Time for a bit of spring cleaning

Don’t waste time buying products to treat your patio, a regular scrub will produce great results and save cash

It’s funny how light affects the look of properties, especially at this time of year.

Spring is most noticeable when it becomes light as you travel to work in the morning and remains light for your journey back home.

But with this brighter light comes the obvious general cleaning and maintenance of your property.

The need for cleaning might be obvious inside your home as the natural light highlights dirt and dust you may not have noticed before. The obvious places are under the sofa or dust on the skirting boards.

However it’s sometimes outside that really needs the hard work.

During the damp winter months, dirt and detritus forms over the face of the patio and driveway, not to mention how slippery the decking gets, especially if it’s shaded.

Winter maintenance, where de-icing salts have been used, the paving will be temporarily discoloured by the salt/grit. However, normal weathering will soon remove any marks or discolouring left by the salt.

The problem with paving in general is that dirt, decomposing organic matter – such as leaves, bird droppings, moss, lichens and algae – will obviously reduce the intensity of the colour of the paving.

Also, along with a touch of frost, the pointing between the paving units can come loose or crumble away. Moss can also grow between the joints in the block paving.

It doesn’t take nature long to have a serious visual impact on hard standings, even on paving just a couple of years old – as it can lose its colour intensity. General dirt and marks from rotting leaves and bird droppings can easily be dealt with by simply scrubbing with washing – up liquid and hot water. Nothing more technical than that is needed to re-establish the colour intensity of your paving.

Once your block paving, slabs or decking are around three to five years old, you start to notice the damage the climate can do.

It’s always damp orientated problems. Moss, lichen and algae commonly occur on all forms of paving and decking.

Another problem is when rain water can’t drain away. You may notice this on decking under a shaded area. This is because decking is laid perfectly level, so rain water sits between the treads.

If not cleaned regularly, ie. once a week, then algae will quickly form along with lichen and moss. The key of maintaining decking is not about what product you use on your decking.All that is required is a good scrub once a week.

The time spent looking for a speciality product is better spent actually giving your decking a quick scrub.

It will also save you money in the long run.