. Has anyone tried this ?

rev229

I use path clear weedkiller only once last year and that did it for the year, noticed the first weeds at the weekend. Will weed, clean and resand again in a few weeks.