A nice sandstone patio that has been deep cleaned and sealed in Chiswick

Attractive Sandstone patio cleaned and sealed in Chiswick W4

The above pic shows a patio we have cleaned, sealed and restored in the Chiswick area. The tiles are a lovely Indian Sandstone that was hiding under years of moss, mold and other growth. You can see the tiles looked drab, grey and completely different to what they actually are supposed to look like.

If you wish to learn a bit more about how we have cleaned and restored it or about our service then please see below.

sandstone patio tiles that are very grey and have allot of mold on them — Here you can see how moldy and grey the patio slabs look before cleaning

This is the after effect when we deep cleaned and sealed these lovely sandstone tiles on a patio in Chiswick

Mold and growth on Sandstone tiles

Unfortunately allot of fungi will take root inside of sandstone and limestone in the London area as there is always moisture present. Sandstones and limestones and ordinary concrete patio pavers are very porous which allows moisture to sit deep with in the tiles nourishing the mold and fungi.

Our job is essentially to kill existing mold and fungi and then to deep seal the stone or patio tiles to essentially prohibit the mold from taking root so easily again.

How do we clean patios that have become moldy?

The first thing we need to do is apply a strong mold and fungi killing chemical. Most stones and materials used for patio tiles are resistant to this type of chemical which is essentially a very strong oxidising agent that works like bleach. It penetrates deeply into the patio tiles or stones and kills everything inside. Sometimes this needs a few applications but eventually everything growing inside will be removed.

In the above pic you can see the effects of the mold killing chemical as it reacts with all the living stuff in these sandstone patio tiles, turning it white.

After we have effectively killed the mold and lichens we are in a much better position to pressure wash the patio as now the jet of water removes contamination much more easily. If you apply appropriate chemicals before pressure washing the cleaning result is much better with the added advantage that you dont need the strongest pressure setting as highly pressured water can also damage sensitive stones.

Other chemicals used in the patio cleaning process.

Killing the mold is only one of the stages in cleaning a patio thoroughly. We also need to take into consideration other contamination besides growth and mold. This may include oils , limescale build up, cement residue, rust stains, discolouration from the environment and dirty water run off. There are many different things , tricks and chemicals patio cleaning experts employ to tackle all the different dirt and stains.

However the basic process is to remove mold, then to determine if a degreasing detergent is necessary. If so this is then applied. Then if limescale or cement residue is present can we move on to acidic detergents. Acidic chemicals will damage sandstone and limestone and can only be used on slate and granite ( after testing)

Pointing and grout line repairs on patios and exterior tiles

On nearly every patio cleaning job we will find some of the pointing is damaged or missing between the slabs or grout lines. This is quite normal and part of our service is to effectively repair the pointing so that it can again keep the water from free flowing through the substrate. If water is left to penetrate the gaps in the pointing lines and flow through the base below it will erode more and more until large patches of your patio become loose. Water also washes up salts from the earth below which will take root in your natural stone tiles to create unsightly discolouration that is very difficult to remove.

When repairing the pointing or grout lines it is very important to include additives in the new mix so that they are stronger than before. If movement in the slabs or tiles has caused them to break then this needs to be repaired first.

Granite patio and exterior tile cleaning (limescale removal)

Granite is a lovely stone to clean as it is very durable and resistant to chemicals and high pressured water jets. The one in the pic above was caked with limescale so we applied limescale remover and literally blasted the hell out of it with our most powerful pressure washer. This removed everything with ease. There where of course a few other stains that required degreasing chemicals and a couple of rust stains here and there.

This quarry tiled patio was moldy and dirty. We where able to thoroughly clean and strip it before professionally sealing it

Quarry tiles on patio being refurbished and sealed

For more information on our quarry tile deep cleaning and sealing service in West London please follow the link

Our other services include

cement encaustic tile cleaning

Contact
Privacy
Terms & Conditions