Will high pressure water cleaning damage my driveway?

Will high pressure water cleaning damage my driveway?

The short answer is NO . As long as the operator understands 

  • What pressure is needed?
  • What tip size is needed?
  • What cleaning distance is needed?
  • What water flow is needed? 
  • And of course what exactly are we trying to remove?

Because all surfaces vary in density and structure it’s important to know a few facts about the driveway surface in particular that you would like to clean.

Firstly you would need to identify what you have and understand its makeup and hardness.

Once you know and understand what’s needed your driveway can be cleaned safely.

Most driveways are usually made from concrete, clay or stone. 

To name of a few full concrete based surfaces we have 

  • Coloured through, 
  • Stencilled or Stamped, 
  • Broom finish,
  • Polished, 
  • Stained  
  • Concrete pavers.

Other types are concrete and stone mixes, commonly known as

  • Exposed aggregate or Pebble Crete
  • Cobble stone.
  • Non concrete surfaces commonly used for driveways would be 
  • Sandstone Pavers and clay pavers (brick pavers).

I can tell you that all the above surfaces except for sandstone paving are very hard and tough.

Sandstone can be very soft in comparison and probably the type of service that is most prone to being damaged by high pressure water cleaning.

When cleaning sandstone the amount of pressure that is being produced needs to be controlled.

Small pressure washing units don’t have an option to control the pressure so it’s all or nothing and in the wrong hands can do some irreversible damage to your stone.

These units have low water volume, narrow fans and high pressure and because of the concentrated pressure they work like an engraving tool when the operator is to close.

Instead of just getting the surface clean it also becomes engraved.

Power wash Australia use machinery that has absolute control over pressure. 

It’s paramount when cleaning the multitude of surfaces that we clean.

We also use as an aid different treatments that effectively mean less pressure is needed and a cleaner longer lasting finish is the result.

2023-08-02T09:04:21+00:00 January 20th, 2021|Cleaning Blogs|