You knew that owning property came with chores, but you overlooked the challenge of maintaining your exterior surfaces. And now, you feel as though your driveway, patio, or lanai is looking back at you! Your once beautiful pavers are frightfully dark, with green and black growing all over them.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon hasn’t paid you a visit. No, the beasts that dwell on your pavers are a far greater adversary to Florida’s residents. They go by the name of:
- Algae
- Mold
- Lichens
- Mildew
- Bacteria
- Pollen
- Pollutants
- Weeds
- Dirt
- Stains
These can be a homeowner’s worst nightmare because no matter how many times you get rid of them, they return to haunt you.
But you don’t have to suffer.
A professional paver cleaner company like Premier Pro Wash & Seal has the tools and knowledge to slay these creatures from your property and toss them to the curb.
But making your home a safe place at all times will take regular maintenance. So today, we answer the question, how often should you hire a paver cleaner?
Your Regular Maintenance Plan
As we discussed in our previous blog post, a well-prepared property owner creates a good maintenance plan that helps him or her to keep their home in excellent condition. But what is the key to preserving and protecting your outdoor living spaces?
Cleanliness.
By cleaning outdoor surfaces, you proactively protect them from the destructive properties of
- Decomposing organic material
- Smog and Pollution
- Microorganisms
- Staining chemicals
Pavers are known to last over 50 years and sometimes well over 100 years, but they require consistent care. When pavers are clean, their color lasts longer, and their longevity is extended.
How Often Do You Need a Paver Cleaner?
Unfortunately, no two pieces of property in the Tampa Bay area of Florida will require a cleaning at the exact same time unless they’re neighbors who live in the immediate vicinity. Most pavers should be cleaned every 6 to 18 months. But there is a year gap between those two numbers. So how do you decide the right time has passed?
Every home will have different needs depending on multiple factors, including:
- Foot Traffic
- Vehicle Traffic
- Water
- Location
Let’s discuss each of these in detail and why they matter.
Foot and Vehicle Traffic
The more traffic an area receives, the more dirt, debris, seeds, and spores will hitch a ride on tires and shoes. If you live alone, work at home, and don’t like visitors, you won’t need to clean them as often as a family of six that has parties every weekend.
When traffic increases, the likelihood of stains will also rise.
Let’s take, for instance, your driveway. If you and your family drive over those pavers every day and leave golf carts and barbecues sitting on the substrate, you run a high risk of rust stains from battery acid, oil, grease, and other chemicals.
While we can remove most stains, the longer they sit, the harder they are to remove. Some stains will become permanent if left untreated long enough. That’s why it’s important to call in the professionals within a few weeks of an unsightly stain. Regardless of what your paver cleaning maintenance schedule is set for, you’ll want to call in a professional within a few weeks of a stain incident, especially if it’s in plain sight.
Water
Water increases the dangers of growing bacteria, fungi, mold, and other microscopic creatures that can threaten your health and safety. That’s why we clean our bathrooms thoroughly. But you can’t clean a pool deck like you do your tub and sink!
What sits on the surface of a paver pool deck has lots of time to build up until it’s easily visible and even more disturbing. Don’t wait too long to hire a paver cleaner for this job.
Ideally, pool deck pavers should be cleaned once a month, but at the very least, you should have them cleaned once every 3 to 6 months.
Location
Where you live affects how frequently you will need your pavers cleaned too. Like pools, the sea and moisture from other bodies of water nearby will cause algae and mold to grow at an accelerated rate. If you live near a pond or lake that has algae in it, high winds will inconveniently airlift the spores, dropping them off on your property.
If you have a lot of foliage around your property, the plant life will hold more moisture. And large trees that provide shade will foster mold.
It’s a good idea to keep track of when your last professional cleaning was done and when you begin to notice growth again.
Your Paver Cleaner in the Tampa Bay Area
Cleaning every square inch of your interior and exterior surfaces is way too much work for you to do alone. But it’s the only way to ensure that you get the most time out of your investment.
So what is a homeowner to do?
Hiring certified and insured technicians like those at Premier Pro Wash & Seal is an affordable solution that will save you time and back pain. We use an 8-gallon-per-minute industrial-strength rotary surface cleaner that gets the job done fast and efficiently!
Request your free quote today!