Can pavers be pressure washed? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Sir Mixalot · 02-29-2008, 10:05 PM

I don't want to mess my pavers up by pressure washing them. They are just set in a bed of sand. Anyone ever pressure washed this type of paver before? Thanks.

BreyerConstruct · 02-29-2008, 11:41 PM

Quick answer: yes.

Concerns: don't mess up the bed of sand.

Oh, and this is a good time to refill the joints with a polymeric sand.

HTH,
~Matt

mdshunk · 02-29-2008, 11:42 PM

...and evict the ducks. They make a mess of the pool deck. Geese are 10 times as bad.

neolitic · 02-29-2008, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdshunk

...and evict the ducks. They make a mess of the pool deck. Geese are 10 times as bad.

At least now we know where
Tony Soprano went!

MALCO.New.York · 02-29-2008, 11:50 PM

Heck!!! You can pressure-wash ANYTHING with the correct pressure, tip and technique!

zukkoor · 03-04-2008, 11:28 AM

You can definatly pressure wash the bricks.

I would also suggest that you seal them when you are done.
Sweep in silica sand with a push broom and buy a brick paver sealer and spray on with a pumpable sprayer. This will Harden the sand preventing weeds from growing.

Sir Mixalot · 03-07-2008, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zukkoor

You can definatly pressure wash the bricks.

I would also suggest that you seal them when you are done.
Sweep in silica sand with a push broom and buy a brick paver sealer and spray on with a pumpable sprayer. This will Harden the sand preventing weeds from growing.

Thanks zukkoor. Thanks for the info.

sealerguy · 03-14-2008, 07:12 AM

Powerwash the brick pavers starting at the edge by the pool, and allways keep your tip (fan) aiming away from the pool. Concentrate on removing the sand as well as cleaning the face of the brick. Let it dry for a day, sweep in a polymeric sand without too much extra, dont worry about the last brick closest to the pool as when you fill it with sand, it will hourglass back into the pool, use a blower lightly again facing away from the pool and blow the residual sand off of the top. Water the sand down with a very light spray or mist of water, just enough to saturate the sand. Let that dry for a day. Brush and roll on an acrylic brick paver sealer pushing it thick at first, then feather it out, one coat should do it, but you can put two allthough it gets more shiny per coat. Let that dry for a day. You will need to vacuem out your pool as some debris will go in there. Hope this helps.

Barry M · 03-22-2008, 02:34 PM

Did my first paver job last year, they aren't very popular in my area. I did it just like mentioned above, used a turbo nozzle to remove all moss and old sand. Two days later I broomed in new sand followed by a cleaning with the leaf blower. I used Scott's paver sealer from thesealerstore.com I applied it with his commercial pump up sprayer which was nice. Application was a breeze and it's a darn good paver sealer too.

Sir Mixalot · 03-22-2008, 03:54 PM

Thanks, sealerguy and Barry M. I'll post a picture when I finish the project.

PressurePros · 03-24-2008, 12:29 AM

We do a bunch of these. I'll third the advice given. You can definitely pressure wash pavers with the right technique.

sealerguy · 04-14-2008, 07:06 AM

You can use regular play/joint sand and spray a 25% sealer same day,(25% is what is sold everywhere, But I like the unilock polymeric sand, and roll on the 30%, this way creates an extra step of watering the sand down and waiting for it to dry, Either way works, thesealerstore.com has both 25 and 30.

allhardscaping · 03-18-2009, 09:57 PM

Like everybody else said. You can pressure wash pavers. Use a rotary or turbo nozzle to get a good cleanse. Hold it a couple feet away. Youll blow out some sand, make sure not to blow to deep or theyll have a tendency to become uneven. Swep in dry bagged sand and then seal. I recomend a solvent based sealer. The guy that said you can seal the same day was probably talking about a water based sealer. If oyu do use solvent, make sure the paver is completly dry or it will white out the sealer. Good luck!

ccpc · 03-18-2009, 10:16 PM

I clean paver driveways all the time. No problem. It is always good to sell them a sealer application when you are finished.

tom connelly · 04-22-2009, 12:03 AM

Pavers are delicate to clean, especially when set in sand. Try to avoid pressure so you wont have such a mess to clean up, or cause damage to the pavers.. and I personally wouldn't recommend using turbo nozzles, pavers are sensitive substrates, not only to color changes but also to pressure. In essence, you don't want to create problems. Another thing.. Pavers are highly succeptable to efflorescence, haze, and white scum. If you clean pavers you will run across these stains.. or create them if you aren't careful.

EaCo Chem has a product called Paver Clean that is specially formulated to clean pavers without having to use pressure and without causing damage, color bleed, and efflorescing problems. You can have great looking pavers by simply applying the chemicals as directed, then rinsing off with a garden hose, that way you wont have to sweep in so much sand at the end of your job. They also have new products available that you may have to call about.

I would recommend sealing the pavers once you have cleaned them, as stated above, it helps to bond the sand together and prevent weeds from growing and the sand from being washed and swept away, as well as block from excess moisture which causes efflorescence and rapid mildew growth. Some paver sealers will help to retain and even enhance the natural colors of the pavers, making them look great and making future cleanings easier.

If you have any questions.. feel free to contact EaCo Chem and ask for tech assistance. Ask for either Mike or Lynn.
EaCo Chem: 1-800-313-8505