The cheapest way to make a house look cared for
Nothing changes how a Florida property reads from the street faster than the driveway. It is also the
job most often done badly, because the difference between a good result and a permanently damaged slab
is a piece of equipment and about ten minutes of patience.
Surface cleaner, not a wand
A rotating surface cleaner is a shrouded head with spinning jets that sits at a fixed height above the
slab. It cleans a consistent width, and each pass overlaps the last. That geometry is the entire reason
the result comes out even.
A handheld wand cannot do this. The distance from the surface changes with every arm movement, so the
cleaning varies with it — and where the wand gets close, the water is concentrated enough to erode the
cement paste at the surface. That is what zebra striping is: not dirt left behind, but concrete removed
in lines. It is permanent. Re-cleaning does not fix it; it deepens it.
Edges, curbs, steps, expansion joints and the garage apron are then detailed by hand, because a round
surface cleaner cannot reach into a square corner.
Pre-treat, then clean
Heavy organic growth is pre-treated and given time to release before the surface cleaner passes. This
is the difference between cleaning a driveway and grinding one. It means the slab spends less time
under pressure, which means less wear on concrete that has to last another twenty years.
Stains, honestly
Oil and transmission fluid. Fresh surface oil usually lifts. Oil that has been soaking into porous
concrete for years is inside the slab — degreasing lightens it, sometimes a lot, sometimes barely.
We will look at it and tell you what we think before you pay for the attempt.
Irrigation rust. The orange staining along driveway edges is iron from well or reclaimed water,
deposited into the concrete. Pressure does not touch it. It needs a dedicated rust remover applied and
neutralized properly, and it is quoted as its own line item because it is its own job.
Tire marks. Black scuffing at the turn-in is polymer transferred from the tire into the surface.
It fades with cleaning. It rarely disappears.
Paint, tar and glue. These are coatings, not soil. Removing them means dissolving or abrading
something bonded to the concrete, which frequently leaves a shadow where the surrounding surface has
weathered and the covered patch has not.
Spalling and crumbling concrete. If the surface is already failing, cleaning will take the loose
material with it. The slab was going to shed that layer anyway, but you should know it is going to
happen rather than find out afterwards.
The rest of the front of the house
A clean driveway attached to a dirty walkway, a stained entry, and green curbs looks half-finished from
the street. Those are quoted as separate items so you can decide, but we will point them out, because
it is the honest answer to “will this look good when you are done.”
After we leave
Concrete dries fast here — usually a couple of hours in sun. There is no sealer, no coating and no
curing period, because cleaning is cleaning. If you want the slab sealed afterwards, that is a
different trade and we do not currently offer it.