Like the buses, problems all come along together

[Glug]

So there's this really nice bloke making a wonderful job of solving the problem of the botched wooden floor. He lays discarded boards on honey coloured paving in the garden. It rains overnight. Hey presto! dark brown spill stains appear on the paving right outside the folding doors. You can't miss 'em.
I guess it's the wood stain/lacquer which has leached from the boards. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the stains would be much appreciated as I don't want to make it worse. That's if there is a way to do it other than get new paving. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[imamartian]

hmmm not good... i'm a diyer, so no expert, but if the boards leached stain due to rain, is the stain water soluble? if so, then more water or a pressure washer? or if not, have you tried white spirit poured on the stains?

what about the colours you can buy for cement? can you get a similar colour and stain the stains (?).....

or let natural sunlight do it's job and eventually it will all fade into an acceptable pattern.

If not, replace the slabs, not the most expensive job in the world !!

Good luck.

 

[daneski88]

Could always try a bit of patio cleaner/brick acid I suppose

 

[Glug]

Thanks both for taking the trouble to reply. But before you did, I rushed out and doused the stone with Cif and then used a tough scrubbing brush before hosing it all down. It worked, so the stain was water soluble- I hate to think of the result if it hadn't been and it was luck on my part it worked.
Only vague shadows remained but it has rained once since and even those are disappearing and they are liveable with.
I did try lemon juice on one stain that was tougher to remove than the rest, but it didn't work so it meant some more Cif and more scrubbing.
Cheers.

 

[imamartian]

good result. And if you remember that mother nature is not a perfectionist, then you're in good hands !