How Should a Mossy Driveway be Fixed in Vancouver?
There’s one sure fire route to ridding your driveway and walkways from moss for good in Vancouver.
This step by step process works for both Homeowner and Business Owner DIY, or using a high quality cleaning and maintenance company, like Craig and Company Contracting in Vancouver and the rest of the lower mainland.
Step 1: Chemical Treatment.
Craig and Company recommends using an environmentally friendly cleaner, which is biodegradable, and safe for our storm drain systems in the lower mainland. The cleaner we recommend is SMC Peroxide Cleaner for masonry made by Stain-Proof and available in Canada from our friends at StoneSealer Canada. You can also mix up a strong peroxide and moss removal solution yourself, but this can be dangerous so we don’t recommend it.
We recommend peroxide based cleaners rather than bleach (sodium hypochlorite) solutions for both homeowners and professionals alike due to its biodegradable and safe nature, bleach is not allowable to flow into storm drains in the Vancouver area and can result in hefty fines from Bylaw enforcement as well as the department of fisheries and oceans.
Let the chemical treatment soak into the driveway for a minimum of 30 minutes but an hour is better.
Step 2: High Pressure Cleaning
Use a commercial grade pressure washer and a properly equipped surface cleaner to wash off all the applied detergent, and get all the moss and grime out of any joints, especially if the area is made of pavers or cobblestones and the moss has gotten between them all. Repeat this step till the surface is fully clean, if there are some stubborn areas reapply your chemical treatment once more.
You can DIY this step, but it’s much more effective to use a top quality and well equipped professional service, like the pro’s at Craig and Company Contracting who can offer the best service at an affordable price.
Step 3: Apply a High Quality Sealer
The best way to prevent moss is to keep driveway surfaces dry and protected with a high quality sealer, this cuts off moss and mold’s pathway to water and food it needs to survive, as well as preventing the moss from growing roots down into the surface.
We recommend a deep saturating or impregnating sealer, also known as a natural look sealer, stay away from acrylics as they will cost you more year over year. The best sealer on the market is Stain-Proof Premium Impregnating sealer, which is available for both DIY and professional use from our friends at StoneSealer Canada. If you’d like a warranty for your new Stain-Proof Sealer, have it applied by a professional and accredited applicator like Craig and Company Contracting in Vancouver.
Step 4: Refill the Joints to Block New Moss
If your driveway is a concrete slab, sealer was your last step, good job on extending the life of your driveway by many years and enjoy your decreased cleaning frequency if you followed all the steps above.
If you have a paverstone or cobblestone driveway, listen up as step 4 is the most important one and the hardest to DIY.
To block new moss from refilling all those tiny joints, you need to fill them up. You can use normal paver sand which is cheap, but wont block moss and weeds, and will get washed right out next time you go to clean the driveway. We recommend Gator G2 polymeric sand for small joints or Romex D1 Permeable Jointing Mortar for large joints. Both these products have a fairly steep learning curve, and can be hard to apply with the best results if you’re doing DIY and never done any jointing before.
We HIGHLY recommend choosing a paving stone restoration professional for this step, and as always Craig and Company servicing Vancouver and the rest of the Lower Mainland is your #1 choice.
We hope this guide has helped you, or at least started you on your journey of knowing where to start, or what your professional service should be doing for your mossy driveway. Enjoy your years of well protected, easier to clean, less slippery driveway in our rainforest climate!