Professional Driveway & Patio Cleaning in Bolton

Under the moors, and permanently damp underfoot

Bolton takes around 1,050mm of rain a year, more on the higher ground, and sits below the West Pennine Moors. Drives here spend most of the winter wet and most of the year at least damp.

Algae forms a dark film across the surface. It is the single biggest cause of slips on domestic property, and on a sloping drive it is a genuine hazard rather than a cosmetic annoyance.

Moss follows into the joints, holding water, widening the gaps and eventually lifting block edges.

The mix of surfaces across the borough

Block paving dominates the newer estates at Horwich, Westhoughton and the developments around the town.

The older terraces through Farnworth, Little Lever and central Bolton run to concrete flags, stone flags and tarmac. Stone flags on the older stone properties north of town must not be blasted, because the surface and any lime pointing will not survive it.

Imprinted concrete is common on 2000s drives and is the surface most often ruined by over-aggressive cleaning, because the colour and sealer are both surface layers.

An even finish, not a striped one

We clean with a rotary surface cleaner, which keeps a fixed distance and pressure across the whole surface. That is what produces a uniform result.

Drives cleaned quickly with a hand lance come out striped, and because the banding is a difference in surface removal rather than dirt, it does not weather out. You can spot them years later.

Kiln-dried sand back in the joints

Cleaning block paving washes out the jointing sand, and that sand is structural. Without it blocks rock and shift, water gets into the sub-base, and the empty joints fill with moss and weed seed within a season.

Resanding with kiln-dried sand is included in every block paving clean we do. It is the single biggest difference between a drive that still looks good in two years and one that does not.

Sloping drives and the high ground

A lot of properties around Bromley Cross, Egerton, Smithills and the top of Horwich have sloping drives, and a slope changes the maths on slip risk considerably.

It also means grit and silt wash down from the top and collect at the bottom, so the lower end goes green first and the gully at the bottom blocks fastest.

Those drives want doing annually, and the post-clean treatment is the part that carries them through the winter.

Weeds and what cleaning will not fix

Annual weeds live in the joint material and are dealt with by cleaning, treating and resanding.

Deep-rooted perennials coming up through the surface usually mean the sub-base has failed, and no amount of cleaning changes that. If that is what we find, we will say so instead of taking your money for a job that will not hold.

Gullies, channels and standing water

All gullies and channel drains are cleared as part of the job. Cleaning moves silt, and silt heads for the drain.

Standing water on a drive means ice in a Bolton winter and it means the same patch goes green first every single year. Usually it is a blocked gully rather than a fall problem.

Cost, sealing and combining the work

Area, surface, severity, resanding and sealing set the price. Fixed price in writing before we start.

Sealing is worth it on sound block paving, typically lasting two to three years in this climate, and pointless on a failing drive.

Cheaper done alongside the roof or render, and the drive wants washing down after roof work anyway.