Cobble-lock across the Swords estates
Swords has grown outwards in waves. Older estates such as Rivervalley and Brackenstown sit alongside newer ones like Applewood, Boroimhe, Holywell and Ridgewood, and nearly every one of them has block paving out the front. Some drives went down when the houses were built; others replaced a lawn when a family needed room for a second car.
Whatever its age, block paving here wears in the same way. The strip under the car darkens with tyre marks and drips. The edges beside the lawn and the front wall go green first. The joints slowly fill with moss, grass and the odd dandelion, and the whole drive looks a shade duller every winter.
A hot-water pressure wash takes the green and the grime off the face of the blocks and clears whatever is growing in the joints. Our driveway cleaning page goes through every surface, from cobble-lock to concrete and tarmac.
spotless.ieWhat happens on the day
Most Swords drives are a morning's work, or a little longer with the patio added. The order rarely changes:
- Cars off the drive and bins moved, so we can reach every block.
- Hot water across the whole surface, worked in lanes so there's no patchwork finish.
- Joints cleared of moss and weeds as we go.
- A final rinse of the drive, the front step and any splashes on walls and windows.
Old oil marks usually fade a good deal without vanishing, and we'll say so from your photos. Once the moss is out, the joints sit lower than before. Brushing kiln-dried sand into them yourself, once the drive is bone dry, firms up the blocks and leaves weeds less room. That's advice, not something we sell.
Green walls and gable ends
Plenty of Swords semis and terraces are rendered or pebble-dashed, and the wall facing north, or the gable standing a few feet from the house next door, rarely sees the sun. A green or black film builds up there, often in streaks under the sills and beside the downpipes.
Render and pebble-dash don't take kindly to a high-pressure lance. We clean them with a low-pressure soft wash, which lifts the algae without scouring the finish or forcing water into hairline cracks. It won't mend cracked or flaking render, and we'll point out anything like that before we start.
Front and garden walls go the same way. Capped block walls along the edge of a drive hold damp in the top course and turn green along the cap, while painted walls fade and streak. Depending on the finish, a soft wash or a gentle hot-water rinse brings them back.
Patios and side passages
Behind the house, most Swords gardens have a patio of concrete slabs or sandstone, and many have a narrow passage between the gable and the boundary wall. That passage is usually the greenest, slipperiest strip on the property, because it stays damp from October to April.
Hot water handles most slabs. Sandstone is softer than it looks, so the pressure comes down for it, and black lichen spots fade slowly rather than rinsing straight off. Our patio cleaning page explains what to expect from each kind of stone.
Want a price for your Swords drive or patio? Send a wide photo and a close-up of each area on WhatsApp, plus your Eircode. We'll come back with a fixed price, usually the same day.
Roofs, gutters and the rest
If the drive has gone green, the roof above it is often heading the same way, especially on a north-facing slope. We take moss off roof tiles without blasting them (roof cleaning) and can clear blocked gutters and downpipes on the same visit (gutter cleaning). Paths, front steps and garden walls can be added to any job.
Under the gutters, the white uPVC fascias and soffits on most estate houses drift towards grey and pick up green streaks. They wash back at low pressure, and it's sensible to do them while the gutters are being cleared anyway (fascia and soffit cleaning).
Getting a price in Swords
Photos are enough for nearly every job here: one showing the whole of each area and one up close where it's worst. We'll need an outside tap and a power socket we can use, so tell us where they are when you send photos. If the back garden has no side gate, say so too. Estate parking is rarely an issue; we just need the van reasonably close to the house.
Every job is fully insured, and you'll have a fixed price on WhatsApp before you commit to anything. We also clear houses locally (house clearance in Swords) and clean carpets (carpet cleaning in Swords), so a landlord getting a house ready between tenants can book the lot together. For the coast just east of town, see power washing in Malahide, and for the full range of outdoor work, our power washing page.
