When it comes to cleaning your home and the property around it, people’s driveways and walkways are often an afterthought. However, they’re one of the first things visitors see when they arrive. Whether you want to present your home at its best to your guests or maximize curb appeal when you put it on the market, keeping your driveways, sidewalks, and walkways clean is a critical consideration.

In this guide, we give our expert insight into what makes driveways in the Triangle get so dirty in the first place and why there’s no one simple answer to how to clean them. We’ll also go over the costs and processes for cleaning your driveway yourself so you can compare the DIY method to hiring a professional. 

Why Your Driveway Gets So Dirty

Even though your driveway is where you park your car and not where you, well, drive it, it still gets a lot of traffic. Most people move their car in and out of their driveway at least once a day each way, often more. Driveways, as well as walkways, are also typically uncovered, leaving them fully exposed to the environment.

The main sources of grit and grime on driveways and other concrete areas of a property include:

• Algae, mold, and other organic growth
• Tread marks
• Rubber deposits from tires
• Oil and other automotive fluids
• Dirt and sediment
• Rust stains from metal furniture and other objects

Why North Carolina driveways get especially dirty

Driveways and other paved areas get dirty everywhere, but homeowners in central North Carolina are up against some exceptional obstacles to keeping them clean. The Raleigh-Durham area’s warm, moist climate makes a few other sources of driveway stains even more of a challenge, such as:

• Rapid mold, mildew, and algae growth from humid environments
• Dripping tannins from tree leaves
• Tree sap
• Settled tree pollen
• Soil washover during heavy rainstorms

Different Driveway and Walkway Materials (and Why They Matter)

One of the reasons driveway cleaning can be such a puzzle is that there isn’t just one type of driveway. While concrete is the most common type of driveway, we regularly come across driveways made of brick and asphalt as well. Each material has distinct characteristics that affect how they get dirty and how they need to be cleaned.

Concrete driveways

Even well-sealed concrete can be very porous, which is why even mild stains can quickly soak deep into driveways and walkways made from the material. That property also makes them difficult to clean through methods the average homeowner has at hand. 

Concrete drives can handle (and often require) higher PSI spraying for cleaning. Since they are often where homeowners park their cars, getting driveways fully clean usually necessitates the use of degreasers and other professional chemicals. Consumer-grade cleaners are often not up to the task. In addition, it’s always a good idea to re-seal concrete walkways and driveways after cleaning to prevent them from getting dirty again right away.

Asphalt driveways

Asphalt driveways are more resistant to staining than concrete driveways, but they’re not immune from it. When it does get dirty, cleaning it requires more care and skill than cleaning concrete. 

Asphalt is more delicate by comparison and can easily be damaged by using too much pressure. Professionals use specialized cleaning agents meant for asphalt in specific to ensure a thorough restoration without risking damage. Like with concrete, it’s also vital to reseal asphalt after it’s been cleaned.

Brick driveways

Paver brick walkways and driveways look stately and can stand up to decades of vehicle and foot traffic. However, they’re easy to unsettle or otherwise damage by cleaning them improperly.

Bricks can become discolored, get chipped or even displaced by overpowered cleaning efforts. During high-pressure cleaning, water can knock sand between pavers out of place and cause individual bricks to come loose. This can lead to unstable, and therefore, unsafe walkways. Brick drives and walkways are also the most expensive to fix if damaged.

DIY Driveway Cleaning: Actual Costs

If you’re inexperienced at pressure cleaning, it’s easy to overlook some of the costs involved with doing the job on your own. The following sections break down how much you’ll actually need to spend for DIY driveway cleaning.

Equipment & Rental Costs

• Pressure washer rental: $75-$150/day (you’ll need it for 4-8 hours minimum)
• OR purchase: $300-$800 for adequate residential model
• Surface cleaner attachment: $50-$200 (essential for even cleaning)
• Quality nozzles: $20-$50 each

Chemicals & Supplies

• Concrete/asphalt cleaner: $30-60
• Degreaser for oil stains: $25-40
• Mildew/algae treatment: $20-35
• Concrete sealer (if applicable): $50-150 per 5-gallon bucket
• Safety equipment: $30-50
• Stiff brushes for pre-treatment: $15-30

Hidden Costs

• Water usage (8-10 gallons per minute for hours) (no need to include water usage because I’ll be using their water either way.  Plus it’s literally less than a penny a gallon from the faucet)
• 6-12 hours of your time
• Potential damage repairs: $500-$3,000+
• Chiropractor visit (half-joking, but your back will hurt)

Realistic DIY Total:
$400-$1,000+ for first-time attempt

The Driveway Cleaning Process: Walkthrough

Cleaning a driveway or walkway is more complicated than simply turning on a pressure washer and starting to spray. There are several steps to the process, and many things to consider.

Pre-cleaning a driveway

There’s a lot of work to do before you even connect a hose. Pre-cleaning is necessary to get driveways and other surfaces ready for spraying and to protect surrounding areas from getting pressure washed or hit with potentially corrosive cleaning agents.

Depending on the state of your driveway and what kinds of stains you need to clean, you may need to do pre-cleaning tasks such as:

• Sweeping/blowing away all loose debris
• Pre-treating oil stains (often requires 24-hour dwell time)
• Identifying and protecting drainage systems
• Covering adjacent surfaces (garage door, house foundation)
• Protecting landscaping edges
• Applying pre-treatment chemicals with enough lead time to let them work
• Edge work around garage and sidewalks

In most cases, you can expect to need to spend at least 2-3 hours pre-cleaning before you start the actual cleaning. 

