First paid patio softwash this week

[matt1458]

Evening all. I’ve been experimenting with hypo cleaning slabs and whatnot for a few weeks. Watching YouTube vids and cleaning at friends and family houses with the caveat I’m practicing don’t sue me ?

Anyway, all has been going well and they’ve been really pleased with the results. Now a neighbour of mine (already a window cleaning customer) has asked to book his in this week as a “proper” job.

I’m fairly confident on the process for patios now, but every time I’ve done it I am a bit nervous when it comes to rinsing the hypo away. Especially when the patio doesn’t naturally drain very well or drains towards / is butted up against grass.

I’ve always pre-wet the grass and haven’t seen it affected yet but wondering if there are any tricks I’m missing to get shot of the hypo mix more effectively? I have been rinsing possibly over thoroughly due to pets living nearby but on my last practice run it felt like I was walking away from the job having soaked everything to within an inch of its life??

I’m applying through an 11L pump sprayer so have decent control over applying the mix, it’s just the rinsing that seems to get a bit out of hand.

Any words of wisdom?

 

[Pjj]

The more you rinse it the better as it’s diluting it more so you won’t hurt plants of pets , we always rinse well . 

 

[matt1458]

The more you rinse it the better as it’s diluting it more so you won’t hurt plants of pets , we always rinse well . 

Thank you, glad over rinsing is the done thing. Out of interest what do you do  when the surface doesn’t naturally drain away? The house in question is a relatively new estate and is going to mean to whatever you try you’re either pushing it into the grass or essentially down the communal path.. is there a least mess option? Or is it just soak everything and let dilution take its course?

 

[Pjj]

Thank you, glad over rinsing is the done thing. Out of interest what do you do  when the surface doesn’t naturally drain away? The house in question is a relatively new estate and is going to mean to whatever you try you’re either pushing it into the grass or essentially down the communal path.. is there a least mess option? Or is it just soak everything and let dilution take its course?

We try to wait until the ground is reasonable dry if we can so it will soak away quickly down hear most of the time the paths do drain away from the house or if not they have archo drains so it goes away , but on some jobs we  sweep the waist water away , allow a fair bit of extra time for this , always check drainage when quoting work . Years ago on one of my first pressure washing jobs it took me longer trying to get rid of waist water than to wash the paths lesson learned ???

 

[K in Kent]

And you could always use a weaer hypo mix near the edges and give it a longer dwell time. But where run-off is a concern keep the grass soaked throughout the rinsing process and keep topping up with fresh clean water. It may start to look a bit waterlogged but that will soon drain away down into the soil.
If you want to speed it up a bit try forking a few holes into the grass. That may sound a little drastic but does help drainage and the holes won't be visible afterwards. Besides, it does the grass good to aerate it and get some oxygen into the soil.

 

[K in Kent]

If it's a new estate it should be SUDS compliant meaning even if there isn't anything obvious there should be suitable drainage systems built in to help deal with surface water and reduce flooding risks.. Or it might have a soakaway. But your patio cleaning isn't going to cause any problems and my view would be better to use too much rather than too little fresh water when it comes to diluting hypo....but of course, also being responsible and sensible R.E. water usage.

 

[Truckcab79]

I always pre-soak the grass and absolutely flood it with fresh clean water after.

However I also warn customers that there could be some yellowing or die-back. Which will soon regrow. So far it’s never happened but I’d prefer that they know it might and are then pleasantly surprised that it doesn’t. ?

 

[Dave B]

We try to wait until the ground is reasonable dry if we can so it will soak away quickly down hear most of the time the paths do drain away from the house or if not they have archo drains so it goes away , but on some jobs we sweep the waist water away , allow a fair bit of extra time for this , always check drainage when quoting work . Years ago on one of my first pressure washing jobs it took me longer trying to get rid of waist water than to wash the paths lesson learned ???

My gutter vac has come in handy a couple of times with bad drainage
Best to have the tools you may need

 

[mikesolton]

Thanks for this interesting information!