First time poster, trying to start new business off right. Sand finished driveway and pool patio. Surface clean? Sh ok? If so, is 1 to 2% typically efficient? Pre and post wash like normal? Have spent a good amount of time reading up although haven’t always been signed in. I’m sure this topic has been covered, my apologies. I humbly beseech the knowledge of the veteran elite, which compared to me is all of you.
It always helps if you can post some pictures so we know exactly what you’re dealing with.
You can surface clean pavers with sand joints. If the driveway slopes down work from the bottom up in hopes of bring the sand with you and you can rinse it back done into the joints. You might need to broom more sand in afterwards so take that into consideration when doing the estimate or talk to the homeowner about it.
As far as pre and post treating the percent depends on the amount of organics present. 2% is probably good if there’s not a lot of thick moss and algae. Don’t post treat if you plan on sealing afterwards. Sealing is usually done to help keep the sand in the joints. They also have certain sand that can be used that will harden up.
I had pavers and sanded joints stuck in my head instead of what you were talking about. I’m not sure about the finish. I’m sure it could be soft washed without issue but will take a stronger mix than 2%. I would go on the very bottom corner near the road and hit it with some high pressure to test it and make sure the sand stays in place. I would think you would be fine using a surface cleaner on that and it wouldn’t loosen any of the sand finish. Wait until someone else chimes in though. @Racer will probably know. That’ll definitely make some good before and after pictures for marketing purposes so take some good shots.
I’ll be sure to, thanks
Why do you call it a sand finished drive? Looks pretty much like regular concrete or is there something different about we can’t see in pic. What type machine and SC you cleaning it with?
I just don’t know how else to describe it. Homeowner said he had it finished when he moved in. You rub your hand on it and it’s a sandy, packed down texture. I have 4000 psi and 4 gpm. My surface cleaner is 18” hammerhead with 25020 tip. If you zoom in where the wooden joints meet you can see where a layer has flaked off. Almost certain my S.C. would take off some of the finish, but enough to worry about I don’t know. Thank you for replying.
Gotcha. First thing you need to do is get you some 2503 nozzles for your SC anyway, for all your concrete. Once you do that you could try a section, like one pass at the bottom running your machine at about 80% throttle and see if you’re messing up the surface. The runoff will be kind of milky white. You see any at all, STOP.
If that doesn’t work, then like Brian said, you may just be better soft washing it. Put 2-3% mix on it and let sit about 10min and then just rinse with medium pressure to low pressure, like 500 psi. Be sure to really flood the edges if the mix is going to get on the grass anywhere prior to spraying your mix. Let us know how it goes. But get those other tips for your SC no matter what. Throw the 2502’s away. You’ll never need
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Ok, milky runoff = stop. And I will replace those tips. Possible soft wash only. Thank you both.
