Maintaining your homes driveway and walkways

TSP or trisodium phosphate is a good place to start. Use a broom and work into the surface. Rinse immediately with the hose. If formula one doesn't do the trick, then it's time to bring out the big guns -- muriatic acid. Make a solution of 1 part muriatic acid to 9 parts water, adding the acid to the water (not the other way around). Working with muriatic acid is dangerous. Wear eye protection, put on rubber gloves to protect your hands and arms, and make certain that there is plenty of ventilation. This project should not be attempted when there are children or small animals present. After you mix the acid solution, follow these steps:

• Pour the solution over the area and work it in using a nylon scrub brush or stiff bristle broom.
• Be careful not to splash to avoid damaging the surrounding area.
• Flush the entire area with fresh water after the solution has stopped fizzing -- about 10 minutes.
• More than one treatment may be necessary for seriously stubborn stains

• Repairing with matching powder mixture - Using a masonry drill and a tube of clear or gray silicone caulk, you can easily mix up a concrete patching compound that leaves the crack virtually invisible. Find an out-of-the-way spot in your cracked patio or step, such as just below the grade. Using a masonry drill bit, drill a hole in the hidden area and collect the dust coming out of the hole (just place a small flat metal pan under the hole). Next, apply a bead of caulk to the top of the crack. While it's still fresh, sprinkle the masonry dust over the crack and work it into the caulk with your finger. After you're done, sweep away the excess dust and viola no more crack.

• Sealing the asphalt surface. Use a sealant to coat blacktop surfaces every few years. The ideal time to seal your drive is after you have completed any repairs. Sealer gives a fresh, new look to a driveway. And it does more than that - it provides protection from sun and moisture and from grease, oil and gasoline drips and spills, as well as other damaging substances. Sealer guards against everyday wear and tear. It also fills hairline cracks that aren't serious enough to require individual patching. The blacktop surface must be clean before you apply sealer. This includes dust, dirt, grease, oil, and debris. Sweep it clean. Remove grease and oil spots with detergent or cleaner. End the cleaning by rinsing the area thoroughly with water. Squeegee water from any puddled spots. It is not necessary that the surface be thoroughly dry before applying the sealer, but don't do the job when rain is forecast. Stir the sealer to make sure its ingredients are well-blended.
Some sealers can be applied with a long-handled paint roller. However, the best tool for this is a combination squeegee/broom made for the purpose and available from your retailer. Apply the sealer only to a small area of the driveway at a time. Pour it out and spread it around evenly with the squeegee, brush or roller. Don't spread the sealer too thin - one good coat stands up for a long time. Allow small cracks and weathered areas to drink in the sealer. Be very careful to avoid splashing sealer onto walls, garage doors and yourself. Moreover, plan the project so you will not have to walk across the treated areas. Use care - this material can make a mess of house floors. Improve traction on sloped areas by adding sand to the sealer mix. Stir it in thoroughly before applying, and keep the mix stirred during application. You can sprinkle sand over a sealer surface that's still wet. Excess sand not captured by the sealer can be swept up later. Allow the sealer to cure for 24 hours before using the driveway (products vary in the setting times, so check to see what's required by the one you use.) Erect string barriers at the street end of the drive to remind family members to keep off and to discourage casual traffic from spoiling your efforts.

• Stress cracks typically occur in mortar joints rather than within the brick or stone itself. If stress cracks in mortar are the problem. If the problem is a cracked or broken stone or brick, it can be removed by chiseling out the mortar surrounding it. With the mortar out of the way, the brick or stone will have room to expand and can be easily broken up using a cold chisel along with a small sledgehammer. A new brick or stone can be inserted into the hole to replace the one removed. The brick or stone should be surrounded with mortar for a solid fit.

Applying a sealer can minimize brick or stone damage from salt air and severe weathering. It can even work to prevent efflorescence. However, just as with concrete, brick and stone should be thoroughly cleaned before applying a sealer.

If you've come up against a stone wall trying to clean brick or stone in patios, walkways, walls, or a chimney, then you really should read on. The three most common masonry-cleaning problems are:

Fungus, moss, and mildew: One quart of household liquid bleach mixed into 1 gallon of warm water applied with a stiff bristle brush usually takes care of these problems. Don't forget to rinse the solution off with clean water. However, sodium hypochlorite, the active ingredient in bleach, might not dissolve large masses of these types of growths. In such cases, scrape off as much of the crud as you can with a broad-bladed putty knife (or wire brush). Then, scrub on the killer mixture.

When trying to eliminate fungus, it's the bleach that does the job-not the elbow grease. Make sure you give the bleach plenty of time to work before scrubbing and rinsing away. If not, fungus spores will remain and can grow back quickly.
Oils, soot, and mineral residue: Oils, soot, and white, powdery mineral residue pose a slightly more difficult problem. Characteristically, they are embedded more deeply into the pores of the masonry than moss and mildew. You need a solution of 1 part muriatic acid to 9 parts water to get rid of these unwanted guests. Add the acid to the water and apply the solution -- allowing it to set for about 15 minutes. Then use a bristle brush to clean the affected area and rinse with fresh water.

• Paint: Sandblasting, wash-away or peel-off paint removers, hand or electric wire brushing, muriatic acid washing, and power washing are just a few of the ways that you can remove paint from masonry.

• Sandblasting or wire brushing is hard, messy work, and paint removers sometimes create more mess than they eliminate. Instead, we recommend power washing. A commercial power washer can be rented for about $65 per day. It's easy to operate, mess is kept to a minimum, and you don't have to be a chemist to make it work. A power washer might work fine on the outside of your home, but all of that water could wreak havoc on the inside of your house. Therefore, when it comes to removing paint from brick or stone, your best bet is a chemical stripper such as Peel Away. In addition to cleaning your masonry, you need to repoint the brick mortar from time to time as it shows signs of deterioration.

• When a new mortar patch dries and doesn't match the existing shade or color, have a small amount of latex paint color matched to the existing mortar. Use an artist's brush to paint the new mortar joints.