Our front courtyard was paved 6 months ago but with the wet and cold seasons of Autumn and Winter we've had we haven't had a chance to seal the new limestone pavers because we needed a run of sunny warm days to do this.
Well last weekend really turned on the sunshine and Perth had it's hottest day in 6 months it reached 37 degrees so we took this opportunity to tick this DIY off the to do list.
On Saturday Mr P got out the pressure cleaner plugged the hose into it and gave the limestone pavers a good clean.
For any stubborn marks and stains I came along with a scrubbing brush and cleaned them off.
Then we left the pavers to dry out completely for the rest of the day.
The next day on Sunday we got out the vacuum and cleaned up any grains of sand or grass or anything else so that the pavers would be perfectly clean before we applied the sealer.
We purchased this Karcher wet dry vacuum when we first started renovating 6 years ago for around $100 and it has been worth it's weight in gold we use it for all our DIY jobs both inside and outside and it means we don't ruin our nice indoor vacuum with dusty dirty renovating clean ups.
Now for the sealer - we used Crommelin Enhanced Satin Paver Sealer which is a tough heavy duty sealer and quite strong smelling. It is a clear and transparent sealer which has a satin sheen to it and made the pavers a tiny bit darker so instead them being a bright white they are now a bit more cream and limestone looking which is actually a good thing as the white was pretty glarey on a bright sunny day!
Mr P applied the sealer carefully with a paint brush around the courtyard edges and then finished off with a paint roller all the way around the courtyard.
After 2 hours the sealer is dry enough to apply a second coat of sealer.
Again, around the edges with a paint brush and then follow up with the paint roller.
Now that the pavers are sealed if anyone spills a drink or otherwise on the pavers they won't stain because the sealer won't allow it to penetrate into the pavers.
The part that I'm most excited about is that we can now finally bring out some outdoor furniture (which I got months ago and have had to store in the garage) and we can set up some nice pot plants to add some more colour and life to the space and look forward to enjoying some sunny days in our courtyard garden.
Have you tackled any outdoor projects lately?
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[All images my own]
Wow! It is looking SO, so nice!!!! It has been amazing to watch the progress through your blog. I am sure it is nice to have a separate vacuum!
ReplyDeleteCarrie
curlycraftymom.com
Yes you will remember when it was a big sand pit and now we can actually walk on it without getting dirty feet! It is a very good idea to have a separate vacuum when renovating I never knew how much cleaning you have to do as you DIY there is always dust everywhere!
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