Driveway cleaning

springdove

Hi there.  So I decided not to spend the £300+ I was quoted for pressure washing my driveway and to instead do this myself.  It took a fair amount of effort, but I am pretty proud of the result.  The driveway looks reasonably clean, all the moss and weeds gone.  I now need to decide what to do next.  Initially, I thought I'll just put in some weed-inhibiting sand to fill the joints. 

1.  However, I am concerned that I also need to consider using some weed killer.  Can I check what you think of this? 
2.  I also have bought some Wet & Forget to help clear the few black spots that remain.  Is this helpful or it is unnecessary?
3.  Lastly, for both the weed killer and the Wet & Forget - should I apply them before sanding or after sanding? 

All advice welcome - I'm a very new DIYer!  Thank you very much in advance!  

FreeBear

Personally, I wouldn't bother getting sand with weedkiller in it. The weeds will still take root regardless. Just buy a bag of kiln dried sand. Spread it out across the drive, and brush in to the joints. If weeds do pop up, just give them a little squirt of glyphosate.

My block drive has been down for just over a year. I used regular dry sand in the joints, and have yet to see any weeds trying to grow in the gaps.

diystarter7

OP

Have you tried Patio Magic? Don't take my word for it read the reviews IMHO it is just that 'Magic' - we have a sheltered area of drive goes green a bit of spray and within days its like new and our drive is blocks/grey and gold blocks edges, cleans great.

I messed up my drive as I was too harsh with the jet spray cleaning and should have put a sealer on, consider that.

If your drive was built well and most are not as they are cowboys - just sweep hard on a regualr bases and keeps most of the wees away unless drive is really rubbish.  I sweep about once every two months and keeps weeks at bay and the odd one, I use a good spray. The weeks often grow near the top and not from the bottom.

TELLIT01

I hadn't heard of sand incorporating weedkiller but agree that it's not going to be worth any additional cost.  The weedkiller will leach out of the sand so weeds will seed into the gaps eventually.  I just go over my drive every couple of months, possibly a little more often in summer, to keep the weeds under control.

When cleaning block paving I use what Karcher call a T-racer head (no idea where the name came from)  as that greatly reduces the over spray and doesn't blast sand out of the joints.

https://www.kaercher.com/uk/accessory/t-5-t-racer-surface-cleaner-26440840.html

koalakoala

We bought one of these, didn’t last very long .
expected better for the price

Silvertabby

T Racer head was useless.  We now do an annual rake out, soft power wash, and re-fill the gaps with Wicke's weed inhibitor sand.  The sand isn't a permanent solution, but it does slow down the rate of re-growth.  

TELLIT01

Maybe I've been lucky but I've been using one for years, with very good results.  I let my neighbour borrow it when they were jet washing their drive and they loved it too.

Annemos

diystarter7

I totally agree with you. I am a HUGE fan of Patio Magic. I have been using it for years. 

I put it on with a watering can when we get the first spell of nice weather in the Spring and over about 2 weeks, the "magic" happens. Any little dark bits that might remain, I do another small application. 

It then looks like new. And mine is 20 years old. 

Weeds: a few grow in the joints.  I either take out with a weed-removal implement. Or, if I am weedkilling somewhere else, I put that on. 



(Shiny Sinks is my other favourite product. I use it on my old UVPC window frame sills and that also does a great job at getting those annoying spider splodge-marks off. Are they defecating??  A real nuisance!)

springdove

Thanks to everyone.  

I do have the T Racer head and notice that it does reduce the over spray, it cleans the paving blocks reasonably well, and doesn’t blast out as much of the sand as the Dirt Blaster head.  However, it also means that where we have some moss, the T Racer head doesn’t really get this out completely.  

I had already pressure washed the driveway with the Dirt Blaster head, so today I just tried the T Racer head again to give it another clean, and tackled the front of the driveway which I had previously left as is (because the car was parked there).  It is while doing this front section that I realised how effective (and not) the T Racer head is. 

My current plan is:
1.  Let the driveway dry
2.  Apply some weed killer one evening - even though there aren’t any visible weeds left, I got a no glyphosate version 
3.  Re sand with Dansand weed inhibiting No Grow jointing grout, once the driveway is fully dry
4.  Apply some Wet and Forget after the sand has set / after a few days 

I hope this does a good enough job to last a year at least. 

For future cleans, I will use the T Racer head - because I don’t want my Dansand expensive sand to be blasted out by the Dirt Blaster head!  

I will try the Patio Magic when I’ve run out of the Wet and Forget.  

Once again I appreciate all your input and thank you very much!