Driveway & Pathway Cleaning In Melbourne

Driveway cleaning is quoted by measured square metre, so we need the total area of the driveway, crossover, paths and any courtyard or slab you want included. Shape matters as much as size, because one open driveway a surface cleaner can run across is much faster per square metre than the same area split into narrow paths, steps and tight corners that have to be hand worked. Exposed aggregate, stencilcrete and pavers cost more than plain concrete because they need slower, more careful work. Individual stains such as oil, rust and paint are priced separately. Send photos and dimensions to 0430 392 100.

Usually to a significant degree, though how far depends on how long the oil has been sitting and how deep it has soaked. Concrete is porous, so oil, transmission fluid and grease draw down into the slab rather than sitting on top, which is why blasting an oil stain does nothing useful and often drives it deeper. The right approach is a degreaser worked in and given real dwell time to pull the contamination back out of the pores, sometimes over more than one application. Fresh stains generally come out fully; a stain that has been there for a decade under a leaking car will lighten considerably but may not disappear entirely.

Not the way we clean it, but it certainly can be damaged by careless cleaning, which is why it is quoted differently to plain concrete. Exposed aggregate is decorative stone held in a cement matrix, and a high-pressure wand held too close erodes that matrix and loosens the stones permanently, so what starts as a cleaning job ends as a resurfacing one. Cleaning it properly means a rotary surface cleaner at a controlled height and pressure, in even passes, with the chemistry doing more of the work than the force. If the original sealer has worn off, which is common on aggregate, re-sealing afterwards is worth considering to lock the stones in.

A standard single or double driveway with the front path is usually a two to three hour job, including the pre-treatment and the dwell time that makes the result last. Larger areas, heavy lichen needing a second pass, or a lot of hand-worked detail around steps, edges and curves all extend that. Paver jobs take longer again because the joints have to be re-sanded afterwards. If we are sealing as well, the surface has to be completely dry first, which in Melbourne usually means returning on a separate day rather than sealing the same afternoon. You get a time window when the job is booked.

It depends on the surface. A sound plain concrete driveway does not need sealing, and cleaning it every year or two will keep it looking right without the extra spend. Sealing genuinely earns its cost in three cases: on decorative surfaces such as exposed aggregate, stencilcrete and coloured concrete where the original sealer has worn off and the finish now looks dull, on heavily shaded driveways where reduced porosity slows how fast algae roots back in, and where cars leak or bins sit and staining is a recurring problem. The important condition is that sealer must only go onto a properly cleaned, fully dry surface, or it locks the dirt in permanently.

Every 12 to 24 months for most properties across Frankston and Melbourne's south east, with shade being the deciding factor rather than the calendar. A north-facing driveway in full sun can comfortably stretch to two years; a south-side path under tea tree or eucalypt canopy that never fully dries often needs annual attention. Sealed surfaces stretch the interval further. There is a safety argument for not leaving it too long, because a film of algae on smooth concrete becomes genuinely slippery through a wet Melbourne winter and is a common cause of falls, particularly on sloped driveways and steps. Regular cleaning also costs less per visit.