Pressure Washing in Willoughby

The south and south-east of the suburb fall toward Flat Rock Gully over moderate to very steep slopes, with exposed sandstone benches and broken scarps. On those blocks, paths and steps can end up crossing rock rather than lawn, and anything shaded by a rock face or by the gully's bushland stays damp long enough to grow moss and algae. On a sloping path that growth is a slip risk as much as a stain.

Up on the plateau, driveways, brick paving and pavers pick up their staining from above. Willoughby's mixed street plantings include jacaranda, camphor laurel and Canary Island date palms, and their flowers, berries and fruit leave purple, black and orange marks once they are crushed into a driveway by tyres. Leaf from Brush Box and eucalypts leaches tannin into porous concrete when it sits wet after rain.

Some of the local stonework is older than it looks. Depression-era sandstone retaining walls survive in Flat Rock Gully, with dry stone walling near Henry Lawson Cave, and council's heritage controls count pathways, hard surfaces and fencing as part of the protected setting in its conservation areas. Sandstone and older brick are cleaned with the pressure turned well down, and the higher settings are kept for concrete, where oil stains and tyre marks need them.

The first return is footing. A moss-covered sandstone step on a slope toward the gully, or a shaded side path between a house and its neighbour, is where people slip in wet weather. Clearing the growth back to the surface restores grip without replacing anything.

The second is preparation for sealing. Concrete driveways and pavers take a sealer far better once moss, algae, oil and tyre marks have been lifted, whereas sealer laid over dirt simply locks the stain in underneath. If you are planning to reseal, pressure cleaning is the necessary first step rather than an optional extra.

The third is looking after stone that cannot easily be replaced. Weathered sandstone has a soft outer face that carries its colour and banding, and in a heritage conservation area the hard surfaces of a property are part of what council expects to be kept. Measured pressure is aimed at removing the growth while leaving that face in place, which is the opposite of what a heavy-handed wash tends to do.

Each job is quoted on area, surface and the amount of build-up, so a short sandstone path and a long concrete driveway are each assessed on what they actually involve. You also get before-and-after photos of every surface we clean.