Driveway Jet Washing

Pressure washing is not a single setting. Concrete block paving will happily take a strong rotary clean; an old imprinted concrete driveway with a worn colour hardener will not, and a tarmac drive that is losing its binder needs a much gentler approach with a wider fan and more standoff distance. Getting this wrong is what causes the fluffy, pitted, striped finishes people are rightly worried about.

We routinely clean and restore all of the following:

Weeds growing through a driveway are a symptom, not the problem. They germinate in the organic silt that collects in the joints, so the only lasting fix is to remove that silt, replace it with clean sand and then keep the surface treated. Blasting the tops off weeds in spring guarantees they are back by August.

Moss and algae behave the same way. They hold water against the surface, which is what makes a shaded driveway lethal underfoot in winter, and they leave a green haze that no amount of brushing shifts. We use a biocidal treatment that keeps working for weeks after we leave, and we will tell you honestly how often the drive is likely to need going over again given its aspect, tree cover and drainage.

Black spot lichen is the exception. Those small, flat, stubborn dark discs bond into the surface of the paving and will not come off with water alone at any sensible pressure. It needs a dedicated chemical treatment and, on badly affected driveways, more than one visit. We will always be upfront with you about that before starting rather than after.

Kiln dried sand does more than tidy the joints up. It is what locks the blocks together and stops them rocking, spreading and sinking under the weight of a car. Any driveway we clean gets fresh sand brushed and vibrated into the joints as standard, because leaving it out is the fastest way to undo the work.

Beyond that, an impregnating sealant is well worth considering. It reduces how much water and oil the paving absorbs, makes future washes considerably easier, holds the sand in place and can be supplied in a natural finish or with a light colour enhancement if you want the paving to look wet-rich rather than matt. Sealing needs dry weather and a properly dry surface, so it is normally booked as a return visit a day or two after the clean.

We will also flag anything structural we spot on the way through — a sunken area over a soakaway, a failing edge restraint, a cracked drainage channel — so you can deal with it before it turns into a bigger job.

We are a family-run local firm, not a national franchise, and almost all of our work comes from recommendations in Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Hassocks, Cuckfield, Lindfield and the surrounding villages. That only happens if people are happy at the end of the day, so we turn up when we say we will, we work tidily, and we carry our own water and power where access allows.

You will get a clear price before anything starts, with no surprises added on afterwards. If a driveway genuinely cannot be brought back to the condition you are hoping for, we will say so and explain what the realistic options are, whether that is a sealant with colour, replacing a small number of damaged blocks, or leaving well alone.