Clean It Up

UK General Cleaning Forum => General Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: paul mc on November 17, 2008, 09:00:28 pm

Title: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: paul mc on November 17, 2008, 09:00:28 pm
have been asked to clean costumers driveway. its got a fair bit of garss between bricks would you use any chemical an would you need a powerful washer.
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: steve_doyle on November 17, 2008, 09:11:41 pm
sodium chlorate weed killer and clean in 7-10 days time.
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: drive surgeon on November 17, 2008, 09:43:35 pm
turbo! ;D
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: Griffus on November 17, 2008, 09:51:01 pm
I'd just blast it off with a turbo nozzle. Take care not to get things wrong and lift the blocks though!!

Sodium Chlorate is good stuff but be sure to wear gloves and wellingtons and watch out for splashes on exposed skin. Oh, and wash your hands after use!

Incidentally, the law is changing on the usage of Sodium Chlorate as of July 2009 it will be withdrawn from sale and outlawed for use as of July 2010.

The picture below shows a small job we did last year. This was using only a turbo nozzle and took a max of 3 hours + resanding on a return visit: -
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: holmesclean on November 18, 2008, 05:26:44 pm
Have you got an after picture would be interested to see as the before picture is a mess.
Regards

Tom
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: drive surgeon on November 18, 2008, 05:51:30 pm
what the hell are we all gonna use to kill weeds if sodium chlorate is banned in 2009? :o
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: Griffus on November 18, 2008, 08:34:28 pm
Here you go Tom: -

Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: dandandan on November 18, 2008, 09:14:37 pm
Wish i could have a pound for how many albums that will be copied into,ha ha,there the jobs you love doing.How many buckets of crap did you get off that?How did you price it,£50 an hour?dan
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: Griffus on November 18, 2008, 09:22:01 pm
We always charge by the metre.

This job however was done FOC for a good friend.

Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: dandandan on November 18, 2008, 09:23:26 pm
An hour i said,ha ha
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: Roger Oakley on November 19, 2008, 07:41:54 am
Nice work Ian,
Just a little to much sand in some of the pavers though  ;)
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: drivewasher on November 19, 2008, 11:20:37 am
Nice work Ian,
Just a little to much sand in some of the pavers though  ;)

Hi Roger.

I dont think he's sealing it so the exesss should get weathered out quickly.
I always leave a little to much sand on the surface (I dont seal) for the elements to batter about and and hopefully keep any joints toped up that inevitablt "settle"
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: dandandan on November 19, 2008, 10:45:17 pm
I used to charge by the metre till i realised one really bad metre of block  with no drainage can take twice as long as a moderately bad one with good drainage so now i work out how long it will take and price accordingly,roughly £50 an hour in total for clean and sand.I blow it over with blower then to get the excess sand off to save it getting walked into houses,it looks a lot neater too.Great job that you did mate.Good luck.
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: drive surgeon on November 20, 2008, 10:47:18 am
yeah dan its no good pricing per sq metre all the times as some dont need much doing where others are thick moss and weeds. its more the time not the lenght!
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: drivewasher on November 20, 2008, 11:14:17 am
I price by Sq mtre all the time. It's the only way to be consistent. But I do add on the total if it's a pain in anyway IE bad drain/no drain or bad weed infestation. Just use the per mtr price as your base price
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: Griffus on November 20, 2008, 07:12:47 pm
For us it is swings and roundabouts so to speak. By charging by the square metre we have a 100% consistant approach to quoting. Drainage can be the worst issue but good and bad jobs tend to average themselves out.

Another reason is that a lot of drive cleaning work comes by recommendation and so people already have an idea as to what they will be paying before we quote.

We too have a petrol blower which works well on more open jobs but is no good when jobs are surrounded by walls. The first time I tried this out I ended up looking like Lawrence of Arabia  :)


Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: drive surgeon on November 20, 2008, 07:29:14 pm
WELL DO YOU TELL THE cUSTY IN YOUR QUOTE HOW MUCH YOU CHARGE PER SQ METRE OR JUST A BULK FIGURE.
Title: Re: pavi brick cleaning
Post by: Griffus on November 20, 2008, 07:47:38 pm
Initially I talk them through our charges. I tell them everything up front so there are no surprises. Finally we only accept payment once they are totally happy with all works carried out.

Touch wood; We have never had anyone less than delighted.