Cleaning Driveways Plus

Anyone out there cleaning driveways?

I had a power steering hose leak last week that spotted the customer's driveway. I went ahead and cleaned it with my spinner and some tile cleaner before leaving to avoid "that" phone call. It got me thinking....anyone cleaning driveways as an add-on service?

Seems simple enough if your machine has the ability to push a healthy pressure. Might be worth a few bucks and you are already there.

On commercial, I added deodorizing dumpsters and compactors. Again, it is pretty simple and I was already there, so why not? Normally pickup another $100 per dumpster to spray some biocides and psi wash if it is empty. I am just wondering if the driveways would be another addition or if there is a major flaw to it.....like killing the landscape along the edges from run-off.

Anyone providing that service? Seems like a good idea, same goes for cleaning the drive-thru lanes at banks and fast food joints or even the vomit soaked sidewalks in front of the bars.

Thoughts??

ya have thought and posted here before about controlled pressure washing, there is definitely a market for it around here.

1000 psi isnt really enough to do it efficiently over larger areas but can handle a driveway.

Im doing an outdoor patio this week.

What you really want is a big pressure washer like 13hp and 4gpm, then you can run the TM with the pump clutch to recover the water.

Using heat is another addition, the LGs cant handle that pressure so you would have to get a Hotsy or similar heated pressure washer.

I couldn't remember if I brought it up before, but the situation sparked the question.

My mounts run 4.5 gpm now and well over 1,000 psi along with the high pressure LG heater, so I could run 1500 psi at heat. Not the same as 3,000 psi mind you, but the right chemistry can make up the difference.....at least I think that it could.

I don't want to create another dedicated service where I roll out to just clean a driveway, but I am more interested in hitting this as an add-on when I am already there to clean.

I am just trying to find out the pitfalls to this idea so that I don't get myself in over my head. I don't know anything about concrete beyond pouring footings and small patches, so I might be missing something.

Killing landscape, run off issues, dead grass, and whatever you can think of, are your pitfalls.

If you can make some good money, great. But were it me, I'd concentrate on what you are good at.

I see garage  floors that need more cleaning than some driveways

Interesting idea there Mo.

Freemind, you might be right, but I am not really good at anything. I have to go with what I can get away with instead.

Freemind1 wrote:Killing landscape, run off issues, dead grass, and whatever you can think of, are your pitfalls.

If you can make some good money, great. But were it me, I'd concentrate on what you are good at.

thats why there is a market for controlled pressure washing. Its a really good service but usually done with a dedicated trailer set up.

With those machines they actually recover the water, filter it a bit, and then send it right back through. You can get city/county accounts for sidewalks and all sorts of places if you have the gear and the insurance. Your pressure washing but you almost never even see the water.

The same companies from what I have seen also do graffiti removal with no run off.