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Pavers Cleaning and Maintenance Guide

As the Summer winds to an end, Labor Day passes and the Fall season draws near, it is the time to start thinking about your pavers. With every day that goes by there is less sunlight and lower temperatures. As the rainy season quickly approaches, everything is staying wet longer and soon the snow will bring more water with the melting and freezing. This means that more organic materials will start to grow because of these conditions.

Coming toward the end of the season, we always recommend taking a look at the condition of your pavers and poly-sand to make an assessment as to what might need to be addressed. Do you see mold, moss, or any other organic build up? Most pavers will start to show some signs of this organic issue.

The reason why looking out for when these issues start to grow is so important is because these organic materials will start to break up your poly-sand and lessen its longevity.

So how do you stop it from growing?

The truth is, you can't completely stop it for good but there are ways to slow the growth and help protect your pavers and sand.

Although we do recommend treating pavers regularly throughout the year, it is most important to pretreat pavers/ sand before the close of the outdoor season.

As a routine end of year maintenance, we recommend that you treat pavers with any type of outdoor mold, mildew, moss, or algae treatment product. These can be purchased as a convenient metered sprayer that you hook up to your hose and apply. We also recommend you to use a 50/50 bleach and water solution at least 1 time before you close the pool and pack up your furniture. Using a sodium chloride or bleach based cleaner will help control the organic issues and doing this treatment now will prepare you for an easier cleanup in the Spring.

All products should be applied when pavers are dry and cool so they can stay wet as long as possible and absorb deep into the pavers/sand and give you the best possible outcome.

This maintenance to your pavers should be an easy task to handle and will preserve your pavers and create an easy solution to your outdoor maintenance come Spring.

Maintenance Guide

Moss, Mold, and Mildew

Moss and mold form naturally in any wet environment. On pavers this generally happens when the area does not get good sunlight to dry the pavers or you have a non-drainage base (when pavers are set over a concrete slab). In either situation you have moisture under your pavers. This is very common that most of the time you can not tell until you see the issues on the surface

What you will need:

a medium bristle janitors broom
general outdoor cleaner
garden hose
low pressure nozzle
treatment products (if needed)

How to clean:

dilute the cleaner as recommended
spray or pour the cleaner over the pavers
use the broom to agitate the cleaner and loosen up the dirt and debris
use the hose and nozzle to wash away the cleaner and dirt
apply treatment products if needed for moss, mold, or mildew (see below)

Treatment Recommendations for Pavers

For when you have moss, mold, or mildew:

We recommend a sodium hypochlorite based product which is similar to pool shock. You can also find products that are non-bleach based, but they take longer to work on moss and mold. Both products like this are readily available at any home big box retailer and can be found as a metered sprayer that you hook up to your hose and spray.
If you have a persistent and consistent moss or mold problem these products should be sprayed three times a year starting in the spring, following up in the middle of the summer, and then at the end of the season in the fall. Products should be sprayed when your pavers are as cool as possible either very early in the morning or late at night. Allow the product to stay wet for approximately 20-30 minutes giving it an opportunity to absorb into the pavers.

For treatment of weeds and grasses:

The poly sand between your pavers will help slow weeds and grasses, but it will not prevent them completely. We recommend treating any weeds or grasses as soon as you see them. The most common and effective way to treat them is to use some type of ground vegetation killer which can be found in any big box store. Generally, it takes a few weeks to fully kill weeds or grass in the paver joints.
An alternative option, if you are looking for less chemicals, is to make a homemade weed killing concoction. You can find many recipes online.

3 Ways to Clean Pavers

We recommend a sodium hypochlorite based product

The simplest way to clean your pavers is to purchase a cleaner which comes in a sprayer bottle that hooks up to your garden hose. Attach the bottle and as you spray the cleaner will automatically dilute.
The most cost efficient method is to purchase a concentrated cleaner in gallon form and a 1-2 gallon pump sprayer. Mix the cleaner following the manufacturers directions and spray on. ~This method will leave you with extra cleaner for multiple applications.
The cheapest method is to purchase household or outdoor bleach and a 1-2 gallon pump sprayer. Dilute the product following the rate on the bottle.