I tried a viral £30 hack to transform my grey mottled patio – now it shines, all you need is a broom and a hose

Do you want your patio to look like new, but don’t want to pay too much for it?

Now you can thanks to this woman’s clever trick, which promises to transform your patio in no time.

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Claire Appleton, who often shares her clever DIY projects on social media, made her old, mouldy concrete slabs look as good as new for just £30.

Claire posts a message on TikTok and gets to work, first washing the green algae off the surface of the plates before applying the viral product.

The No Nonsense Easyfix Patio Grout is available from Screwfix for just £31.99.

According to Check A Trade, the average patio costs up to £475 per square metre, so if you’re on a budget, this is a bargain.

And don’t worry, you don’t have to be a DIYer to use it.

All you need is a stiff-bristled broom and some water, as Claire demonstrates on TikTok.

It’s a good idea to start by cleaning your patio thoroughly. You can do this with a current If you already have one, a washing machine is the best option. If you don’t have one, the paving experts at Simply Paving previously shared their top tips and tricks with Fabulous that you can use instead.

Step one: clean your patio

The experts claim that you don’t need ‘fancy products’ to clean your patio. You can even make it shine with dish soap.

The experts revealed: “Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need expensive products to clean a patio without a pressure washer.

“One of the most effective cleaning products for patios is actually just dishwashing liquid mixed with warm tap water.

“All you need to do is squirt a little dish soap into the bottom of a bucket and fill it with warm water. Using this soapy mixture, start at the corners and splash a little water onto your patio, grab a stiff brush and scrub.

“Repeat the splatter and scrubbing until you’ve covered your entire deck. You’ll probably have to go inside a few times to refill your cleaning solution if you’re cleaning a large deck.

“Remove the dirty water with a bucket of clean water, so that it flows into a drain.

“A good tip is to scrub diagonally as this is gentler on the grout and less will come loose during cleaning.”

Step Two: Wet Your Patio

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Use a garden hose or watering can to clean your patio Nice and wet – this is so the product can work properly once you apply it, so don’t skip this step!

Claire did this with the help of a watering can, making sure the water got into all the cracks and joints of her patio.

Step three: Apply the product with a brush

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Sprinkle the product over the joints of your patio and then sweep it into all cracks and smaller openings with a broom.

You can add more products as you go, so don’t worry if it doesn’t seem like there are enough at first.

Claire did just that and it looked super easy, so it was the perfect job for Saturday.

The results are impressive: Claire’s patio looks almost unrecognisable once the product is fully applied. And for just over £30, you really can’t go wrong.

Others agreed that the results were quite impressive, with one commenting: “Great tip Claire!! Looks fantastic!”

“Oh my god I really need to do this,” wrote a second.

A third said: “Wow, it looks amazing.”

Meanwhile, someone else explained that they had also used the product on their patio, but afterwards they had difficulty removing the excess product from the concrete.

They wrote: “Good job! We just did it, but we can’t get the product off the stone. Any tips?”

Luckily, Claire explained that it’s important to remove any residue from your patio once you’ve finished laying it.

She responded to the comment, “It happened to our first house, pressure washing! You have 24 hours to clean it before it completely hardens.”

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How to repair broken patio tiles

The paving specialists at Simply Paving told Fabulous how to repair broken patio tiles without too much hassle.

The experts advised: “If you have a loose paving slab, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to lift it straight up by hand. Instead, you’ll likely need a hammer and chisel to pry the paving loose from your patio.

To remove loose tiles without damaging your tiles, carefully chisel away the mortar around the tile with the chisel and rubber mallet until the tile is completely loose.

“Then slide the shovel into the gap created by the mortar and pry the tile loose from the patio.

“As you lift the shovel, place a short piece of wood under the shovel. This will act as a lever, making it easier to do the job and protecting the slab underneath.

“When the paving starts to give, place the cylindrical wood underneath and roll the slab out of the patio.”