Poll: Do you powerwash your driveway?

[LOL!]

I live in TX and driveways here get gunk, mold, mildew on them. So last week the guy next door gets someone to powerwash his driveway and it looks nice.

So today I powerwash all concrete surfaces outside and the patio furniture. I also clean away the algae growing on some parts of the house. But the whole time I am doing the this, I'm thinking, "Is this worth it? Or is this keeping up with the Joneses?"

Do you powerwash your driveway? Pay to have it done? Don't care?

 

[REWahoo]

No, because I have a gravel drive. I do powerwash my concrete porch once a year or so.

 

[Sam]

I live in TX and driveways here get gunk, mold, mildew on them.

More reasons to stay away from Texas. REW, have you added these to your list?

 

[REWahoo]

More reasons to stay away from Texas. REW, have you added these to your list?

No, I've been too preoccupied with the construction of an ark. Rain, rain, and more rain.

BTW, I went with 19 inches as the length of a cubit. That sound about right to you?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

103 here today, so dont move to california either...

 

[LOL!]

Wow, check out the ads that appear with this thread. I've got to go buy google stock tomorrow.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Swell, you made me turn off adblockplus...

Reverse mortgage scams?

 

[Nords]

Our concrete sidewalks turn brown from "red" dirt so people power-wash all the time. Apparently your sidewalk isn't really "clean" unless it has those power-wash stripe-marks all over it. You'd expect that the developer would leave a powerwasher on every block for the residents to share.

Powerwashing does nasty things to a Futurastone driveway, which I would recommend that no one ever buy. We're stuck with it until we decide to tear it out and put in a new one.

We find that powerwashing a house, when done properly, removes all the red dirt & old oxidized paint. Powerwashing before painting adds a year or two to the adhesion of the new paint job.

Now if I could just find the neighbor's cat that's been marking its territory on our driveway... here kitty kitty kitty, I've got a big surprise for you!

 

[bssc]

When I lived in Texas, I used to powerwash my driveway several times a year for the reasons you mention. Now that I am in Phoenix, I powerwash the pool deck to get the dust off it.

 

[Sam]

BTW, I went with 19 inches as the length of a cubit. That sound about right to you?

What are you talking about? Are you telling me that Texans have their own dialect? If so, I'm not Texan enough.

 

[REWahoo]

What are you talking about? Are you telling me that Texans have their own dialect? If so, I'm not Texan enough.

Sorry, no confusion intended. No, the term 'cubit' is much older than Texas. I was referring to the unit of measurement used to build Noah's Ark.

From Dictionary.com: "...an ancient linear unit based on the length of the forearm, from elbow to the tip of the middle finger, usually from 17 to 21 in. (43 to 53 cm)."

 

[Sue J]

We just rented a powerwasher on Tuesday. But it was for the deck. I figured we'd get the deck done and have plenty of time to try it on the driveway, but the deck was a much bigger job than we expected and we ran out of time, and energy.

The deck looks fantastic, BTW.

 

[Janet H]

Do you powerwash your driveway? Pay to have it done? Don't care?

I just looked at mine, last night right before the 11:00 news. It looked great! So... no, I guess it just doesn't need it

I'll save my cash for something else really fun.......

 

[BigBob]

No, I've been too preoccupied with the construction of an ark. Rain, rain, and more rain.

BTW, I went with 19 inches as the length of a cubit. That sound about right to you?

ROTFLMAO Thanks for the great laugh this morning - I needed it.

 

[Martha]

I guess this is my opportunity to say how nice the weather is here. It was in the 70s yesterday and will be again today. The sun is shining and all is well with the world.

I do have these urges though to get out with the power washer and do the driveway. It is asphalt so it probably won't look any different when done.

 

[kcowan]

We have a 1360sqft deck and powerwash it every year to get rid of winter mold. The annual buildup is amazing.

 

[Goonie]

I haven't had to power-wash or scrub my driveway since I got rid my oil-spewing jalopies 25+ years ago. A couple of those [-]pieces of crap[/-] fine quality automobiles dumped oil like the Exxon Valdez.

And back then it was power-scrub....with a scrub brush and elbow-grease, along with a good dose of solvents, and industrial strength cleaners.....not a power-washer.

Our driveway is in full sun all day, and never gets any shade, so no mold, moss, or mildew will grow on it. And since there are no unpaved roads for miles around, theres not too much dirt or other crud to get on it. What little dirt or debris does get tracked on to the drive, mostly gets washed off when it rains.

 

[Sam]

Sorry, no confusion intended. No, the term 'cubit' is much older than Texas. I was referring to the unit of measurement used to build Noah's Ark.

From Dictionary.com: "...an ancient linear unit based on the length of the forearm, from elbow to the tip of the middle finger, usually from 17 to 21 in. (43 to 53 cm)."

Ok, I failed to make the connection between Noah's Ark and "cubit". At first "cubit" sounded salacious to me, so 19 inches appeared to be an exaggeration. But now, it's about right.

 

[justin]

I had never done it before, but last weekend I powerwashed my house and part of my walkway to the front door and the front stoop. Driveway is only 1 yr old, so it didn't need it. I had "pop-outs" occur on the front stoop due to the high pressure, so I probably won't powerwash it again. It does look a lot nicer (except for the pop-outs).

Me and 2 buddies from work went in 3 ways on a $75 powerwasher rental. So $25 plus gas (for the powerwasher and the car to pickup/dropoff) plus ~4 hours of steaming super hot work (I had to get on the roof) being soaked with grimy splashback.

I'm guessing I can hire this out for $99 or so. Anyone ever done this? I figure a pro could knock out my house in 1/2 hour or 1 hour. It's only the second story of a split level house, and only 2 out of the 4 walls need cleaning. What prices have you seen, and what should you look for in a contractor?

 

[LOL!]

Around here it is $150 to do driveway, patio, walks. It's a good 8 hour job with the areas we're talking about. Took me 10 hours split across 3 days.

 

[martyb]

Lived in my current home for 11 years now, and have power washed the house exterior 2X and the driveway/garage floor/sidewalks only once. I bought a pretty nice power washer last year though, so I suppose I'll have to justify the expense and use it more often. It's currently on loan to my boss...brownie points anyone?

 

[My Dream]

In error I wrote that I pay to have someone do it every year, when in fact I power was it myself once a year. I have interlock.

 

[Goonie]

I bought a pretty nice power washer last year though, so I suppose I'll have to justify the expense and use it more often.

We had a commercial grade power-washer where I used to w*rk, complete with a kerosene-fired boiler to supply HOT water and a small pump to supply soap or solvent. We used it to wash all of the vehicles (including personal cars) and it did a GREAT job!

You could drum up some extra cash by turning your driveway into the neighborhood carwash [-]and hire some bikini-clad girls to attract customers[/-].