Longbridge Driveway and Patio Cleaning, Concrete to Block Courts
The Austin-era streets are unusual in one respect that shows up in this job more than any other: these houses were built with driveways and garages at a time when most Birmingham housing had neither, because the people in them worked at the plant and generally owned a car. Eighty years on that means a great deal of original and patched concrete, narrow garage aprons, and oil soaking into porous slab since long before anybody sealed anything. Some of these drives have carried four generations of vehicle.
The development is the opposite case. Block paving and permeable surfaces laid as the development went up, still in good order, and largely arranged as shared parking courts rather than individual drives. That changes who books it: a court is common ground, so the instruction and the invoice go to the managing agent. The other local factor cuts across both. Wherever building work is still going on, site traffic tracks mud and dust onto nearby hard surfaces.
- Service
- Patio & Driveway Cleaning
- Area covered
- Longbridge, B31 and B45
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- How we do it
- Rotary flat surface cleaner at a pressure the surface can take
- From our Selly Oak base
- About 20 minutes
- Price
- Quoted per property before we start (what the quote covers)
- Booking
- Call or WhatsApp 07788 574283
Porous Austin-era concrete and silted block courts
Old concrete and modern block paving degrade in different ways and want opposite treatment. The Austin-era drives are porous, patched in places, often laid before proper falls were thought about, so water sits and algae takes hold along the edges and across the garage apron where the roof throws run-off down. Decades of oil have gone deep into the slab. On the development the surfaces are sound but the joints fill: moss and weed growth between blocks, and site dust washed into the courts settling into the sand. Permeable paving on the newer parts silts up and stops draining, which is a performance problem and not just an appearance one.
- Porous, patched concrete drives and garage aprons on the Austin-era streets, holding water where the falls were never right
- Oil that has soaked years deep into unsealed concrete, well below the surface
- Block-paved shared parking courts on the development, which are common ground and so an agent’s instruction
- Permeable paving on the newer sections silting up, which stops it draining as it was designed to
- Mud and dust tracked off site traffic wherever building work is still going on nearby
Permeable paving and old slab each get their own pressure
We establish the surface before the machine is started, which on this estate decides everything that follows. Sound concrete and standard block paving take rotary pressure cleaning with the joints cleared of moss and weed. Permeable paving on the newer sections is treated differently and at lower pressure, because forcing the aggregate out of the joints is exactly how you stop it draining. Old, friable concrete on the Austin-era drives gets the pressure dialled well back, since patched slab breaks up. Oil is treated separately from the general wash, and adjacent render and doors are rinsed down afterwards.
- Surface identified first, with permeable paving separated from ordinary block paving before anything is switched on
- Reduced pressure on old patched concrete, which comes apart at the repairs under full rotary work
- Oil deposits treated as their own job with the right chemistry, not left to a general wash to shift
- Kiln-dried sand replacement on block paving quoted separately when the joints need it, and raised at the quote
More detail on the equipment and the order of work: the full patio & driveway cleaning process.
Private drives, and courts that belong to everyone
On the older streets off Groveley Lane, Longbridge Lane and the roads towards Tessall Lane we are cleaning a drive, a garage apron, a side path and often a rear patio, booked by the householder. On the development it is the shared parking courts, bin store approaches and pedestrian routes, instructed by the managing agent as part of the estate maintenance, not by any one resident. Spring is the usual time for both, once the winter growth is obvious. If your court is looking green and you are a leaseholder, the person to raise it with is your agent, and we are happy to quote them.
Area first, then decades of oil and the sand in the joints
Area drives it, then condition, then surface. A single Austin-era drive with a garage apron is a half-day job in reasonable condition. Old oil is the caveat: where it has soaked into unsealed concrete over decades it will lighten a great deal without disappearing, and we would sooner set that expectation at the quote than take your money and leave you deflated. On the development, courts are quoted by area for the agent, and on block paving re-sanding is quoted separately when the joints need it. Cleaning inevitably removes the kiln-dried sand, and without it the blocks work loose, so it is always raised at the quote.
Every year or two on a drive, yearly on the shared courts
Every one to two years suits most drives on the older streets, and annually where a drive sits in shade or the garage apron holds water, because that is a slip risk rather than a cosmetic issue. The shared courts on the development do better annually, and especially where site traffic is still passing through, since tracked mud and dust build up quickly. Spring is the natural slot for both, once winter growth has properly declared itself.
First time customer. Excellent service and great job. Will definitely be using them again in the future.
Excellent job, highly recommended.
I’m very satisfied with the service I get
Longbridge · Patio & Driveway Cleaning
Frequently asked questions
It will lighten substantially, and a recent spill often goes completely. Decades-old oil on unsealed concrete has soaked into the slab itself, and no cleaning method reaches down there. On these streets, where households have been parking and working on cars since the plant opened, most drives are in the second category and we say so at the quote.
The managing agent, because a court is common ground and nobody’s individual demise. If yours is green or silted up, raise it with the agent and we will quote them for the whole area. A single leaseholder cannot sensibly commission work on ground they share with forty others.
No, and treating it the same is how it stops working. Permeable paving drains through the joints, so blasting the aggregate out of them defeats the purpose of installing it. We use lower pressure and a method that lifts the silt without emptying the joints.
Usually, but with the pressure well down. Old concrete that has been patched over the years breaks up at the repairs if you hit it hard, and a drive that comes out clean and pitted is not a good outcome. We will tell you at the quote if a section has gone too far to clean without losing material.
Usually, yes. Cleaning takes the kiln-dried sand out of the joints, and without it the blocks start to move and rock underfoot. Re-sanding is quoted separately when the joints need it, so it is settled before we start and never turns up as a surprise on the invoice.
Other cleaning we do in Longbridge
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