Driveway cleaningin Sunrise, FL.

The canals through Sunrise Golf Village keep the ground and the air damp, and drives and walks there have been sitting in it since around 1960. Concrete that old has lost its smooth top, and growth roots deep into the open surface and comes back fast after a plain rinse. Canal-side walks also collect leaves and silt after heavy rain.

Those drives get a gentle pass with more chemistry: pre-treatment to loosen the growth, the surface cleaner at a pressure the old concrete can take, and a post-treatment to kill what is left in the pores. Exposed aggregate and old oil shadows stay, and that is said before starting. The walk and the apron are done in the same visit as the drive.

Springtree's homes date from the 1970s through the 1990s and Welleby's from 1984 to 1992, so most drives there are thirty to fifty years old. They take a standard surface clean with rust and oil treated separately. Shade from the golf course trees and the park keeps some of them damp longer. The walk to the front door is done in the same visit.

Rust bands along the edges come from irrigation water with iron in it. The city's three water systems draw on Biscayne Aquifer wells, but the tap water is not what stains the drive; the sprinklers are. A rust remover takes the band out, and re-aimed heads keep it out. Oil spots get a degreaser and time to work.

When the Everglades burn west of Sunrise, ash lands on pool decks and lanai floors and mixes with water into a grey film. Brushing it into the pool is the wrong fix. It needs to be washed off and rinsed away from the water. Pool water splashing onto the ash keeps it wet and smearing.

The deck is cleaned with the surface cleaner, the rinse is steered to the drains and the lawn, and the screen walls are protected from spray. Wait until the fire is out so the deck is not coated again the next day. If the pool itself has ash in it, that is a job for a pool service, not a pressure washer. Furniture and planters come off first.