Concrete pavers are a versatile landscaping product and give DIY renovators and landscape professionals a diverse range of design and functionality options.
Concrete pavers are robust and structurally sound, potentially lasting 20 to 30 years or more with proper care and maintenance, making them one of the most cost-effective landscape path and flooring products on the market.
Concrete pavers come in a wide variety of styles and shapes, including:
- Brick
- Oxford
- Square
- Dumbell
- Basil
- Zigzag
- Milano
- Hexagonal
- Octagonal and much more
These pavers can be used to create a myriad of patterns and effects, including:
- Stretcher bond
- Herringbone
- Diamond
- Basketweave
- Contrasting patterns and more
There are even custom moulds available to create bespoke shapes and patterns that can be tailored for a unique garden installation or theme.
While concrete pavers are versatile and robust, they are not indestructible, and they do require a care regime, which includes:
- Sealing
- Maintenance cleaning
- Periodic deep cleaning
- Periodic resealing
While maintenance cleaning can generally be performed with water, gentle detergents, a stiff broom and some elbow grease, a deep cleaning may require a little more muscle.
Deep cleaning is critical in cases where tiles require resealing, as all legacy sealants must be removed before reapplication to ensure adequate adhesion or impregnation on or into the pavers. DIY pressure cleaning may seem like an obvious choice for deep cleaning concrete pavers; however, this may cause more harm than good.
Read on to discover why you shouldn’t pressure wash concrete pavers and why Enviro Clean and Capture can provide the best paver cleaner Sydney can offer.
Why you shouldn’t pressure wash concrete pavers
While concrete pavers are known for their durability, they do have a weakness, and that is that concrete is porous. Similar to pores in your skin, these networks of micro-holes are a natural part of the concrete pavers structure and occur during manufacturing.
These pores will allow contaminants and pollutants into the concrete substructure if left unsealed and improperly cleaned.
When pavers are sealed, they are water-resistant. Sealant is a protective aquaphobic film that allows water and other contaminants to wash over the concrete tiles’ surface, protecting the paver’s surface layer and sublayers from moisture and pollutants.
While industrial high-pressure water cleaners easily remove the dirt and legacy sealant, the high pressure can often damage the surface layer of your concrete pavers, breaking down the pavers themselves and exposing sublayers to moisture and environmental contaminants.
There are often bigger pores in the substructure of many concrete pavers. These larger cavities allow larger particles to permeate the pavers and break them down prematurely.
These contaminants and pollutants include:
- Dirt and grime
- Debris
- Biowaste
- Oils and chemicals
- Salts
- Animal waste and more
Moisture that gets forced deep into the pores of cement pavers can also provide a breeding ground for mycotoxins, like mould and mildew.
Mould and mildew can stain and damage cement pavers while also increasing the chance of human exposure to these mycotoxins, which can be dangerous to human health.
Exposure to mycotoxins has been linked to adverse health conditions such as:
- Allergy and asthma inflammation
- Lung diseases
- Autoimmune reactions
- Skin issues and more
High-pressure cleaners can also remove your paver fillers, like polymeric sand, between your pavers, which cushions and reduces the chance of cracking with earth movement, and stops your pavers from shifting over time or in extreme weather conditions.
If removed, rain and wash water can move into the gaps between your pavers, resulting in pavers movement, which compromises structural integrity. In particularly heavy rain, you may even have foundation sand washed away, resulting in expensive repair work.
When it’s time to get your concrete tiles deep cleaned, it is best to hire a professional technician. Read on to learn about professional concrete tile cleaning and see why Enviro Clean and Capture are the prefered paver cleaner in Sydney.
The benefits of hiring a professional concrete paver cleaner
Like most jobs, you need to use the right tools to get the right results. A professional concrete paver cleaner uses custom-designed pressure cleaners that provide the optimal pressure to clean the concrete pavers and remove the legacy sealant without damage.
Most professional concrete pressure cleaning units also have a steam cleaning capacity, which may be the best solution in some circumstances.
Steam cleaning also helps kill off mycotoxins and other bio-contaminants, like moss and fungi, that may have embedded in the pores of your concrete or breached the legacy sealant.
