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Wooden Sleepers & patio stones- how to renew

info6xoUfzfZinfo6xoUfzfZ Posts: 5
in Problem solving
Hi, I'm new here...
Can anyone help- I had new wooden sleepers in my garden, looked beautiful when new and I stained them right away for protection (they came with protection too, were slightly green when new) now after 2 years they have gone so brown and dirty looking, I know its normal weathering, but how do i improve the look?? I cant just paint them over i dont think that will be right. the brown will just show through the stain...
 And the Patio stones also look bad, I got rid of some algae with a solution, but still has blackness all over and the red stone colour gone dark and old looking. I did try Jet washing on the stone but it damages the sand in-between the stone and lifts it all out which is no good either!
Please see photos before and after.
Any ideas ?
Sarah 
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Posts

  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    Hmm, the timber looks like timber and the stone looks like stone - they are natural materials. I personally much prefer the after-some-time picture to the newly installed picture - the wood looks beautiful - is it oak?
    Paint would be a bad idea - you'd be making a rod for your own back.
    If you really want natural materials to look more as if they've just been laid then I guess you could regularly jet wash (have you tried jetwashing the timber, somewhere less obvious to see the effect?), then you would, I think, have to repeatedly resand.
    I'd be inclined to put some more planting in to soften the edges and draw the eye...
  • GreenbirdGreenbird Posts: 237
    edited March 2021
    I also prefer the second picture. Natural weathering is beautiful.

    If there is a method to restore the fresh cut wood look, then I've never heard if it. 

    You should be able to jet wash the stone, get more sand to sweep in the joints and then use some sealer to if you wish. 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Have to agree.  The weathered look is so much better than the starkness of the newly laid wood and stones.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • hatty123hatty123 Posts: 125
    The wood in the second photo looks lovely! So much better than when it was new. As for the paving, I've got a block paving drive and that takes a heavy jet wash including removing the sand in the joints, then you just sweep kiln dried sand back into the gaps. Works well if the gaps are quite small which is what you seem to have and keeps most the weeds out for a while
  • info6xoUfzfZinfo6xoUfzfZ Posts: 5
    Thanks everyone for your comments! I really thought garden was starting to look uncared for , but if you all like it even better then I got to believe it...
    Maybe it was the orange Oak colour (yes its oak) that I loved and now gone, I was imagining painting it back to a clean strong orange but seems not possible now as its gone dark. I'll try with the jet washing again and also the stone and do the re-sanding. 
    Thanks all.

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Don't do too much jet washing of the wood.  You'll end up lifting the grain and making it coarse and thus more porous on the surface and it'll get mucky quickly.  The whole point of oak is that it is so dense it does age gracefully if left alone and not fussed with too much. 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • info6xoUfzfZinfo6xoUfzfZ Posts: 5
    yes I was worried about that....and need to keep jet washing yearly would do too much damage, maybe a scrubbing brush would be better...

    I'd still love to get an orangy wood shade again..?

  • delskidelski Posts: 274
    I also used the Wilko equivalent of "patio magic" and whilst it gets rid of the green algae, it didn't work on the black. Even my pressure washer doesn't clear the black marks, but I have concrete patio slabs and not block paving.
  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    Orange sunglasses?☺
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    It's funny, when people lay timber they are usually hoping for the natural weathered look to appear quickly
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
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