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How to Maintain Your Patio

How to Maintain Your Patio

Getting a new patio installed isn’t a quick, cheap or easy undertaking. So when you’ve had it done, you want to look after it well so that it continues to look its best for as many years as possible.

Keeping your patio looking great with regular maintenance is a lot easier than having to carry out serious cleaning if you’ve let its condition deteriorate over time. But, of course, it’s easy to let things get away from you when you’re busy – and what about if you buy a house with a patio that’s been allowed to become worse for wear by the previous occupants?

This month, the team at Home View Landscapes will be taking a close look at how to clean and how to maintain your patio.

Regular patio maintenance tasks

Before we get onto serious patio cleaning tips, let’s take a look at a couple of things you should be doing as often as possible to stay on top of your patio maintenance. That should hopefully reduce any need for serious cleaning too often.

  • Brushing – try to get rid of leaves and other garden detritus that land or blow on your patio as often as possible. Once it rains and it all starts to rot, not only is it harder to remove than when it’s dry, but there’s also a greater chance of it staining the flags as well. And you might stop seeds falling between the cracks and starting to grow.
  • Weeding – at some point, no matter how many precautions you take, weeds will start to grow through the cracks between individual flags. Try to remove them as often as possible, because the more they take root, the harder they will be to get out. And the bigger they grow, the greater the chance of them causing the paving slabs to crack.
  • Fill gaps in the joints – if you have sand-filled joints, you’ll need to occasionally replace the sand, because it will likely be pulled out with the weeds or may get washed away by the rain. If you don’t do this, the flags may become uneven in the way they sit on the base.

How to clean your patio

As mentioned earlier, despite our best intentions – and sometimes through circumstances out of our control –  patios do need more serious care every now and then. 

Before starting, sweep and weed your patio. There are a few options for how to clean your patio, depending on what state it has got into, and whether you prefer to use an eco-friendly cleaning solution.

  • Soap and water – mix some soap or washing-up liquid in a bucket with some water, pour it over your patio and scrub at it with a hard-bristled brush or broom. Rinse with clean water – using a jet wash will give the best results. Leave for 24 hours and repeat the process if necessary.
  • Vinegar and water – this is an environmentally-friendly option, as long as you’re using white vinegar rather than vinegar distilled from petroleum. Clear the patio of plants, pots and ornaments first, because the acid in the vinegar might not be good for them. Mix the vinegar 50/50 with some water in a watering can – add more vinegar if you’re dealing with a particularly dirty patio – and pour it over the area you’re cleaning. Leave for 20 minutes and then scrub with a stiff brush or broom. Make sure you get the solution between the cracks, because the vinegar should also kill any weeds lurking there!
  • Bleach – only use when neither of the above work, but take great care to make sure that it doesn’t get onto any bordering plants. You should also never use bleach with man-made slabs – only use it with natural paving stones. Mix five parts water with one part bleach in a watering can and carefully pour over your patio. Brush in, leave for 15 minutes and rinse clean, making sure you do so away from any plant life.

With Home View Landscapes, you can take the effort out of sprucing up an old and worn patio area, because we’re experts in everything patio related. From laying a new patio to cleaning and maintaining an old one, you can count on our experienced team to make your patio the envy of your friends and neighbours. 

To find out more about patio services from Home View Landscapes, give us a call today. We operate in the areas around Ascot, Bracknell and Maidenhead.

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