Driveway and walkway cleaning in Southfield.
Concrete out front is the one surface here that takes real pressure. Where the rinse water ends up is the part Southfield has a rule about, and it is not a hard one to meet.
A referral service for Southfield homeowners. An automated assistant answers; calls are recorded.
Typical cost: $100 – $260, typically $155 – $190, or $0.25 – $0.35 a square foot — a national range (HomeGuide's national chart, June 2025)
- Cost to call
- Nothing
- Answered by
- Automated assistant
- Hours
- Any hour
The method
Sweeping first is not tidiness. It is what keeps the loose material out of the drain.
Sweep, then wash
The region's advice to homeowners is to sweep extra fertilizer, grass clippings and dirt off the drive and back onto the lawn — because hosing a driveway down sends that material into the storm drains (what the region tells homeowners).
Run the rinse water onto ground that can take it
Grass or planting beds, where the soil filters it, rather than the drain at the curb. That is the same advice the region gives for washing a car at home.
Brick or paver walks are a different pressure
Anything brick is capped at 400 psi at the nozzle tip, with a wide fan tip held at least a foot back — above 800 psi the brick industry calls it inappropriate for brick (the brick industry's guidance).
Cost
National ranges, not Southfield quotes.
Ask the contractor for your number in writing before any work starts.
A drive that comes clean under the machine sits at the bottom of that range; one with oil, rust or an old stain that has to be worked by hand first is what moves it to the top. The full table.
Hosing the drive down is how the drain gets dirty.
The region's own advice to homeowners is to sweep first and let rinse water run onto grass, because hosing down a driveway sends what is on it into the storm drain. what the region tells homeowners · the city's own rule
Ask where the rinse water goes before the machine starts. Grass or planting beds, not the drain at the curb.
Questions
Will it damage the concrete?
- Concrete flatwork is the surface that takes pressure best, which is why it is the one done at full pressure here. The care goes into the edges — brick or paver borders are capped at 400 psi, and the guidance for them is a wide tip held a foot back (the brick industry's guidance).
Can you get oil stains out?
- Not always, and a drive that needs hand work before the machine is what takes the price from $0.25 – $0.35 a square foot up to $0.40 – $1.25 (HomeGuide, June 2025). Say what the stain is when you ask, so the quote covers it.
Does the city need to know?
- The city's published permits include nothing for exterior cleaning (the city's permits). The rule that does apply is about where the water goes, and it is here.
Will I be charged for the visit?
- Calling us costs nothing. Some contractors charge to come out and look at the job. Ask before they come, and get the price in writing.