Power washing and pressure washing services

Power washing, matched to the surface

Power washing is the quickest way to bring tired outdoor surfaces back: the green off a driveway, the black off a patio, the moss off a roof. Done badly, it's also the quickest way to damage them. Blasting sandstone, render or roof tiles at full pressure can strip the surface, wash out the joints and leave marks that never go away.

So we don't start with the machine. We start with the surface. Every job gets one of these approaches, or a mix of them:

• Hot-water pressure washing for hard, durable surfaces like block paving, cobble-lock, concrete and most slabs.
• Soft washing at low pressure for roofs, render, pebble-dash, cladding, painted walls and uPVC.
• Hot water and nothing else wherever heat and water alone will do the job, which is more often than you'd think.

BeforeAfter spotless.ie

Pressure washing or soft washing?

The difference is force. A pressure wash uses a concentrated, high-pressure jet to lift dirt, moss and grime off the surface physically. A soft wash keeps the pressure low and lets a cleaning solution and a bit of time do the work, followed by a gentle rinse.

If you're not sure which one your surface needs, that's our job to work out. A photo is usually enough. Our power washing guide goes into the methods in more depth.

Why hot water makes the difference

Cold water at high pressure moves loose dirt. It struggles with anything greasy or sticky: oil drips on a driveway, chewing gum on a footpath, the slimy film that algae leaves on shaded paving. Heat softens and breaks these down, so the surface comes clean at lower pressure, with less wear on the paving and the joints.

It also means a lot of surfaces can be cleaned with water alone. On many driveways and patios, hot water does all the work with no chemicals involved, which matters if you have children, pets or a vegetable patch beside the paving. The video on our power washing Dublin page shows a patio being cleaned with nothing but hot water.

What we clean

Each service has its own page explaining how we handle it:

• Ground level: driveway cleaning, patio cleaning, tarmac cleaning and decking cleaning, plus paths, steps, yards and garden furniture
• Walls and stonework: soft washing for render, pebble-dash and cladding, and stone, brick and concrete cleaning
• The roofline: roof cleaning and moss removal, gutter cleaning and fascia and soffit cleaning
• Problem marks: moss and algae, chewing gum, graffiti, and oil and rust stains

It often makes sense to combine a few: the roof, gutters and fascias in one visit, or the driveway, patio and side path together. It's one set-up and one visit instead of several.

Homes, landlords and businesses

Homeowners often book a wash in spring, or ahead of a sale, a family occasion or the summer. We also work for:

• Landlords and letting agents, getting a rental's driveway, paths and bin area ready between tenants
• Sellers, because the front of the house is the first photo in the listing (our guide to preparing a property for sale)
• Management companies, for apartment car parks, paths, bin stores and courtyards
• Shops, offices and other businesses, for forecourts, entrances and the footpath outside

Clearance is our main trade, so we can also clear the house or shed and wash the outside in the same booking, which suits executors and landlords. If the inside needs attention too, we also clean carpets and upholstery.

How power washing quotes work

We don't publish a price list, because two driveways of the same size can be very different jobs. What we look at:

1. Area: roughly how big it is, or simply "the front drive and the side path"
2. Surface: block paving, slabs, tarmac, render, roof tiles
3. Condition: light grime or years of moss, oil stains, black spot
4. Access: steps, narrow side passages, roof height, where the van can park
5. Method: a straightforward hot-water wash, or a slower soft wash with a treatment

Where we work

We're based in Dublin and power wash across Dublin and all of Leinster, with jobs in Portlaoise and Drogheda too. The area pages listed below cover local detail, such as access, parking and the kinds of houses and surfaces we usually find in each place.