outdoor patio paint--please help

My patio which is located in Florida has to be power washed more than I would like. Is there a paint that would help keep it from getting mildew or mold or whatever I have to keep power washing off. Please help!

 

Mold and mildew spores are everywhere in the air. When they find the ideal environment, they settle in. It is likely that your patio is shaded and as a result does not quickly dry, providing the moisture needed for mildew to grow. Perhaps trees or shrubs could be pruned to allow greater sunlight and air flow to the area. Keeping patio clean will eliminate the food source for mold and mildew.

Adding some bleach to your cleaning solution will temporarily disinfect the patio surface. The Portland Cement Association recommends for removing mildew: 1 ounce of laundry detergent, 3 ounces of trisodium phosphate, 1 quart of laundry bleach and 3 quarts of water. Keep a spray bottle of bleach/water solution with a dash of detergent on hand to spray on mildew when you see it starting to show. Wait 5 minutes and hose off.

If you desire, you can apply a couple coats of deep penetrating concrete sealer. These tend to be formulated for different concrete finishes, i.e., smooth or broom finish. Smooth finish has smaller pores than broom finish. Sealing pores will minimize water absorption and mildew problems. There is, however, no absolute prevention or cure for the growth of mildew in areas where conditions for growth are favorable.

 

I used to live in fla and I'm familiar with the mioldew problem. I usually mix bleach and water in equal amounts to kill/clean off the mildew. Rinse well. Applying a concrete sealer may help to slow down the mildew growth.

I'm not fond of painting un covered concrete patios. Because of all the exposure sooner or later the paint is apt to peel. Stain will hold up bettter than paint will. If you do go the paint route there is a mildewcide additive that can be added to the paint - just ask at the paint store.

 

Thanks for the replys. I think I might go with stain rather than paint if that would be better. My question now is how to best prepare the surface prior to staining. The surface was previously painted, but some, maybe 1/4 of it has peeled off. It's probably not good to just stain over what is there now is it?

 

Concrete stain won't work well over paint. Since it is a slab it probably wouldn't be to difficult to use stripper on it to remove the remaining paint.

Whether you paint or stain the main thing is for the surface to be clean. Solvent based stains/paints also need for the concrete to be good and dry prior to application.