Restoring Patio/bricks - Anything can be done about this? Pics.

krey

I would love to just buy some new good looking sandstone paving and replace everything, but... due to 70m2 area that needs doing I feel like this would take me way too much time and effort and I would probably break my back from lifting all that as it's a huge area which wraps around all house and I'm too cheap to pay someone to do it.



I have just recently pressurewashed everyting and it made a huge difference , but I just have a regular domestic cheapo pressure washer which can only take so much grime off and it does nothing to bricks..

I have taken some pictures, was wondering if maybe someone could give me some ideas how I could go about making everything look fresh again, I'm up to swapping the horrible looking cement tops which sits on top of the brick walls as it would be rather easy/fast to do, I would want to do something about the bricks - can you maybe do some acid wash or sand them to make them look again as the day they were made? And I'm not sure if something can be even done to the concrete patio slabs? can they be perhaps sanded with grinder somehow to take off the worn layer and reveal a fresh layer or something like that?

The concrete patio slabs themselves are in good condition, just the colour of them is looking nasty from the old age, and now the slabs which probably have been red many many many years ago now looks Pink , I have tried some patio stain product sample http://www.floorpaintexpress.co.uk/seal-n-tint-concrete-stain.html but it was totally useless as didn't made any difference at all, but I'm up to try different/similar products.

If someone has attempted to do something like this before or has seen how it's done would be great if you could give me some ideas.
Thanks,
more Pictures if someone could take a look:
http://imgur.com/a/OuwIv

ST1991

What about masonary/exterior paint?

Wash off as much as possible (get some weed killer in the gaps!) and a fresh coat of paint in a different color to give it a new lease of life?

gingernut352000

My landscaper recommended spraying bleech on at a 50/50 watered down solution and just leaving it he said its better than pressure washing but don't get on the grass haven't tried it yet but will be in the spring

krey

I had heard about the bleach as well, put it down today on few pieces, but it was more or less useless.. sure it did some very light removal but a pressure washer did 100x better job much faster and chemical free.
we don't use weedkiller in our house, if the pressure washer can't do it, we get on our knees with a knife and they are gone instantly without leaving any of the nasties behind.

but.. Im kinda not talking about just pulling out some weeds here but giving it a 2nd life without ripping it all out, and there's no way you can paint patio slabs with ''paint'' I have heard you can acid stain them but honestly it seems way more popular in USA tha in UK and there aren't any products for that sort of stuff available here

glasgowdan

krey wrote: »

I had heard about the bleach as well, put it down today on few pieces, but it was more or less useless.. sure it did some very light removal but a pressure washer did 100x better job much faster and chemical free.
we don't use weedkiller in our house, if the pressure washer can't do it, we get on our knees with a knife and they are gone instantly without leaving any of the nasties behind.

but.. Im kinda not talking about just pulling out some weeds here but giving it a 2nd life without ripping it all out, and there's no way you can paint patio slabs with ''paint'' I have heard you can acid stain them but honestly it seems way more popular in USA tha in UK and there aren't any products for that sort of stuff available here

Erm, don't think you're aware that the run-off from bleach is far far worse than any weedkillers being sold in this country!

Also, if you do spray bleach you need to do it in dry conditions and leave it to take effect over a couple of weeks. Trust me, it WILL clean up the stone as much as it can be cleaned.

missile

That patio looks very nice to me

Apodemus

gingernut352000 wrote: »

My landscaper recommended spraying bleech on at a 50/50 watered down solution and just leaving it he said its better than pressure washing but don't get on the grass haven't tried it yet but will be in the spring

The problem with this sort of advice is that it gives no indication of actual strength of bleach that is recommended. Big difference in concentrations between different products and suppliers, so saying "50/50 watered down solution" is pretty meaningless.

In practice, a good pressure wash is often as good as anything else and much faster (even for blasting out between the slabs).

I'm not sure, though, that there is any way to get old slabs to look like anything other than old slabs!

Fuzion

The wall looks fine. When I see new brick walls and concrete copings I always want them to hurry up and 'age' so they look more like old mellow bricks and real stone.

27cool

They're old slabs, they will never look like new. If it was me I would be clearing the weeds away properly. They're what is making the patio look a bit shabby. Jet washing usually works wonders in my experience.

bluesnake

Thought about dilute hydrochloric acid, about 10 parts water to 1 part by volume acid. Brickies used this to clean face bricks.

Dont breath the gas,or get it on your skin.

try just one tile, a corner one to see how it comes up.


nearly as natural as acid rain though.

gingernut352000

Apodemus wrote: »

The problem with this sort of advice is that it gives no indication of actual strength of bleach that is recommended. Big difference in concentrations between different products and suppliers, so saying "50/50 watered down solution" is pretty meaningless.

In practice, a good pressure wash is often as good as anything else and much faster (even for blasting out between the slabs).

I'm not sure, though, that there is any way to get old slabs to look like anything other than old slabs!

Agree only passing on comments as said I have not done yet experimental I'm sure