howdy folks
i'm about to give a quote on a 6000+ sq ft composite driveway--by composite i mean the type with pea gravel stuck to the surface. i need advice on what sort of chemical(s) will effectively loosen the grunge so that i can keep the pressure down without being forced to go at a snail's pace. on regular cement drives, i just take my turbo and blast away, using chemicals only on particularly stubborn spots. can't do that on composite. the only time i've cleaned a composite is when i first started and clorox was the only thing i knew to use for any application(that was obviously before i discovered this board). the clorox was better than nothing, but it was mighty slow going with the pressure backed off to avoid blasting away the pebbles.
in the absence of any suggestions, i guess i'll go with my house wash--clorox(the type with sodium hydroxide), liquid tide, and some dawn to help with the dwell time on slopes. i suspect i should apply it with an xjet to avoid diluting too much with my downstreamer. seems like i've seen hd-80 recommended for driveways but i can't find a thread on that. suggestions? thoughts? comments? thanks.
next question is how to bid it. i've never done a driveway larger than 2000 sq ft. on that size and smaller, i usually have a good idea about how long it will take and i bid on that basis. recently, after seeing the delco pricing survey results, i've measured driveways and found that my estimates based on expected hours comes pretty dang close to 10 to 12 cents/sq ft. delco says something like 6 to 15 cents/sq ft, 8 or so being average and 10 for jobs that aren't subject to competition. it then says to double or triple those rates for a one time cleaning. i'm thinking that 15 cents/sq ft is fair for composite, then knock 20% off due to volume, which gets us back to 12%. grand total: $800. does that sound fair to ya'll? do you think it will be competitive if she takes other bids? biggest problem may be that she's never had it cleaned before, and may suffer from some sticker shock. frankly, the notion of paying $800 to get a driveway cleaned--no matter how big--strikes me personally as hard to swallow. so, whatever thoughts ya'll have will be greatly appreciated.
thanks
richard
800
i'm about to give a quote on a 6000+ sq ft composite driveway--by composite i mean the type with pea gravel stuck to the surface. i need advice on what sort of chemical(s) will effectively loosen the grunge so that i can keep the pressure down without being forced to go at a snail's pace. on regular cement drives, i just take my turbo and blast away, using chemicals only on particularly stubborn spots. can't do that on composite. the only time i've cleaned a composite is when i first started and clorox was the only thing i knew to use for any application(that was obviously before i discovered this board). the clorox was better than nothing, but it was mighty slow going with the pressure backed off to avoid blasting away the pebbles.
in the absence of any suggestions, i guess i'll go with my house wash--clorox(the type with sodium hydroxide), liquid tide, and some dawn to help with the dwell time on slopes. i suspect i should apply it with an xjet to avoid diluting too much with my downstreamer. seems like i've seen hd-80 recommended for driveways but i can't find a thread on that. suggestions? thoughts? comments? thanks.
next question is how to bid it. i've never done a driveway larger than 2000 sq ft. on that size and smaller, i usually have a good idea about how long it will take and i bid on that basis. recently, after seeing the delco pricing survey results, i've measured driveways and found that my estimates based on expected hours comes pretty dang close to 10 to 12 cents/sq ft. delco says something like 6 to 15 cents/sq ft, 8 or so being average and 10 for jobs that aren't subject to competition. it then says to double or triple those rates for a one time cleaning. i'm thinking that 15 cents/sq ft is fair for composite, then knock 20% off due to volume, which gets us back to 12%. grand total: $800. does that sound fair to ya'll? do you think it will be competitive if she takes other bids? biggest problem may be that she's never had it cleaned before, and may suffer from some sticker shock. frankly, the notion of paying $800 to get a driveway cleaned--no matter how big--strikes me personally as hard to swallow. so, whatever thoughts ya'll have will be greatly appreciated.
thanks
richard
800