Pressure Washer vs. Hose for Driveway, Patios and Walkways

[Michael Adams]

The person who built my house must have loved concrete, because the whole
house is surrounded by it -driveway, patio, walkways. This white concrete
gets dirty in a hurry, and the dirt ends up being tracked into the house.
Plus it just looks dingy. I hose down the driveway, walkways, and patio
about every one to two weeks. The bad part is this takes at least two hours
of hosing, and, that's after I have blown all the big stuff away with a leaf
blower. After a year of this, it is getting old. I keep wishing I had
access to a fire hydrant sized faucet to hook up to.

Short of that, would a good sized pressure washer shorten the job? I have
been eyeing the 4 gpm units, figuring the more water the better, but don't
know if even those big units would cut down on the time. Yes, I have the
usual oil stains, tire marks, etc. which would be nice to get rid of, but
most of the cleaning is flushing dirt to the drains.

Thank you for your opinions.

Michael Adams

[Phisherman]

On Tue, 9 Mar 2004 23:14:29 -0800, "Michael Adams" <nomail@nomail.com>
wrote:

>The person who built my house must have loved concrete, because the whole
>house is surrounded by it -driveway, patio, walkways. This white concrete
>gets dirty in a hurry, and the dirt ends up being tracked into the house.
>Plus it just looks dingy. I hose down the driveway, walkways, and patio
>about every one to two weeks. The bad part is this takes at least two hours
>of hosing, and, that's after I have blown all the big stuff away with a leaf
>blower. After a year of this, it is getting old. I keep wishing I had
>access to a fire hydrant sized faucet to hook up to.
>
>Short of that, would a good sized pressure washer shorten the job? I have
>been eyeing the 4 gpm units, figuring the more water the better, but don't
>know if even those big units would cut down on the time. Yes, I have the
>usual oil stains, tire marks, etc. which would be nice to get rid of, but
>most of the cleaning is flushing dirt to the drains.
>
>Thank you for your opinions.
>
>Michael Adams
>

I have not ever "washed" my concrete. I use a push broom designed
especially for concrete. It has natural bristles, lightweight, and a
sturdy handle. It takes less than 20 minutes to sweep all the walks,
driveway and pick up the piles of debris which are added to the
compost. (Probably not a good idea to wash debris down a drain.) . A
dust pan, whisk broom, and box are also good tools for the job. I
sweep once or twice a week. This would not be a bad task for a
youngster.

[Nan]

On Tue, 9 Mar 2004 23:14:29 -0800, "Michael Adams" <nomail@nomail.com>
wrote:

>The person who built my house must have loved concrete, because the whole
>house is surrounded by it -driveway, patio, walkways. This white concrete
>gets dirty in a hurry, and the dirt ends up being tracked into the house.
>Plus it just looks dingy. I hose down the driveway, walkways, and patio
>about every one to two weeks. The bad part is this takes at least two hours
>of hosing, and, that's after I have blown all the big stuff away with a leaf
>blower. After a year of this, it is getting old. I keep wishing I had
>access to a fire hydrant sized faucet to hook up to.
>
>Short of that, would a good sized pressure washer shorten the job? I have
>been eyeing the 4 gpm units, figuring the more water the better, but don't
>know if even those big units would cut down on the time. Yes, I have the
>usual oil stains, tire marks, etc. which would be nice to get rid of, but
>most of the cleaning is flushing dirt to the drains.
>
>Thank you for your opinions.
>
>Michael Adams

My dad also loved concrete. Driveway, walkways, patio, and basketball
court behind the garage.
He'd hose everything off about every 4 days and sweep it with a push
broom every couple of days.
I'm guessing if you'd sweep/blow yours more often, you'd not have the
dirt buildup problem. We never did, and we had several trees
dropping debris in our yard.

Nan

[Vox Humana]

"Nan" <nlb63@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:fuau401o3n37ngg5oca8oro16ofnvq9tra@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 9 Mar 2004 23:14:29 -0800, "Michael Adams" <nomail@nomail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >The person who built my house must have loved concrete, because the whole
> >house is surrounded by it -driveway, patio, walkways. This white
concrete
> >gets dirty in a hurry, and the dirt ends up being tracked into the house.
> >Plus it just looks dingy. I hose down the driveway, walkways, and patio
> >about every one to two weeks. The bad part is this takes at least two
hours
> >of hosing, and, that's after I have blown all the big stuff away with a
leaf
> >blower. After a year of this, it is getting old. I keep wishing I had
> >access to a fire hydrant sized faucet to hook up to.
> >
> >Short of that, would a good sized pressure washer shorten the job? I
have
> >been eyeing the 4 gpm units, figuring the more water the better, but
don't
> >know if even those big units would cut down on the time. Yes, I have the
> >usual oil stains, tire marks, etc. which would be nice to get rid of, but
> >most of the cleaning is flushing dirt to the drains.
> >
> >Thank you for your opinions.
> >
> >Michael Adams
>
> My dad also loved concrete. Driveway, walkways, patio, and basketball
> court behind the garage.
> He'd hose everything off about every 4 days and sweep it with a push
> broom every couple of days.
> I'm guessing if you'd sweep/blow yours more often, you'd not have the
> dirt buildup problem. We never did, and we had several trees
> dropping debris in our yard.