A professional concrete cleaner also has the advantage of a trained eye. An experienced concrete paver cleaner can pick up subtle colour changes, shade differences and other nuances that only become obvious after time on the job.
While there are plenty of talented and competent DIY handypeople and homeowners, nothing can beat years of experience in a trade. Damage caused by inexperienced DIY pressure cleaning, even once, is enough to create significant and irreparable damage to your concrete services.
Concrete pavers, tiles and pathways constitute a significant part of your property’s aesthetic, and their condition can impact the overall worth of your home or business.
By having your concrete pavers cleaned by a concrete cleaning professional, you are ensuring that you are optimising your outdoor paths and flooring’s life expectancy, helping your property look its best all year round.
Commercial property owners may even recoup some of the costs of professional concrete paver cleaning at tax time as a property maintenance expenditure.
The benefits of concrete tile sealing
While regular cleaning and scheduled deep cleans are an ideal way to take good care of your concrete pavers, they are still left unprotected if unsealed.
Sealants have been specifically designed to protect your concrete surfaces from:
- Hard water
- Trapped moisture
- Harsh UV radiation
- Mycotoxins
- Bio-contaminants
- Pollutants and more
Once your professional deep clean is completed, it is highly suggested by concrete experts to have either a topical or, preferably, penetrating sealant applied to seal off the pores in your concrete surfaces.
DIY sealants often leave home and property owners disappointed, resulting in:
- Uneven application
- Patchy adhesion
- Staining or colour inconsistencies
- Slippery surfaces and other adverse outcomes
Topical sealants, while temporarily effective if correctly applied, have a shorter life expectancy than penetrative sealants, usually between six months to a few years; this depends on the manufacturer and only creates a surface-layer film over your concrete work.
A penetrative sealant, sometimes called an impregnating sealant, penetrates the pores of the pavers, bonding into the sublayers of the concrete, providing optimal protection and allowing them to breathe so moisture can escape.
Penetrative sealants also have a significantly higher life expectancy than topicals and can last anywhere from twelve months to ten years or more, depending on manufacturer specifications.
Sealants also make maintenance cleaning significantly more manageable, as you are removing dirt and grime off the sealant rather than the untreated concrete. If you are unsure whether your concrete pavers are currently sealed, there is an easy DIY test you can perform.
In temperate weather, pick the discreet section of your pavers. Drizzle a few drops of water via your fingertips and observe. If the water is beading on the concrete’s surface after a minute or so, there is a good chance your pavers are sealed.
However, your concrete surface may be unsealed if the paver absorbs the water quickly. If you are still unsure about your concrete paver’s sealant status, a professional concrete paver cleaner and sealer will be able to make a diagnosis.
Our Enviro Clean and Capture technicians are seasoned professionals in cleaning and sealing concrete pavers. If you require reliable and experienced paver cleaners in Sydney, call our helpdesk today and learn why we are the industry-leading paver cleaner Sydney side of New South Wales.
In conclusion
While DIY pressure cleaners appear to be cleaning your concrete effectively, most will be too powerful and damage your concrete surfaces, removing their upper layers and exposing the substructures to damaging compounds and premature wear and tear.
A professional paver cleaner uses tailored concrete pressure and steam cleaners to provide optimal force and penetration without causing damage, effectively removing dirt, pollutants and unwanted layers of legacy sealant.
Sealing your concrete between professional cleans maximises your concrete tile’s protection, prolonging the concrete’s life expectancy and maintaining a more consistent, desirable and long-lasting aesthetic.
Your concrete pavers are a significant investment. While they are robust and designed for the rigours of outdoor installation, these steps can ensure your investment and assets remain in their best condition for many years to come.
The best paver cleaner Sydney has on offer
If your concrete pavers are due for a professional clean, don’t risk damaging your asset with overpowered DIY pressure cleaners. Instead, contact one of our technicians at Enviro Clean and Capture today to arrange a no-obligation free quote.
We also offer a comprehensive range of topical and penetrating, environmentally-friendly sealant solutions for:
- Concrete tiles
- Natural stone flooring
- Ceramic tiles and more
If you require paver cleaning in Sydney and surrounding suburbs, call our experienced technicians toll-free on 1300 415 213, or send your inquiry via our online contact form, and a representative will respond promptly.
