Care And Maintenance Of Your Investment

The job has been completed, furniture and the BBQ moved to its corner of the patio or the cars are now proudly parked on the new driveway. And you hope everything will stay this beautiful for ever! As with many things around the house, maintenance is the key to make things last. This too applies to your new patio and driveway. There is always the risk of stains to the surfaces from BBQ or vehicle drips. Leaves remaining on surfaces for extended periods of time can also leave discolouration.
It is helpful to frequently sweep or use a leaf blower to clear the surfaces of pavers to keep the area neat and also allow you to look for areas that have a stain. Although the Internet provides many solutions to remove stains from grease, rust or tar, we can only recommend that you follow pavers” manufactures recommendations which are to use approved cleaning paver products. In Ottawa, there is a broad selection of specific cleaning products manufactured by Techniseal® and AllainceGator® and whey are available at most landscape product retailers. Both these companies websites do an excellent job in providing “How To” information and videos.

After your pavers have been down for a year, you now how have the opportunity to apply a sealer to their surface. Again, the reason waiting the year is to ensure adequate evacuation of efflorescence from the pavers ( chalky streaks ). The surfaces should be first cleared of debris, stains removed and then hosed off and dried prior to application. The sealer products allow for a water and stain proof barrier to the surface of the pavers and to the polymeric sand between their joints Sealers are available in various levels of sheen from mat, satin or a high gloss wet look.These products are made available by Techniseal® and AllainceGator® and are available at most landscape product retailers. The manufacturer’s websites do provide appropriate instruction and “How To” videos. Also, your landscape contractor can be called to do the application.

In instances where moss appears within the joints of pavers ( usually in shaded or damp areas ), a solution of 10 parts water and 1 part chlorine bleach may be a applied.

Also to the note, homeowners that contract out for snow removal of their concrete paver driveway, should ensure that the snow removing machinery being used has had the installation of a teflon blade. This is necessary so the metal portions of the equipment do not come in direct contact with the pavers thus preventing scratches and potential gouging of the paver surfaces.