Paving Cleaning — Allison Road, Ripponlea

Sap sits differently from every other stain on paving. Water-based cleaning has nothing to grip: the resin repels it, and the pressure washer cleans the tile around each spot, which leaves the marks looking worse than before. On porous paving the resin also wicks into the pores while still liquid, and keeps staining after the surface blob is gone.

A solvent-based treatment went on to soften the resin before anything else touched it, and was given time to work into the deposits. Softened resin lifts; hardened resin has to be blasted off, and that takes the surface with it. The paving was then cleaned through and rinsed, with the run-off kept out of the garden beds.

• Resin deposits treated with a solvent product and left to soften
• Softened residue lifted rather than blasted off
• Full paved area cleaned through after spot treatment
• Joints and edges worked separately
• Run-off directed away from garden beds
• Before and after photographs supplied

• Amber staining lifted, surface colour even again
• No etched patches where the deposits had been
• Paving surface left intact
• Owner told the tree keeps dropping, so the area needs periodic cleaning