asphalt and brick paver driveway

Types of Driveways and How to Clean Them?

Have you ever driven by a particular house and could not take your eyes off the look of it?

Probably the first thing that caught your eye was the driveway. Let’s face it, your driveway says a lot about the rest of the look of your home. You’ve made all the repairs and remodels for the rest of the house and the landscape, now let’s take a look at a driveway makeover. You can always go with the usual asphalt, which can look very nice, or you can go with a little more durability and use concrete. Both are good choices, although concrete will probably last 2 to 3 times longer than asphalt. However, a proper driveway needs to be regularly maintained, when it comes to cleaning usually one thing comes to mind and you might be we wondering: power washing is it worth it? Below we will go into detail about different types of driveways and their maintenance. Let’s go!

Decorative Concrete Driveway

Decorative concrete has become very popular in the last few years and it is very understandable. When you look at a regular gray concrete driveway and a colored, decorative concrete driveway, there really is no comparison. Your driveway can be color coordinated to match the landscaping and color of your home which makes for a beautiful scene. Your contractor can dye and stamp with your desired preferences and dying provides a lusher and uniform look than acid stain. Stamping is a technique that creates an illusion of bricks or tiles. When it comes to cleaning you have to know that there are power washing risk that you should be aware beforehand. You can also add stenciling or engraving, such as your address. Another addition you could consider is “texturing”. This is accomplished by adding small stones or other rough materials and then sealed, ensuring stones stay intact. For a more elegant look, you could add a stamped or stenciled border around the textured areas.

Polished Concrete Driveway

Polished concrete has been growing in popularity as well, and who could argue? It is simply beautiful and very durable. Polished concrete actually shaves the surface of the concrete, and liquid surface hardeners are applied to acquire the look of polished marble and this results in a very durable finish. The cost of decorative concrete is of course going to be a little more expensive, but oh, so worth the spend! Decorative concrete driveways do require a sealant that needs to be reapplied every few years but should last for years and years to come. Maintenance is relatively easy; an occasional cleaning and sealant is about all you’ll need. Your new decorative driveway will become the focal point of all those oohs and aahs of passersby on a regular basis.

Keeping It Clean

Usually, the common practice to maintain the cleanliness and the good look of a driveway is pressure washing. Sounds simple, but the tricky part is that if the washing is not done by a professional there is a substantial risk of damaging the driveway. Most of the people who are not experienced with working with pressure washing equipment use high PSI and random chemicals or no chemicals at all. Maybe here is the place to mention that a professional power washing company can do all that for you. If you still want to do it yourself, you have to know that this could work, however it could be a recipe for disaster. To properly power wash a driveway you should be able to judge what pressure on which parts of the driveway to use. The other part of the equation is the chemicals, when you pick the right ones, in the right proportions the need for using water with high pressure decreases, hence the risk of damage decreases as well.

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