[Cowan]

Hello

** please see attached photo below if you can open it, picture of the block work **

Just been to survey a residential customers property. They are looking to have the driveway and path around the house pressure cleaned.

The house is in a fairly new development, perhaps less than 5 years old and only about 10 houses in the street.  The drive and path is not the normal monoblock with kiln dry sand between. The blocks have a curve to them which creates a larger gap between the blocks.

I have seen some new builds with this type of drive that have small stones between the blocks and they have had weeds/growth growing inbetween within a few months! This particular drive and path does not appear to have the stones between but again has a fair amount of growth growing through!

I want to ask is it acceptable to pressure clean this just like a traditional monoblock drive? FSC and a turbo for edges and where required?

Hope someone else who has had experience with this can help me out, I think there will be a lot more work like this in the future with the amount of new homes being built and this drive (suds) seems to be the way they have to build them?!

Any help as always appreciated

Gavin

[BDCS]

SUDS - sustainable urban drainage means that the rainwater stays on the property rather than running off the drive and causing a flood somewhere else. It can either be done with a permeable surface with the blocks that you describe or just aco's and a soakaway. Just clean them as normal and if they have the permeable stone chippings then replace like for like.

[Cowan]

Thanks BDCS - i have seen the type which has the permeable stone chippings but this drive just appears to have the gap with nothing inbetween.  I will just clean as normal and have the added benefit of not having to resand after! Great! Appreciate you input on this as I have no experience of this type of surface (SUDS).

Cheers Gavin.

[drive surgeon]

Awfull block paving that. Guaranteed tonnes of moss and killer weeds. Great for business tho 

[Cowan]

Exactly drive surgeon! There is a new estate next to me and all the big new houses have this type of drives, all not even 2 years old and the drives look terrible. Good for business hopefully. I have my PA1 and PA6 weedkilling licences and hopefully they will come in usefully in these circumstances next spring/summer!

[drive surgeon]

Block paving must be one of the worst types of surface you can buy for a drive or patio due to all the maintenance with weeds, moss and sinking blocks around drains and where the car goes in. It's awful stuff really. But it keeps us lot in business. I'd never buy block paving for my drive.

[rb4no]

one caveat on this though is where does the crud go? if it runs into the soakaway then it'll silt up one day. probably won;t be an issue in this instance or even a new build but an older soakaway could potentially come back on you. I employ vacs to pick up crud as much as possible whilst cleaning and minimises this ever happening.

[Cowan]

It's a good point rb4no, I thought the same! Problem for the future and as you say something a vac can hopefully resolve and something I will definitely be looking at purchasing in the future. Do you have the details or link to the ones you use? Do you need a generator with it also? Thanks for your input, appreciated!

Gavin.