Top Tips To Protect Your Paving From The Winter Weather

Winter has arrived and with it comes some of the biggest tests for paving materials that you will see all year, with consequences that can be costly in the New Year if they are not adequately protected.

The biggest danger to paving slabs and stones is cracking, which typically occurs when water gets into the stones through small holes, and stretches those holes out through the freeze-thaw cycle causing the water to expand.

As well as this, moss, dirt, mud, snow and frost can also cause damage to the surface and make the stones more treacherous to traverse, something that can lead to a much harder spring clean and can make the condition of the stones worse.

The best way to take care of paving stones is to stay on top of garden maintenance over the winter. Use plastic shovels to scoop snow away and sprinkle sand rather than salt onto the patio to give yourself a better grip. Salt can cause damage to certain types of stone.

Sweeping the patio can help shake away mould, moss and fungi, which in turn can make your life easier in the spring when it is time to bring the patio and garden back to life.

As well as this, make sure that your paving stones are suitably sealed. Typically they need to be resealed every three years, but if you have a particularly busy garden or the weather has been especially awful, it might need to be done sooner than you initially thought.

Finally, many people opt to use a pressure washer or jet washer to clean their patio, and whilst that is a way to make the job easier, make sure to keep the nozzle at least a foot away to ensure that it is not inadvertently causing erosion damage to the stone flags or concrete.