Driveways, paths and concrete across Sydney
Driveway cleaning in Sydney, $329, for the slab that has gone green, greasy or slippery.
Algae down the shaded side. Oil under the car. Mortar and site mud after a build. That figure covers a single driveway. A double is $499, and anything larger gets measured by the square metre. Hard surfaces also carry a water rule all year round, and we set it out below rather than hoping you never ask.
Yes, you are allowed to have this done, and here is the rule that says so
Hard surfaces are the one part of this trade carrying a condition all year round. Under the Sydney Water Water Wise Guidelines a driveway, path or paved area may be cleaned with water where that is necessary for safety, health, an emergency, construction activity or surface contamination. Almost every driveway anybody rings about is one of those four, and we will tell you if yours is not.
Hardly anybody in this market brings it up, which is why so many people think driveway cleaning sits in a grey area. It does not. Your reason goes on the written price with the photographs, so the basis for putting water on your slab is documented rather than assumed.
It has gone slippery
Algae, moss and lichen on a shaded concrete drive or a path down the side of a house. This is the common one, and it is a safety reason rather than a cosmetic one.
Something has been spilled on it
Oil, fuel, hydraulic fluid or a leaking car. Surface contamination, and the hot water on the truck is the reason we can take it on.
Organic contamination
Bird and bat droppings, rotting leaf litter, a bin area that has been leaking. Health rather than looks.
Building work has finished
Mortar splatter, render, paint and site mud after a build or a renovation. Construction activity, including resurfacing, is named in the guideline.
The part of the rule nobody quotes
The same guideline says a hose used on a hard surface must be fitted with a trigger nozzle, unless it is supplying high pressure water cleaning equipment. High pressure gear is the exempted method, and it is exempted because it does the job with a fraction of the water a running hose puts down a slab. That is the real answer to why you would pay somebody rather than drag the hose out yourself.
The price, and what happens when the slab is bigger
Bigger areas are measured
Past a double driveway the fair way to price concrete is by the square metre, and the rate tapers as the area grows because the setup cost is the same whether the slab is small or large.
- up to 100 m²$6.50 a square metre
- 100 to 250 m²$6 a square metre
- over 250 m²$5.50 a square metre
- With a minimum of$249
Where the water goes when it comes off the slab
Permission to use water is not permission to let it run anywhere. Wash water carrying sediment, detergent, oil or paint must not enter the stormwater system, and the drain outside your house goes to a creek rather than to a treatment plant. Loose material is swept or vacuumed before anything is wet, inlets near the work are covered or bunded, and the water is controlled on site.
On an oily driveway or a workshop floor the bulk oil comes off dry first, the water is contained and recovered, and it goes to a route that is lawful for it. That method is written on your job sheet before the day, so you can see what was planned and what actually happened.
Five things worth checking, on us or on anybody else
These are not the five things we are best at. They are the five that go wrong, taken from published reviews and forum threads about Sydney operators. Ask them of us. Then ask them of the next quote you get.
The written price is the price on the day
Price rising on arrival is the second most repeated complaint in this trade. You get the figure before we come, and the figure on the invoice is that figure.
A stated method for tile roofs that are not sarked
Water driven through the gaps in an unsarked tile roof is the worst failure in the whole category, and one operator called it normal. It is not normal. Tile is soft washed and the downpipes are handled before we start.
Broken tiles photographed and reported
The pattern in the complaints is damage painted over or glued. A broken tile goes in the report with a photograph, before anything is put back.
We turn up, and we call back
No shows after a quote are the single most repeated complaint across every listing checked. Every booking is confirmed by a person on the phone.
Ask us for the paperwork before you book
This site carries no licence number and no insurance figure, because we will not publish a document we cannot hand you. Ask, and you get the document or a straight answer about what we do not have.
Driveway and concrete questions
How much is driveway cleaning in Sydney?
A single driveway up to thirty five square metres is $329 and a double up to sixty five is $499, both including GST. Larger areas are measured and priced by the square metre, with a minimum attended job of $249.
Am I allowed to have my driveway cleaned in Sydney?
Yes, where cleaning it with water is necessary for safety, health, an emergency, construction activity or surface contamination. That is the Water Wise Guideline, it applies all year round, and a slippery or contaminated surface sits squarely inside it. What is not permitted is hosing a driveway down because it looks a bit tired.
Then why is hiring somebody different from doing it myself with a hose?
Because the guideline says a hose has to have a trigger nozzle unless it is supplying high pressure water cleaning equipment. High pressure gear is the explicitly exempted method, and it uses far less water than a hose left running down a slab.
Will it damage the concrete?
Not at the right pressure for the surface, which is the whole skill. Pebblecrete with the pebbles blown out and exposed aggregate on a plain slab are both real complaints against operators who ran one setting on everything. Pressure is set to the surface, and on an older or already failing slab we tell you what we are not going to be able to fix.
Can you get oil stains out?
We can treat them, and we say treat rather than remove. Oil goes into porous concrete, so how much comes back depends on how long it has been there. Oil treatment added to a driveway clean is $90 on top, and hot water is what makes it worth doing at all.
Where does the dirty water go?
Not into the stormwater drain. Wash water carrying sediment, detergent or oil must not enter the stormwater system, so drains are covered or bunded before we start and the water is controlled and disposed of properly. That is written into the job sheet with everything else.
Send a photograph of the worst corner
That, a rough size and your postcode is enough to price it. You get a figure and the reason it is allowed, in writing, before anybody comes. The diary opens on 29 October 2026.