How did you price my driveway or patio cleaning without coming to look at it?
Pricing is typically based on a price per metre square. The more m2 typically the higher the price.
To measure the area use online tools such as Google Earth, which lets us view a satellite image of your home and measure the area that needs cleaning.
We may also use Google Street View, along with property listing websites such as Rightmove or Zoopla, to get a better understanding of the layout, access, and size of the space.
By using those tools together, we can often get a very good idea of:
- the size of the area
- the type of surface
- how straightforward the access looks
- whether the job appears fairly standard or more unusual
Typically, for projects under around 100 square metres, this is how we price the work using online tools
That said, quoting online is not about guessing.
If anything looks unclear, unusual, or difficult to judge properly from online images, we may ask you to send over a few photos first.
And for larger or more complex jobs, we may still recommend viewing it in person before confirming the price.
What affects the final price once we’ve measured it?
Once we’ve measured the area online, the main thing we usually base the price on is the square metreage of the surface, along with the access to the area.
That is typically what we can judge most accurately when quoting remotely.
For many standard jobs, that gives us a strong enough starting point to provide a fair price. But there are some things that are much harder to see properly from satellite images, Street View, or property photos online.
What we often cannot see clearly from online tools are things like:
- oil stains on a driveway
- rust marks on a patio
- deep staining from plant pots or furniture
- heavy black spot or lichen
- paint spills or building residue
Those kinds of stains often need extra time, specialist products, or a different cleaning approach, so they would not usually be included as part of a standard online quotation unless they had already been discussed.
So, for example, if we give you a price for driveway cleaning, that would not normally include oil stain removal unless we already knew those stains were there and is mentioned in the quotation
Likewise, if we quote for patio cleaning, that would not normally include things like rust removal or treatment for unusual staining unless it had been identified beforehand.
That does not mean we cannot help with those things.
It just means they are usually treated as additional work, rather than being built into the initial standard quote automatically.
If your exterior hard surfaces have these issues and would like the above, please let us know ahead of the cleaning as we will likely ask for pictures of the stains to be sure we can help.
When would we request an in person visit?
Typically we would recommend for us to come and visit if the area is larger than 100m2 or if the area is unusually shaped, access is difficult, the condition of the surface is hard to judge, or the project involves multiple areas that need different types of cleaning.
Commercial large scale cleaning projects or where there are communal areas that require cleaning visiting a point of contact at a particular cleaning location would be recommended.
A visit allows us to look more closely at the surface, check for any details that are not obvious online, and make sure the quote reflects the actual work involved.
In short, quoting online works well for many straightforward projects, but when a job needs a closer look, visiting in person is the best way to make sure the quote is accurate and there are no avoidable surprises later on.
If you are curious about the cost of driveway and patio cleaning for your home
We have a free online estimator tool so you can see how much it might cost for us to help you with the cleaning below
