Power washing in Sandyford and Dublin 18

One postcode, three kinds of job

Dublin 18 packs a lot into a small area. In one afternoon you can pass apartment blocks around Sandyford and the Luas line, office campuses in Leopardstown, and family homes climbing the hill towards Stepaside, Kilternan and Carrickmines. The power washing is different for each, so we've split this page that way.

What stays the same is how we price: from photos, with a fixed figure before anything is booked, and hot-water pressure washing on hard paving or a low-pressure soft wash on render, cladding and painted surfaces.

Apartment developments and management companies

Apartment schemes in Sandyford, Leopardstown and Ballyogan have a lot of shared outdoor surface that can go years between cleans: podium paving, entrance steps, ramps, parking bays, bin stores and the walkways between blocks. Algae makes ramps and steps slippery, and bin stores need regular attention.

For these jobs, we deal with the management company or managing agent. A typical quote covers:

• Which areas get cleaned, marked on photos or a site plan
• The order of work, in sections so residents can still get in and out
• Parking, if cars need to move from bays for a few hours
• Resident notices, agreed in advance with the agent
• Drains and run-off, so water goes where it should

Roof terraces and communal gardens on the upper floors need extra thought about drainage, and we'll tell you honestly what's practical. The photo at the top of this page shows a rooftop terrace wall that had gone dark with algae, before and after.

Offices and business parks

Sandyford Business District, Central Park and the business parks around Leopardstown all have the same few problem spots: entrance plazas, smoking shelters, bike stores, bin areas and the paving where people wait for the Luas or a taxi. Gum, cigarette marks and algae build up quickly in all of them.

Hot water is the right tool here. It shifts grease and grime, softens gum so it lifts away (gum removal), and leaves paving clean without harsh chemicals where the surface allows. Because we work Monday to Saturday from 8am to 5pm, we can often schedule early in the day or on a Saturday, when there's less foot traffic to manage. Surface car parks can be done a section at a time, so only a few spaces are out of use at once.

Houses on the hill: Stepaside, Kilternan and Carrickmines

South of the M50, the ground rises towards the Dublin Mountains, and the houses change. There are estates of semi-ds and detached houses in Stepaside and around Carrickmines, and older one-off homes on bigger sites towards Kilternan and Glencullen. Many have long or sloping drives, mature hedges and trees, and a north-facing side that never quite dries out.

That combination is what moss and algae like best. Typical jobs up here:

• Sloping block-paved or tarmac drives that go slippery in winter (driveway cleaning)
• Patios and garden steps in the shade of hedges (patio cleaning)
• Roofs with moss on the shaded slope (roof cleaning)
• Gutters full of leaves from the trees around the house (gutter cleaning)

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Closer to Sandyford village and the Leopardstown side, many houses are in older estates from the 1970s and 1980s, with concrete drives and paths rather than block paving. Concrete responds well to hot water: the green and the tyre marks lift easily, though oil that has soaked in for years usually only lightens.

On a steep drive, water runs downhill fast, so we start at the top and work down, and we'll check where it ends up: a gully at the gate, the public road, or a neighbour's drive.

What to tell us when you ask for a price

For a house, a wide photo and a close-up of each area is enough, plus a word about where the van can park and where the outside tap is. For apartment blocks and commercial sites, add:

• a site plan or a quick sketch of the areas
• the times when footfall is lowest
• who needs to approve the work and receive the quote
• any rules about noise, water use or parking on site

If you're in Dublin 18 for something else, we also clean carpets (carpet cleaning in Stepaside) and clear homes and offices (house clearance in Sandyford). The full list of surfaces we clean is on our power washing page.