Concrete / Casted concrete slabs - Cleaning and maintenance.

 

Pressure Washing - concrete slabs should be cleaned by pressure washing, any nozzle can be used. For light staining / dirt you can use a flat surface cleaner to make the process fast. For heavier dirt build-up and organic growth turbo nozzle will be most effective.​

 

Softwash - It isn't always necessary although it's beneficial. This step should be completed once surface was pressure washed and initially rinsed. Application of the chemical removes organic growth that at first glimpse can be invisible. We believe that it also enhances the final appearance of concrete. In some instances, thicker black spots / lichen might require a few applications to remove.

When using chemicals always refer to health and safety instructions and use appropriate protective equipment.

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Pointing - If you experience issues with pointing (cracking / loss / weeds growing through) this should be replaced. Old pointing should be fully removed and refilled. Depending on how the area was laid (drainage, spacing between slabs) adequate pointing should be chosen.

For more information please refer to Re-pointing tab of our website. 

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Sealing - This step is optional. We recommend using good quality acrylic sealant, please note that some cheap sealers available from diy stores will not deliver same results (also not all sealers are acrylic). We work on SmartSeal sealants (link below). 

Sealing Benefits -

- protects the stone from wear

- can enhance colour / appearance

- can be used with kiln dried sand to create pointing like barrier (if slabs have narrow spacing between, approx 2-6mm)

- surface becomes less attractive to organic growth - lichen, moss as it's less porous

- cleaning and maintenance becomes easier (dirt doesn't stick as much as the surface becomes smoother / less porous)

Sealing prep and process - Before sealing make sure that the surface is cleaned to the highest standard, any dirt left over - once sealed it will not be possible to be removed (or would be very messy and costly to do so). 

Surface has to be really dry (allow minimum 1 day for the moisture to evaporate after cleaning, ensure no rain is forecasted for minimum 6-8 hours after completion, if surface hasn't fully dried sealant will trap the moisture and create surface whiteness).

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Sealant can be applied by sprayer or roller.

For best results two coats should be applied - first coat to well soak into the stone and second much lighter to finish with a protective layer on the top. Please note that every surface is different and can be worn less or more - some slabs will happily absorb more sealant where as other could absorb much less. Avoid excessive application, try to stick to product coverage, excessive application will leave excess sealant on top of the stone looking similar to paint run-off/splash.

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