Bike washing in the garden

We’re in the throes of a faor sized extension at home and with it comes a new patio area and a bit of landscaping.

I used to wash my bike up against the old out buildings, but they’ve gone and theres no way on the planet the wife will let me wash it on the new patio, I can’t blame her to be honest.

I was thinking of getting something like a big shallow tray, say 2m square and 20cm deep with a drain hole. That way I could wash the bike in it and then let the plug out over the drain.

Has anyone got any ideas on what would be suitable? Folding would be a bonus too.

It’s a garden, and biking is your hobby, you need a space to wash yer bike, man up and tell her this.

mud doesn’t permanently mark patio flags iirc. Are you paying for this new patio, if yes you should be able to do as you wish with it.

Won’t be doing that, I never washed it on the grass in the past and I’m not about to start washing it on a newly laid and rather pricey patio either.

You could just wash down the patio once you are done cleaning the bike.

Cheap paddling pool?

Where do you wash the car?

how about a border filled with large gravel / stones to wash the bike on – dirty water drops between the stones and bike is clean?

when you plan a build you plan what you want to use it for and incorporate the things you want into the build. You have no one to blame but yourself 😀

Where do you wash the car?

Car? Wash?

You need a dedicated bike washing area away from the patio. Somewhere with good drainage, a tap, a stand to prop the bike up for washing, small table to put a beer on. Wasn’t all this part of the extension and patio plans?

It’s times like this when I really love my wife 🙂

Something like this would be good http://www.teamathleticmentors.com/2015/01/03/tech-tips-winter-bike-wash-diy/

We had a brand new ‘rather pricey’ patio laid at our last house.

After 5 years of washing my bikes on it several times a week I can honestly say the patio lived to tell the tale and still looked as good as new when we moved out.

Obvious isn’t it?, you wash it in the bath

Hang on.

Patio?

Wife?

Two birds with one stone spring to mind.

Have you built the patio yet? Two birds, one stone!
Edit: milliseconds, bloody milliseconds.

Car? Wash?

As he’s worried about the patio getting a bit muddy, I assumed he would wash his car more often than my car’s annual clean!

I don’t know what damage you’d do to the patio, which is open to the elements after all. Grass tho- what harm would it do to grass?

stgeorge – Member
Where do you wash the car?

Not in the back garden for sure. Generally at the hand car wash and fire the bill through on expenses like everyone else, non?!?

clunker – Member
It’s times like this when I really love my wife

Something like this would be good http://www.teamathleticmentors.com/2015/01/03/tech-tips-winter-bike-wash-diy/

A remarkably good idea, could also double as a wash the kids before they’re let inside thing too.

The pavement and road outside my house are permanently muddy during the winter. I try to brush the mess away, but twice a week, pretty much every week for 5 months of the year, I plaster the tarmac with mud! I can see my wife’s point when she moans at me. I’ve started taking washing equipment to my local trails now. At least get the worst off whilst away from home if you can

I just set a workstand up on the grass.

I always fancied a proper soakaway though – maybe 2m square. Dig down, fill with gravel and a lay slab or two on top to rest the bike on.

scotroutes
I always fancied a proper soakaway though – maybe 2m square. Dig down, fill with gravel and a lay slab or two on top to rest the bike on.

We’ve had a soakaway put in, so that could be an idea

I’m moving house next week and got the same thoughts, a large gravel soak away with a few Yorkshire slabs on top sounds ideal, my current driveway due to horse Wellies and mtb cleaning is a disgrace.

Surely a pricey patio is far better than a cheapo one for washing bikes on as it’s less likely to slump due to the excess water? Last time I checked pavers are generally mud and water proof. You didn’t use cork tiles by mistake? 😉

Slight fall on the patio to an Arco drain connected to the rain gutter down pipe. Rinse and brush patio after bike washing. Your patio will stay nicer for longer than doing nothing with it.

Are you riding home from the trails or do you transport your bike? If its the latter then get a simple self-contained bike cleaner unit powered by your cigarette lighted and clean the bike when you’re out. They work really well and pretty cheap.

I do mine in the middle of the lawn. Been doing it for years and you would never know. In the summer it has the bonus of keeping the grass green. Given that we are now on a meter that’s the only water its going to get.

interesting thread this. looking for similar ideas myself having just moved.

as mentioned above the old house i had a gravel border that was perfect, except that the fence behind it took a battering! ive also recently bought a mobile washer thats good if ive driven, but 90% of the time its from the door…

Amend the patio to have a section of grill with a runoff underneath it…wash bike on that, water and some mud runs to drain, the bigger mud can then be swept up and put in the garden for extra nutrition for the plants!

kitchen. She won’t mind you using the patio then 😀

i have a patio with a drain around the edge.

https://goo.gl/photos/TMWkn6PMWTCdtKgQA

Its ok. The problem is it fills up over winter. The amount of mud i bring home on the bike is phenomenal. I often find that im leaving massive sections of muddy water on the patio anyway.

The flip side to this is that every winter its going to get covered in slippery lichen and other things anyway so your going to have to clean it. So what does it matter?

As a side note my patio the gaps are filled in with a dry sand / cenent mix. This doesnt last. Consider proper pointing or something else?

Wash it on the lawn, you’ll just rinse soil and water onto, you know, a place where soil and water will do no harm.

Your patio won’t mind a bit of mud on it. Just hose it down when finished.

But saying that, I do mine next to the bins – which are on a granite chipping (chuckies) boarder. The chuckies are only a couple of inches deep, with a membrane underneath. Can’t be too much effort to do the same on a 2m x 1m area behind your garage or wherever.

But back to my first point…. why not just do it on the patio?

washing it on the lawn in winter will ruin your lawn and stop you getting the bike properly clean

washing it on the lawn in winter will ruin your lawn and stop you getting the bike properly clean

My lawn and bikes would argue that doesn’t have to be the case.

If you’re blasting it with a pressure washer, maybe, if you’re using hot water and a brush, with a quick rinse from a hosepipe, it’s fine.

Depends on how well it drains, how often you do it. What the weathers been like and so on.

FWIW i avoid even walking on our lawn for 3 or 4 months of the year, it gets trashed. So no, i don’t clean my bikes on it. Even though they only get cleaned with soapy water and a brush/sponge.

This thread is tragic.

To be fair, our lawn is basically moss, so it’s pretty resilient 🙂

scuttler – Member
This thread is tragic.

In what way? Just because I don’t want to wash my bike on a new patio it’s tragic?

It’s tragic because you’ve spent money without considering what you wanted to use your patio for before you built it and it’s tragic because you agree with your wife that you shouldn’t wash your bike on the patio. It’s like having decorative cushions, look nice but no serve no practical purpose whatsoever. 🙂