Question 1

How often should I clean my driveway?

Accepted Answer

Once every year or two suits most drives, and a shaded or tree-covered one may want it annually. Sweeping regularly and keeping leaves off does far more good than an aggressive clean every spring — and on block paving, any clean must be followed by re-sanding the joints. Regular sweeping is the underrated half of driveway maintenance and it is nearly free. Leaves, silt and organic debris are what fill joints and surface voids, and that material is both the seedbed weeds grow in and the thing that clogs a permeable surface. A drive that gets brushed off a few times a year needs cleaning far less often than one that does not. How you clean matters far more than how often. A pressure washer lance held close, or a rotary surface cleaner at full pressure, strips the kiln-dried sand out of block paving joints in seconds — and joints are what hold a block pavement together. Drives are routinely damaged by being cleaned. Moderate pressure, kept moving, then re-sanding and vibrating the joints, is the correct sequence. Different surfaces want different handling. Block paving: moderate pressure, then re-sand without exception. Imprinted concrete: gentle, and expect to strip and reseal afterwards. Resin bound: a light wash only, since a close lance damages the mat. Natural stone: gentle, especially soft or reclaimed sandstone. Tarmac: light, because high pressure strips the fines and accelerates ravelling. Gravel does not get pressure washed at all. Treating rather than blasting is what makes a clean last. Moss and algae blasted off leave their spores behind and regrow within months; a proper paving biocide, applied and left to work, kills them and buys a couple of years instead of a season. That is the difference between cleaning a drive every spring for a decade and cleaning it every other year. If a drive needs cleaning far more often than every year or two, that is usually a symptom rather than a maintenance schedule. Permanent shade, standing water, a fall that never lets the surface dry, or soil washing on from a bank or a border will keep growing things whatever is applied. Fixing the cause is cheaper over five years than cleaning the effect.

Question 2

How often to jet wash a drive

Accepted Answer

Once every year or two suits most drives, and a shaded or tree-covered one may want it annually. Sweeping regularly and keeping leaves off does far more good than an aggressive clean every spring — and on block paving, any clean must be followed by re-sanding the joints. Regular sweeping is the underrated half of driveway maintenance and it is nearly free. Leaves, silt and organic debris are what fill joints and surface voids, and that material is both the seedbed weeds grow in and the thing that clogs a permeable surface. A drive that gets brushed off a few times a year needs cleaning far less often than one that does not. How you clean matters far more than how often. A pressure washer lance held close, or a rotary surface cleaner at full pressure, strips the kiln-dried sand out of block paving joints in seconds — and joints are what hold a block pavement together. Drives are routinely damaged by being cleaned. Moderate pressure, kept moving, then re-sanding and vibrating the joints, is the correct sequence. Different surfaces want different handling. Block paving: moderate pressure, then re-sand without exception. Imprinted concrete: gentle, and expect to strip and reseal afterwards. Resin bound: a light wash only, since a close lance damages the mat. Natural stone: gentle, especially soft or reclaimed sandstone. Tarmac: light, because high pressure strips the fines and accelerates ravelling. Gravel does not get pressure washed at all. Treating rather than blasting is what makes a clean last. Moss and algae blasted off leave their spores behind and regrow within months; a proper paving biocide, applied and left to work, kills them and buys a couple of years instead of a season. That is the difference between cleaning a drive every spring for a decade and cleaning it every other year. If a drive needs cleaning far more often than every year or two, that is usually a symptom rather than a maintenance schedule. Permanent shade, standing water, a fall that never lets the surface dry, or soil washing on from a bank or a border will keep growing things whatever is applied. Fixing the cause is cheaper over five years than cleaning the effect.

Question 3

Driveway cleaning frequency

Accepted Answer

Once every year or two suits most drives, and a shaded or tree-covered one may want it annually. Sweeping regularly and keeping leaves off does far more good than an aggressive clean every spring — and on block paving, any clean must be followed by re-sanding the joints. Regular sweeping is the underrated half of driveway maintenance and it is nearly free. Leaves, silt and organic debris are what fill joints and surface voids, and that material is both the seedbed weeds grow in and the thing that clogs a permeable surface. A drive that gets brushed off a few times a year needs cleaning far less often than one that does not. How you clean matters far more than how often. A pressure washer lance held close, or a rotary surface cleaner at full pressure, strips the kiln-dried sand out of block paving joints in seconds — and joints are what hold a block pavement together. Drives are routinely damaged by being cleaned. Moderate pressure, kept moving, then re-sanding and vibrating the joints, is the correct sequence. Different surfaces want different handling. Block paving: moderate pressure, then re-sand without exception. Imprinted concrete: gentle, and expect to strip and reseal afterwards. Resin bound: a light wash only, since a close lance damages the mat. Natural stone: gentle, especially soft or reclaimed sandstone. Tarmac: light, because high pressure strips the fines and accelerates ravelling. Gravel does not get pressure washed at all. Treating rather than blasting is what makes a clean last. Moss and algae blasted off leave their spores behind and regrow within months; a proper paving biocide, applied and left to work, kills them and buys a couple of years instead of a season. That is the difference between cleaning a drive every spring for a decade and cleaning it every other year. If a drive needs cleaning far more often than every year or two, that is usually a symptom rather than a maintenance schedule. Permanent shade, standing water, a fall that never lets the surface dry, or soil washing on from a bank or a border will keep growing things whatever is applied. Fixing the cause is cheaper over five years than cleaning the effect.

How often should I clean my driveway?

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