Can You Pressure Wash Concrete Driveways?
Cleaning the exterior of your home, including concrete driveways is especially important during the autumn and winter.
Pressure washing is the best way to rid road salts and chemical de-icers that will accumulate over the coming months.
Using a Pressure Washer Properly on Concrete Driveways
People frequently do not realise that they can damage their concrete driveway, patio or other concrete areas with pressure washing. Using the incorrect tip or using too much pressure or the combination of both can etch concrete.
This is why Cobblecrete has put together some handy tips to allow you to safely pressure wash your driveway or other concrete surfaces.
1. Use The Green Tip When Washing Concrete – The red and yellow tips will put all the pressure on a particularly small area and blast the top off the concrete. The white and black tips are more spread out and designed for washing cars and siding.
2. Use PSI Between 3000 and 3500 – Using a pressure washer at this pressure is ample for household maintenance. Small electric pressure washers are not usually a good option for homeowners as they do not have sufficient PSI for effective cleaning.
3 Using a Turbo Nozzle – Many people see lines of dirt left after pressure washing, this is because they have tried to rush the process. Using a turbo nozzle which rotates water and cleans a bigger area will prevent these lines.
4. Special Treatment for Stains – For mould and mildew, rust and oil stains a special treatment is required. The oil penetrates into the pores of the concrete and can be quite difficult to remove. Pressure washing removes the surface oil which allows the oil inside to resurface and the stain to return later. Mould and mildew need to be cleaned as they are actually growing and spreading. Using specialised cleaners such as rust remover, oil cleaner/degreaser or mould and mildew cleaner is recommended.
Talk to the Driveways Specialists Now
If you have any more questions about cleaning concrete driveways, please do not hesitate to contact Cobblecrete today.
We are the leading provider of driveways in Wolverhampton and the surrounding areas.