Calgary driveway cleaning with a 21-inch surface cleaner, not a wand
Broom-finished concrete, exposed aggregate, stamped concrete and pavers all come back to original colour when the cleaner distributes pressure evenly across the slab. The 21-inch surface cleaner is the right tool for this — uniform clean, no zebra stripes from a wand, no etching on the aggregate. Most Calgary driveway jobs land between $150 and $400 depending on size and how stubborn the staining is.
Uniform pressure, no zebra stripes, no etching on the aggregate
A pressure wand pointed at a flatwork slab cleans where the tip is pointing and skips where the angle changes. The result is a clean driveway with stripes where the technician moved the wand inconsistently — visible from the street the moment the slab dries. The 21-inch surface cleaner is a shrouded disc with two spinning jets that lays down even pressure across the full disc width, so the wash pattern is uniform.
For exposed aggregate we dial the pressure back to 3,000 PSI and use a slightly wider fan so the stones stay in their mortar bed. For stamped concrete with a sealer on top we sometimes go chemistry-first and skip the high-pressure pass entirely. The right method depends on the slab — pair the wash with sealing services, concrete cleaning for sidewalks, or paver sealing for the patio and walkways at the same visit.
Recent work
How a Calgary driveway clean runs
Four steps from inspection to dry slab
Inspect and pre-treat
Substrate confirmed (broom-finish, exposed aggregate, stamped, paver), pressure dialled to match. Oil stains pre-treated with degreaser, weeds in joints cleared, garage door taped at the apron if access is tight.
Surface cleaner pass
21-inch shroud at 3,500-4,000 PSI for broom-finished slabs, 3,000 for exposed aggregate. Even overlapping passes so there is no missed line and no scarring at the edges. Operator walks a steady pace, the disc does the work.
Wand cleanup
Where the surface cleaner cannot reach — the edge against the garage threshold, the curb-to-driveway joint, the gap between the driveway and the lawn — a wand at the matched PSI cleans the strip without striping the main slab.
Rinse, sweep, walkaround
Final low-pressure rinse to take the residue down the gutter, broom-sweep of joint sand if pavers, walkaround with you to spot anything missed. Invoice matches the quote, no last-minute add-ons.
Calgary driveway realities
Road salt, freeze-thaw and the spring grime cycle
Calgary driveways pick up more grime per square foot than almost any other residential surface. Road salt deposits over the winter etch into the slab when temperatures fluctuate. Chinook freeze-thaw cycles work moisture into hairline cracks. Spring snowmelt drags four months of road grit into your driveway and lays it down in a thin film that turns the concrete grey-brown. None of that comes off with a hose, and a sealed driveway holds the stain on top instead of releasing it.
The right wash window is late April through October. We pair the driveway with house washing when the budget allows — most Calgary clients want the slab and the siding done in the same visit so the curb-appeal lift is total. Talk to us about an annual maintenance schedule if you want it on the calendar before the spring grime sets in.
Written quotesPricing
Annual + as-neededCadence
Hartford driveway cleaningFinish
Pair driveway cleaning with
Flatwork and exterior services that pair on the same visit
When the surface cleaner is already on the truck, walkways, sidewalks and the patio cost the labour above the equipment set-up. Combine for the cleanest property and the lowest combined price.
Five questions that come up on most driveway quotes.
A surface cleaner is a 21-inch round shroud with two spinning jets underneath that distributes 3,500-4,000 PSI evenly across the slab. The result is a uniform clean with no wand stripes, no scarring and no patchy spots. A wand alone can clean a driveway, but it leaves zebra stripes from the angle changes. We use the surface cleaner on every flatwork job.
Not at the right PSI and tip choice. Broom-finished concrete takes 3,500-4,000 PSI without issue, exposed aggregate is dialled back to 3,000 PSI with a wider fan to protect the stone-and-cement bond, and stamped concrete is matched to whatever sealant is on top, sometimes a chemical clean only. We confirm the surface type before we start so the method matches the slab.
Most of them, yes, with a degreaser pre-treatment and a longer dwell on the affected spot. Fresh oil comes up easily, ground-in oil from years of leaks needs a hot rinse on a follow-up pass. Tire marks usually clear on the first pass. If a stain is structural (oil that has soaked through the slab), we will tell you straight rather than oversell a fix.
Concrete driveways do not need sealing the way pavers and stamped concrete do, but a fresh penetrating sealer applied a week after a wash extends the time before the next clean by twelve to twenty-four months. We offer the sealer as a follow-up service once the slab is fully dry, see the sealing services page for cost and chemistry.
The garage door stays closed and we tape weatherstripping when access is tight at the apron. Rinse direction is angled away from the door. If the garage floor needs cleaning too, we book that as a separate service after the driveway dries because the chemistry and surface technique are different for an indoor slab.
Calgary driveway cleaning reviews
What homeowners say after the slab wash
★★★★★4.9· 75 reviews on Google
★★★★★
Exposed aggregate driveway looked grey after five Calgary winters. The crew dialled the pressure back, ran the surface cleaner at a steady pace and the aggregate came back to a warm tan. No stones missing, no scarring at the edges. Booked the patio next.
C. D.
Calgary · Cranston
★★★★★
Stamped concrete around the front entry had an old sealer that was peeling. Hartford did a chemistry-first clean instead of high pressure, stripped the old sealer, then we re-sealed it a week later. Looks like the day it was poured.
H. O.
Calgary · McKenzie Towne
★★★★★
Old oil stains from my F-150 at the garage apron. The degreaser pre-treatment plus the surface cleaner got 90 percent of it out, the technician was upfront that the rest had soaked into the slab and would need an etching pass. Honest call.
M. K.
Calgary · Royal Oak
★★★★★
Pavers around the pool deck. Joint sand had washed out and there was algae in the gaps. The crew cleaned, replaced the polymeric sand and the deck looks fresh. Pricing was right where they quoted at the visit, no surprises.
S. A.
Calgary · Mahogany
From the blog
Driveway and flatwork cleaning notes
Free written estimate
Get your Calgary driveway cleaning quote in writing
Tell us the substrate, the dimensions and whether you are pairing the driveway with the patio, sidewalks or a house wash. A Hartford estimator follows up within one business day with a written, itemised quote. Most jobs land in the $150 to $400 range.
