Jet washing in London costs £4 a square metre for patios, paths, decking and driveways, with the £67 minimum for one-off work and the water drawn from your outside tap.
London paving goes green on the shaded side first: north-facing yards, side returns between terraced houses and paths under trees, where the slabs stay damp from October to April. Jet washing takes off the algae and the loose moss, and the colour of the stone comes back with them.
Working out the price by the square metre
Measure the area in metres and multiply the length by the width. A patio four metres deep and five metres across is 20 square metres; the path and the steps down to it are measured as separate rectangles and added on. The total is charged at £4 a square metre. A front path or a small yard on its own can come to less than £67, and then the minimum is the price, so adding the back patio to the same visit is often the better use of the booking.
Paid parking near the house goes on the bill at cost, to a limit of £40. Hard floors inside the house have their own rate of £6 a square metre, listed with everything else on the prices page.
Patios, paths, decking and driveways
Concrete slabs and block paving take a strong jet. The sand between paving blocks washes out with the dirt, so once the surface is dry, brush kiln-dried sand back into the joints; a bag from a builders’ merchant does a small drive. Sandstone and other soft natural stone get a lower pressure and a wider fan, because a narrow jet can mark the face. Timber decking is washed along the boards at low pressure, since softwood frays if the jet is held too close. Leave it a few dry days before any oil or stain goes on. On a driveway, move the cars off the night before so the whole surface can be reached.
Moss, algae and the marks that stay
Green algae and the slippery film on shaded paving come off with the washing, and loose moss lifts out of the joints. Some marks sit inside the stone and stay: oil drips under where a car parks, rust rings from a metal table, tyre marks, paint and the small black dots of lichen on older patios. Washing lightens some of these without clearing them. The white bloom that appears on new block paving comes from salts inside the blocks and fades on its own over the following months. The cleaner points out anything that has not shifted before packing up.
Water, weather and getting the space ready
The cleaner needs an outside tap with the water on, close enough for a hose to reach the far end of the area. If there is no outside tap, say so on the call before booking. Pick a dry spell where you can, so the surface drains and can be judged properly; a hard frost is a reason to move the date, as water left on paving can freeze into a sheet of ice.
Before the day, clear pots, furniture and the barbecue off the area, shut nearby windows and let the neighbours know if a shared side passage will be wet for an hour or two. March and April suit it well, and the jet washing can be booked in the same week as a spring clean indoors.
Questions about jet washing
Can jet washing damage a patio?
It can if the pressure is wrong for the surface, which is why soft stone, old pointing and decking get a gentler setting. Pointing that is already loose may wash out of the joints. That pointing was already failing, and the gap it leaves shows where re-pointing is due.
How soon does the green come back?
On a shaded, north-facing patio the algae usually returns within a year or so. An open, sunny patio stays clean for longer. Brushing the surface through the autumn keeps leaves from rotting on it and slows the regrowth.
Does someone have to be in while the patio is washed?
Only if the area is behind the house with no side gate. With a side gate left unlocked and the outside tap working, the cleaner can do the job while you are out. Questions about access can go through the contact page.
Can you jet wash a shop front or a business yard?
Yes, and on business premises the price is set on the call. Forecourts, yards and entrances can go on the same booking as an indoor clean of the premises; see commercial and office cleaning for how that work is priced.