Living in a home with a driveway will probably mean pulling in and out of the driveway two or maybe three times each day. Trips to and from work, the supermarket or maybe even to the gym, and they all have an adverse affect on the surface.
If the home is a two car household the driveway will take a beating. Mud, sand, dirt from the road as well as oil and grease can easily be brought onto the driveway from the vehicles. The dirtier the roads, the worse a driveway can look. A hose could give the driveway a cleaner look, but there is a much better method of cleaning the driveway, and that is pressure washing. Before using any pressure washing equipment, remember to put safety first. Wear safety-toe non-slip sole rubber boots. Wear goggles to protect the eyes from the back blast from the water or dirt particles. Do not direct high velocity streams of water at anyone! Wear gloves and keep away from electrical devices such as lights and power outlets. It is also a good idea to avoid breathing in any vapours or mists while power washing.
Before starting remove all things from the driveway that will be in the way, and this includes the vehicles. It would be silly to have taken out any driver car insurance for protection, only to cause damage to the vehicle by hitting it with debris. Which is why looking around and picking up any debris, such as litter and kids toys is a good idea.
If there are any new amounts of oil and grease or even tyre marks, these should be treated first to make sure they are disposed of. This can be done by soaking them with sawdust. Any older grease and oil marks should be treated by a de-greaser. Then soak the whole driveway with cleaning solution for 10 minutes. Doing this will allow the grease to break up; it will also make the driveway look much better.
Turn on the power washer and start spraying the driveway in even strokes. There are cleaning solutions available which can be used on surfaces like concrete, asphalt, and cement; these will make the driveway look brighter. Another great tool for removing ground in grease is the turbo nozzle. The nozzle will direct the water onto the affected surface with a very high narrow stream which will allow easy removal of all dirt. Once the driveway has been pressure washed and cleaned, a good idea is to consider resealing the surface to protect it in future.
Tags: Advice, Car Insurance, Motor insurance