How can I revamp old patio?

[Richtea67]

I've had a quote to replace existing patio and we simply can't afford it currently (I'm on mat leave), nor do we have the time to re-do the patio ourselves. The slabs on the current patio look OK but tired, and the weeds are relentlessly pushing through all the cracks. What would the best option be for making this look a bit smarter for the summer? I have tried weeding between the cracks but there are so many and they grow back so quickly. We'll hopefully have the funds to replace this in the next couple of years so I don't want to do anything too costly. TIA

Can you post a picture

Could you just clean them up and re-mortar?

Never underestimate the power or Jeyes fluid and a good jet wash. Then re mortar. Should come up shiny and clean.

Oh, and eco-friendly weed killer to kill the weeds.

Jet wash the patio or pay someone to do it?

I've seen some painted ones look good depending on what you have now

Spray weed killer in cracks and re sand/mortar them?

Lovely pots and brightly coloured flowers round the edge

To easily kill weeds fill a squeezy bottle with white vinegar and a dash of washung up liquid. Squirt it liberally over the weeds on a sunny day.. they very quickly die and dry up. Then sand/mortar over.

Borrow or hire a jet wash, and wash it. Brush all the joins out with a stiff broom. Rinse. This will remove all the grime and weeds. Tip weedkiller down the joints a week or so later (to kill off anything newly germinating. Add sand along the joins and brush well in, or add mortar.
Add some furniture/ planters. Job done!

You can get mortar that is added like sand. water, then brush in then water again.

A photo would help. 😊
Some types of slab shouldn't be jet washed as it damages the surface. So google before jet washing. Regrouting is quick and easy.
Use something like THIS

How big is it? How about an outdoor rug for the time being? They are pretty inexpensive.

I would never lift the patio OP. If you bought the house from a mumsnetter then there’s an excellent chance that there’s a husband under there. Wouldn’t risk it myself 😉

Thanks for helpful suggestions so far...I will look into killing the weeds then re mortering. Rugs and nice pots a good idea too. It won't let me post a photo annoyingly but I'll keep trying

Ours is also a little tired, washed out and weed-ridden. We're going to lift and relay (after topping up the dip where the shallow grave has settled).

When’s the last time it was jet washed?

Be very careful jet-washing patios, if it's laid on a loose/porous mix you can wash out the base and cause it to subside.

Kill the weeds with a strong vinegar & cheap bag of salt, mixed with warm water. Once weeds died away use Sika Paving Sand mix, sweep it into the gaps and lightly wet, it expands and seals the gaps. Fancy the patio area up with some nice pots & planters that you can move around to suit.

Here's the abomination. I'm not sure when it was last jet washed as we've recently moved in.

Just send the Police an anonymous tip-off there's a body buried underneath, and they'll helpfully come round and dig it up for you for free!

A good scrub and that will be fine. You might find that jet washing it brings it up a shocking salmon pink colour though!

I use a stout vegetable knife and elbow grease to get rid of weeds between the slabs on my patio. If that sounds too much like hard work, you can buy a flame-thrower weed killing affair, so that could be an alternative to using weedkiller. No point in re-pointing it, as chances are the slabs are just laid on sand and the weeds can force their way up through mortar in no time.

Are the 16 slabs you see clearly in the picture the full patio, or is there more under the weeds?
It looks very flat if so, and if you really wanted to you could probably just replace the 16 slabs very cheaply and easily yourselves, just by lifting, levelling and relaying. I would spray and clear the weeds, then think about it. If you definitely don’t want to lift them you might get a nice effect with some masonry paint and a stencil plus some furniture or accessories or planters.

Just give it a jet wash, pull the weeds and regroup. It won’t come up salmon pink , it will come up a pale red./dusky pink and look much better,

I wouldn't mortar because you need the drainage. I've sowed plants like chamomile in the gaps. Looks pretty and smells lovey when you walk over them.

She needs to check the angles. A patio laid properly has a slight tilt so the water drains off. Hence why they are mortared.

I love this idea, thank you. I like the idea of purple creeping thyme so may give that a go.

That's a doddle to clean up.

I'd get a pressure washer and clean all the slabs - you'll also get out most of the weeds that way. I probably wouldn't bother painting the slabs, but it does look nice when people do it. I'm just lazy.

Paint the fence around it a nice light colour - we painted our whole garden fence white and it brightened the interior of the house as well. You don't have to do the entire fence the same colour, you could just have a bright corner, but it does tend to make the rest of it look tired so you may want to be prepared for that!

I love the idea of the camomile as well and I'm going to look at that for my front path.