Pressure washing a driveway or walkway

Once you’ve wrapped up your pre-cleaning tasks, you can move on to the cleaning stage. A powerwashing professional may make the job of spraying a driveway or sidewalk easy, but actually doing the job is anything but. There are some key considerations to be aware of when doing any kind of pressure washing.

Using the correct pressure is critical

There’s no one ideal PSI setting that works for every type of driveway or even every type of stain. Too low and you’ll have a hard time getting the results you want. Too high and you risk etching, “tiger striping,” or otherwise permanently damaging the surface.

Technique matters

Experienced pressure washers know exactly how they need to spray a surface to clean it without damaging it. Proper wand technique can make the difference between a beautifully restored driveway and a still-dirty-and-now-scarred surface. 

Pressure washing can also be more detailed work than people assume. Cleaning edges and corners, for example, requires precision to avoid disturbing landscaping or other parts of the surrounding environment.

The right equipment makes a difference

A pressure washer with a wand may not be the only tool a professional uses to clean driveways, especially for tough stains. Surface cleaners are more efficient and more effective than pressure sprayers in many cases, but also more expensive. Many professionals also have hot water units that help with removing more viscous gunk like oil, grease, and paint.

When you do use the pressure washer, the type of nozzle you use can dramatically affect the results. It’s just another of many, many considerations that the pros know to think about but that your average homeowner may not be aware of.

What kind of stain you’re cleaning determines how to clean it

Again, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for cleaning driveways and walkways. Another factor that matters is the type of stain you want to remove. Here are a few common stains with distinct cleaning considerations:

• Oil stains: Often need chemical dwell time, then pressure washing, then repeat
• Rust stains: Require specialized rust removers
• Tire marks: Need hot water or special solvents
• Leaf tannins: Requires proper chemical treatment and accurate pressure

Post-cleaning tasks

Once you’ve gotten your driveway or walkway sparkling clean, but you’re still far from done. After you’ve finished spraying, you’ll need to complete tasks like:

• Looking for missed spots and cleaning them
• Brushing away standing water
• Allowing the surface ample time to completely dry (as much as 72 hours)
• Packing up equipment and chemicals
• Picking up litter
• Returning equipment

Driveway sealing

After they’ve been cleaned, concrete driveways and pathways often need to be re-sealed to avoid taking on new stains right away and to protect them after an abrasive cleaning cycle. Sealing a driveway is another job that requires an additional set of techniques and materials, which typically cost between $100 to $300 depending on surface area.

Downsides of DIY Driveway Cleaning

Unless you already have the equipment you need, you can see where the savings you get by cleaning your driveway yourself start to shrink up immediately. But even if DIY driveway cleaning actually saves you a significant amount of money on face value, there are other drawbacks to consider.

Poor results

Professionals don’t just get the job done, they get the job done well. While you can fire up a rental pressure washer and spray your driveway, you’ll soon find out that there’s a lot of knowledge and skill that comes with cleaning surfaces for a living. 

The obvious difference is a job that just isn’t done as thoroughly as a professional pressure washing provider would do. Missed spots and lingering stains are likely in DIY jobs, but it can get even worse than that. 

Using the wrong spraying technique, nozzle, or pressure setting can leave unsightly wand marks that may look even worse than the stains you were attempting to clean. This leaves you with the choice of attempting to DIY it all over again or bite the bullet and call the professionals after you’ve already invested your time and money, multiplying your costs.

Damage to your driveway

Attempting to clean your driveway and walkways can result in more serious problems than how they look. For those without proper training and experience, it’s surprisingly easy to cause real physical damage to these areas. 

The table below lists a few common driveway damages caused by DIY mistakes and the average costs to repair them in North Carolina.

DIY driveway damage	Why it matters	Average cost to fix in NC
Concrete etching, i.e. permanent surface scarring from pressure cleaning	Can lead to cracks and vegetation growth in driveway surface	$1,500 – $5,000
Stripped concrete sealer	Makes surfaces more susceptible to stains and physical damage	$100 – $600 ($0.30 – $0.50 per square foot)
Damaged mortar between pavers	Causes pavers to come loose, making them more susceptible to damage and creating a potential tripping hazard	$375 – $1,000
Joint damage	Reduces driveway surface’s ability to absorb stress and increases the chance of major cracks	$300 – $600

Damage to your home

When inexperienced homeowners try to tackle driveway cleaning, they don’t just risk damaging their paved areas, they also risk damaging their property and their home itself. Common mistakes include:

• Killing grass, shrubs, flowers, and other landscaping with chemical burns or by uprooting them
• Flooding areas of the property with poor drainage
• Forcing water and chemicals through doors and garages into the home

Health concerns

Driveway cleaning also poses a few risks to your physical health, even if done properly. It’s a demanding, hands-on task that requires working with heavy machinery and caustic chemicals. When you attempt a DIY driveway cleaning, you face health risks that include:

• Physical strain from moving and using heavy equipment
• Slipping hazards from walking on wet surfaces
• Chemical burns
• Inhalation hazards from cleaning chemicals

Save Time and (Probably) Money and Get Ideal Results With Professional Driveway Cleaning

Going the DIY route for refreshing your home’s driveway and walkways isn’t likely to save you much money, if any. It also costs you your time and requires more work than many people imagine.

Hiring Triangle’s Best Pressure Washing to clean your driveway ensures professional results without risking damage to your surfaces, home, or body. It also allows you to do any number of the other things you’ve got on that list of yours while we do the dirty work.