After your Houston concrete supply pours your home’s concrete patio, clean it regularly to keep it in great condition.
Concrete patios are the perfect place to spend time outside, whether just to enjoy the weather or to barbecue some great food! However, just like any other surface, you will need to clean it from time to time to keep it looking great. As a leading Houston concrete supply, we have plenty of hacks to help you keep your patio clean and looking great for years to come.
Regular Concrete Patio Cleaning Tips from Your Houston Concrete Supply
A new patio poured by your Houston concrete supply is a great investment and is amazingly low-maintenance. However, it does still require some routine cleaning. How often you need to clean your patio depends on a lot of different things, like how much foot traffic it gets and how often it comes into contact with debris and chemicals. Generally speaking, we recommend cleaning your concrete patio at least once a year. However, you may need to do it more often as needed to keep it looking fresh.
For a normal clean without any stains on the concrete, there are two basic options for cleaning your patio: a power washer or good old fashioned soap, water, and elbow grease.
If you have a power washer, simply pull that bad boy out and wash away the grime and debris on your patio. However, you still need to be careful. Using too much pressure or getting too close to the concrete can damage your patio.
If you don’t have a power washer, then you can still clean concrete quite easily! Here are some steps for how to clean a concrete patio:
- Sweep away any dirt or debris
- Rinse the patio with your garden hose
- Scrub the patio with a biodegradable detergent or a commercial concrete cleaner
- Rinse the cleaner away with the garden hose
Using a biodegradable soap or cleaner is important, as you’ll be rinsing the detergent off your patio and likely into the grass around it. Also, your Houston concrete supplier recommends using a bristle brush, not a metal brush. This is because metal scrub brushes can leave behind small pieces of metal that can rust and stain your concrete.
What to use on Concrete Stains
As a Houston concrete supply, we’re often asked to resurface concrete patios because of unsightly stains. Sometimes this is the only way to get rid of stains, especially if they’ve been left to sit for a while. However, there are some cleaning tips you can try for stained concrete!
If you have standing liquid on your patio, we recommend soaking it up as much as possible, since concrete is porous. A great tip your Houston concrete supply can offer is using cat litter. Simply pour it over the spot and allow it to sit for 30 minutes to absorb the liquid. If you don’t have cat litter on hand, you can also try corn starch.
For large grease stains, you can try pouring a can of soda over the stain. Soda has a lot of acidic ingredients in it, which makes it perfect to cut through grease. Just don’t forget to rinse it away with your power washer or garden hose to prevent stickiness! You can also try a commercial degreasing agent on your concrete patio.
If you have a really bad stain on your concrete patio, you may need to clean the spot with a bleaching agent. However, using bleach can kill plants and grass near the edges of your patio! Instead, your Houston concrete supplier recommends using a 1:1 solution of water and either vinegar or baking soda. This solution can help clean stains without killing plants, grass, or other landscaping.
Make TEXAN Concrete Ready Mix Your Go-To Houston Concrete Supplier
When you need residential or commercial concrete solutions, our team at TEXAN Concrete Ready Mix is here for you. We provide budget-friendly custom concrete formulas. As a leading Houston ready mix contractor, we create concrete mixes to the highest quality standards. Call us today at (713) 227-1122 to get a free quote!