Concrete driveways or residential flatwork pressure can range from approximately $150 to over $500 dollars depending on the size and difficulty in cleaning the area as some homes have single or two-car driveways and some homes have over 3-car garages with very long driveways. Some companies will include the sidewalks and entrance areas of the home in their pricing and others may charge additional for these areas.

A driveway should be cleaned at least once a year to maintain it looking great and prevent the dirt and mold from staining the concrete. If you have oil stains, they should be cleaned as best as possible immediately after the spill. Oil spills that sit in the porous concrete long are likely not to come up completely even with professional chemicals.

Professionals use high pressure washing equipment with surface cleaners that allow for efficient and even cleaning of driveways and other flatwork. Some professionals choose to also do a pre-treatment or a post-treatment of chemicals to break down the dirt or to kill remaining mold and mildew and remove lines that may be left by surface cleaning. Other stains like oil and rust require specific chemicals to remove.

Dirty driveways of course have dirt on them but could also have oil, rust, mold, paint, and other chemicals in them and each require specific chemicals and opproaches. In general, high water pressure is sufficient to clean a driveway but a surface cleaner is highly recommended for cleaning a driveway for efficiency and evenness to prevent leaving dirt lines.

Cleaning a driveway without pressure washing it is possible but it will not come out as great and will be a lot of physical work. Scrubbing with a stiff broom after pr-treating with a degreaser or sudsy soap will loosen the dirt and make it easier to remove. It is advisable to attempt this on a cloudy day so that the concrete is cooler. It will be best to clean in sections and rinsing after scrubbing to prevent the dirt from drying back into the concrete especially on a hot day with hot concrete.

If the concrete is in good condition without cracks, a professional cleaning can really bring it back to life. If the concrete has been worn away after many years and is cracked and/or missing chunks the best way to fix this would be to have the driveway cleaned and then resurfaced. Resurfacing will fill in the cracks and give the entire driveway and newly-laid look.

Bleach will not hurt the concrete it is however advisable to not use bleach if your concrete is recently painted as it could ruin the pigment. A driveway that is newer than 2 years is still considered a new driveway and it may be safe not to use bleach or a high concentration within that same time frame if painted within a year or so.

You do not need soap to pressure wash your driveway. While a pretreatment will help break down the dirt, you can get away with simply using high pressure (approx. 2200-2500 PSI) to do a general cleaning of the surface. It won’t be the same without using a mold cleaning agent but it may do just fine for most people.

The average two-car driveway with four vehicle spots including the sidewalks pertaining to the home, the front entrance way, and rain trenches can take approximately 2.5 hours to clean and will of course require more time for larger driveways.

Pressure washing a driveway does not generally damage the concrete but too high of a pressure especially in one spot can definitely etch conrete. New concrete that is not worn down requires even less pressure as the smooth layer (cream) on top can be erroded much easier. It is advisable to stay below 2500PSI unless etching or eroding sediment is not a concern. It is important to keep your wand or surface cleaning moving at all times even when turning on your pressure washer.

A pressure no higher than 2500PSI is necessary or recommended to clean a driveway surface and can even be less on concrete that is not very dirty and should be less concrete that is new in condition. Higher PSI especially in one place can etch concrete. Of course distance from the concrete is a factor but pressure tip(s) should not be closer than several inches off of the ground at any time at this pressure rating.