What Does Driveway & Patio Cleaning Actually Cost?

Exterior cleaning is one of the few trades where a fixed price list would do everyone a disservice. Two driveways of identical size can be an hour apart in work, and the difference is not the size at all. It is what has been growing on them.

That is why our pressure washing work is quoted per job rather than per square metre off a website. Here is what we are actually weighing up when we price one.

Area sets the floor. A single-car driveway, a double, and a sweeping in-and-out drive are obviously different jobs, and a rough measurement or a photo with a car in it for scale gets us most of the way there.

But area alone stops being useful quickly. A 60m² driveway that gets cleaned every couple of years and a 60m² driveway that has not been touched since it was laid are not the same job, and pretending otherwise is how quotes get revised on the day.

Light algae lifts off in a single pass. Established moss with root systems in the joints has to be scraped and treated before the washer earns its keep. Lichen on natural stone is slower again, because it holds on hard and the surface underneath will not take aggressive pressure.

Oil and tyre marks are their own line item. They need degreasing and dwell time, and on porous concrete some staining is permanent no matter what anyone tells you. We would rather say that up front than take the money and disappoint you.

Weeds growing through block paving joints mean the joints are empty, which means the re-sanding afterwards is doing real structural work rather than being a finishing touch.

Block paving takes pressure well but needs the joints refilled afterwards. Imprinted concrete is cleaned gently and then wants resealing, because the colour lives in the seal rather than the concrete. Tarmac needs a wide fan and a light hand or it fluffs up. Natural stone and porcelain on a patio need the pressure well back off what block paving would happily take.

None of this is visible in a square-metre figure, which is why "how much per metre?" is a question we cannot answer honestly.

A driveway we can park on with an outside tap ten feet away is a straightforward setup. A rear garden patio reached through a house, or a terraced street with no parking and a long hose run, adds time before a drop of water has been used.

It is worth mentioning any of that when you ask, because it is better in the quote than discovered on the morning.

Getting two jobs done on one visit is the single biggest saving available. The setup, the travel and the water are already there, so a driveway and patio together, or a gutter clear alongside soffit and fascia cleaning, costs meaningfully less than two separate visits.

The second saving is not leaving it. A driveway cleaned on a sensible cycle is a routine job; one left for a decade is a restoration. What that cycle should look like is covered in how often a driveway needs pressure washing.

Businesses on a scheduled commercial contract get a better rate again, for the same reason: predictable, regular work with no surprises in it.

Send a photo. It sounds obvious, but a photo of the area answers in one go every question a phone conversation takes ten minutes to get through, and it lets us give a price we will stand behind rather than a range.

Every quote is free and carries no obligation, and we cover Glasgow and Lanarkshire as standard. Ask for a quote with a rough size and a picture and you will usually have a figure back the same day.