Just spent Six days jet washing a large drive which is all pavers using an industrial petrol pressure washer . I am not a dedicated professional jet washer and its a job i try to avoid if i am honest .
The area itself belongs to a property where i do mostly gardening , The drive has always being cleaned by a professional company but no longer available but they cleaned and re sanded the area in a day so not sure why its taking me so long .
Outcome after Six days it looks cleaner as it should .
Returned today with bags of river sand to brush in the gaps as its always being the case but its not making sense the gaps are too narrow between the pavers and seems a complete waste of time .
First wind or blowier session it will just be gone , I even used to think this after the drive had being sanded by professionals it just blew away .
Is there anyone that can tell me if i am getting it wrong as i see hours of work ahead of me , I just dont understand why its taking me so long .
The customer is very pleased with the result and fine about paying but the last company only charged £150 plus vat for a few hours work and i could be on this for Ten Days , No way will i charge for my time in fact i am feeling a bit incompetent i simply blasted the pavers with the lance at high pressure , also managed to use 25 litres of fuel in the process , Is this normal ?
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I jet wash to a high standard the area the size of a tennis court in a day. Could just be bad technique.
Spread the sand, vibrate it in with a wacker plate with a rubber mat on the bottom.
Paver area is about the size of two tennis courts .
I was thinking about technique pavers.set in diagonal.patterns lots of crevices full of moss on a gentle slope but at least it's done now .
Other areas York stone slabs and steps are really easy takes minutes ..
From experience, professional drive cleaning companies use a rotary head with 2/4 or even 6 jets. Work a LOT faster and cleaner plus they often run chemicals through the machine to help lift grime.
I used to do a bit with a friend using his rotary cleaning head on his 'van pack drain jetter' - drain unblocking by water jetting was his full time job but the massively powerful water pump lent itself to other uses too.
I forget the output but it was something like 16 gallons a minutes at very high PSI.
Lots of tree sap on surface , I sprayed with a eco patio cleaner prior not sure if it was effective it did not appear to dissolve the grime .
The output on my washer says 25 gallons a minute but full pressure on narrow jet only displaced the grime and crevice moss .
The rotary cleaning head worth looking into thanks .
25 gallons a minute? Even 25 litres a minute sounds high to me.
I know I thought the same . I think it's capability not actual usage
It can draw water from a butt great for small areas but you have to watch out for it running dry it made me think if it drained a 25 gallon butt in a minute the job would take forever but it's much more economical in usage and no waste from leakage .
Maybe the narrow jet was the problem. Moss slows it down as well.
pro cleaners use things like this but you still need the pump
20 Inch Professional Pressure Washer Rotary Patio Cleaner, Driveway...
This looks ideal David . definitely looks a worthwhile investment if doing this work regularly .
The GroundsCare Rotowash cleans up to 21" width in one pass and has the engine and pump on board:
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