Ways to Maintain Concrete Footpath or Walkways
When concrete footpath or walkways are kept clean and are in good repair, they can enhance the landscape and your garden. There are certain regular maintenance ways to keep it in good condition.
Tips to maintain concrete footpath:
Weekly sweep the walkways:
A long-handled broom can be really useful to sweep the concrete walkways. You can do it weekly and more often during autumn. The fallen leaves can stain the walkway with the leaf mould if it suffers a rainfall. Sweeping helps to clean off the chalk marks of your kids or after a hopscotch game. It also keeps the ants and the other insects at bay.
Washing the concrete walkways twice a year:
It should be washed off twice a year to wash off the sand, salt, and deicer from the concrete walkway. An environmentally friendly cleaner is a must to clean the concrete footpath as it will not harm the garden or lawn. Use water to dampen the concrete footpath first, then with the help of a stiff bristle brush, apply the cleaner and scrub the stains that might have formed. To remove the dirt and the soapy residue use a power washer to rinse off. The cleaner will help to remove the mild dew and the mold that might have caused by the fallen leaves. Moving the lawn furniture first is a good thing to prevent the rinsing of the chair leg circles. After the entire cleaning, a penetrating sealer should be applied so that the fresh appearance can be retained for a longer period of time.
Concrete walkways around the pool:
Textured concrete or paving stones can be used to make a border around the pool so that the chlorinated water does not splash much on the concrete slabs. It is important to always keep the pressure washer nozzle away from the edge of the pool while cleaning the concrete walkway near a pool. That way the pool water will stay clean. Sweeping is important before each pool cleaning so that the swimmers going into the pool do not take leaves or insects along with them inside the pool.
Preventive Cares required for the walkways:
Flowering shrubs, trees, and hedges should not strictly be allowed to grow over the concrete walkway. Even grass borders should be trimmed off 4 inches on both sides. To allow sunlight pruning trees is important. Thick green moss should not be allowed to grow between the concrete slabs. To discourage plant growth, the divides should be filled with special sand for stone installations. The cracks should be repaired immediately with epoxy repair kit. Coarse gravel and sand can be used to level the ground and put down new slabs.
Mistakes that are to be avoided:
Power washer should not be used near cracked concrete slabs. If so much pressure is applied, it will break down a lot faster. The pressure washer nozzle should be kept 12-20 inches away from the concrete surface. After repairing the concrete it should be left for two days before it can be used for walking or even for keeping the furniture in them again.