When you use a pressure washer on concrete, you remove a thin layer of
material. It might be something to consider once every couple of years, but
I wouldn't do it every week. There are special "brooms" that attach to a
hose that might help with normal maintenance. Here is an example
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/10464.asp

If you are really obsessive about maintaining your concrete, then you might
consider using a stain.

[Nan]

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 16:05:17 GMT, "Vox Humana" <vhumana@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>
>"Nan" <nlb63@yahoo.com> wrote
>> My dad also loved concrete. Driveway, walkways, patio, and basketball
>> court behind the garage.
>> He'd hose everything off about every 4 days and sweep it with a push
>> broom every couple of days.
>> I'm guessing if you'd sweep/blow yours more often, you'd not have the
>> dirt buildup problem. We never did, and we had several trees
>> dropping debris in our yard.
>
>When you use a pressure washer on concrete, you remove a thin layer of
>material. It might be something to consider once every couple of years, but
>I wouldn't do it every week. There are special "brooms" that attach to a
>hose that might help with normal maintenance. Here is an example
>http://www.hammacher.com/publish/10464.asp
>
>If you are really obsessive about maintaining your concrete, then you might
>consider using a stain.

I don't recall my dad ever using a pressure washer, and his concrete
maintained a great look just with sweeping/hosing off the dirt.
He never allowed "leaky" cars to park in the driveway, either. Oil
stains would have bothered him.

Nan

[Vox Humana]

"Nan" <nlb63@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:p6fu401v2skhlviki6s22i6hti4lgdprdg@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 16:05:17 GMT, "Vox Humana" <vhumana@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Nan" <nlb63@yahoo.com> wrote
> >> My dad also loved concrete. Driveway, walkways, patio, and basketball
> >> court behind the garage.
> >> He'd hose everything off about every 4 days and sweep it with a push
> >> broom every couple of days.
> >> I'm guessing if you'd sweep/blow yours more often, you'd not have the
> >> dirt buildup problem. We never did, and we had several trees
> >> dropping debris in our yard.
> >
> >When you use a pressure washer on concrete, you remove a thin layer of
> >material. It might be something to consider once every couple of years,
but
> >I wouldn't do it every week. There are special "brooms" that attach to a
> >hose that might help with normal maintenance. Here is an example
> >http://www.hammacher.com/publish/10464.asp
> >
> >If you are really obsessive about maintaining your concrete, then you
might
> >consider using a stain.
>
> I don't recall my dad ever using a pressure washer, and his concrete
> maintained a great look just with sweeping/hosing off the dirt.
> He never allowed "leaky" cars to park in the driveway, either. Oil
> stains would have bothered him.
>
> Nan
>

Like many things, "great looking" is in the eye of the beholder. As long as
my sidewalks are free of debris and stains, I'm satisfied. In shady wet
areas one might find concrete covered with green or black areas from mold,
mildew, and algae. People in very hot, dry climates may never experience
that kind of discoloration. Power washing can remove some stains and
restore the concrete to a nearly new looking condition. I'm not sure one
can give specific advice without know the exact situation, except that
frequent power washing is not a good practice.

[Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr.]

Hi Michael

Unsealed concrete not only gets dirty fast, but also holds water and
moisture that can cause it to shale apart in winter.

Have you ever considered sealing the concrete with a stain/sealer
product. It doesn't keep oak leaves from staining the concrete, but
it does keep dirt from getting embedded in it and keeps out moisture.

It costs about 20 bucks a gallon for the stain/sealer products and I
have learned from experience that it's faster, easier and longer
lasting to put down a dilution of the product first, cut 50% with
water, then follow up with full strength or only slightly diluted for
a second coat, no more than 1/4th added water or thinner, depending
upon which type you buy.

Another alternative is to seal the driveway using plain old boiled
Linseed Oil. It will darken the driveway so it appears roughly the
same color as the concrete in your garage or basement, which was
probably sealed using a product like boiled Linseed Oil anyhow.

TTUL
Gary

[Viviane]

Learn to live with it dirty. Right now in Sydney Australia we are going
through a drought and hosing driveways, paths etc will get you a nice big
fine. The thought of someone wasting water for 2 hours to hose down a
driveway is bordering on the obscene. If you must do, use recycled or
"grey" water.

"Michael Adams" <nomail@nomail.com> wrote in message
news:grmdnUGIzNhhItPd4p2dnA@speakeasy.net...
> The person who built my house must have loved concrete, because the whole
> house is surrounded by it -driveway, patio, walkways. This white concrete
> gets dirty in a hurry, and the dirt ends up being tracked into the house.
> Plus it just looks dingy. I hose down the driveway, walkways, and patio
> about every one to two weeks. The bad part is this takes at least two
hours
> of hosing, and, that's after I have blown all the big stuff away with a
leaf
> blower. After a year of this, it is getting old. I keep wishing I had
> access to a fire hydrant sized faucet to hook up to.
>
> Short of that, would a good sized pressure washer shorten the job? I have
> been eyeing the 4 gpm units, figuring the more water the better, but don't
> know if even those big units would cut down on the time. Yes, I have the
> usual oil stains, tire marks, etc. which would be nice to get rid of, but
> most of the cleaning is flushing dirt to the drains.
>
> Thank you for your opinions.
>
> Michael Adams
>
>