A patio is not one surface. Broom-finish concrete, stamped concrete, pavers, flagstone, and brick all clean differently, and the method that suits one of them can ruin another.
Most driveways around here are poured concrete. Patios are not so predictable. In one neighborhood in Apex or Holly Springs you can find broom-finish concrete, stamped and stained concrete, concrete pavers, bluestone, and old brick, sometimes all behind the same house.
Each of those takes water, pressure, and chemistry differently. Patio power washing at the pressure that suits a plain slab will open the joints of a paver patio, strip the color off stamped concrete, and flake the face of soft stone. So the first question on any patio job is not how dirty it is. It is what it is.
| Surface | Pressure | Main job | What goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broom-finish concrete | Moderate, with a surface cleaner | Kill the growth, lift stains, even finish | Wand stripes and etching from a nozzle held too close |
| Stamped or colored concrete | Low | Clean without stripping the sealer | Patchy, dull sealer and color that looks blotchy |
| Concrete pavers | Low to moderate | Clean the faces, clear the joints, refill sand | Joint sand blown out, pavers shifting, weeds back in weeks |
| Flagstone and natural stone | Low | Kill the growth, protect soft stone and joints | Flaking, pitting, and mortar joints washed out |
| Brick | Low | Kill the growth, treat white bloom | Mortar or sand eroded, brick faces chipped |
The rest of this guide goes through each one, then the things sitting on the patio, which are half the work on most jobs.
This is the plain gray patio with fine lines dragged across it. It is the most forgiving surface on the list and the closest to a driveway. It gets a pre-treatment for the green film in the shade, a pass with a surface cleaner for an even finish, and hand work at the edges and steps.
What goes wrong is the same as on a driveway: zebra stripes from a bare wand, and etching from a nozzle held too close. Our driveway cleaning guide goes through stain types in detail, from rust to leaf tannin. On a patio, the usual extras are grill grease, rings under planters, and black mildew in the corner that never sees sun.
Stamped concrete is poured, colored, and pressed with a pattern to look like stone, slate, or brick. The color is often only in the top layer, and the whole surface is usually protected by a clear sealer. That sealer is what you are actually looking at when stamped concrete looks rich and deep.
Cleaning stamped concrete is mostly about not hurting that sealer. High pressure strips it in patches, and the result is a patio that is glossy in some places and dull and chalky in others. Low pressure and a cleaner that kills the growth do the job. The texture holds dirt in the grooves, so the rinse takes longer, but the pressure stays low.
Sealing is a separate visit once the slab is dry. If you want the wet look back, that is where it comes from.
A paver patio is hundreds of separate pieces held in place by the sand between them and the edge restraint around them. The sand in the joints does real work. It locks the pavers together so they do not shift and rock underfoot.
Any wash takes out some of that sand, even a careful one. That is expected. What matters is that it goes back. Plain joint sand is swept in. Polymeric sand is sand mixed with a binder that hardens once it gets wet, and it resists weeds and ants better. It has to be swept into dry joints, cleared off the paver faces, and wet down carefully, or it leaves a haze on the surface that is hard to remove.
A cleaner kills the growth on the faces and in the joints. Low pressure and a steady distance keep from digging out more sand than necessary.
Polymeric sand goes into dry joints only. Damp joints make it set early and leave haze on the faces.
Sand is swept in until the joints are full, then the faces are blown clean.
A light mist activates polymeric sand. Too much water washes the binder out. Too little and it never hardens.
A sealer helps hold the sand and deepens the color. It goes on after the sand has set.
White powder on pavers or brick is usually efflorescence: minerals carried up out of the base by water and left behind when it dries. It is common on newer pavers and often fades on its own over the first year or two. It needs a cleaner made for it, not more pressure, and it has to be gone before anything is sealed over it.
Flagstone is a general name for flat stone laid as a patio or a walk. Around here that is often bluestone, slate, or sandstone, set either in mortar or in gravel and stone dust. Stone looks tough. Some of it is not.
So natural stone gets low pressure, a cleaner that kills the growth and is safe for the stone, and patience. The black and green film on a shaded stone patio comes off with dwell time. Lichen on stone can take a second treatment and a few weeks of weather before it lets go.
Brick patios show up on older homes all over the area, laid either in mortar or set tight in sand. Brick is fired clay, and its hard outer skin is what keeps water out. Pressure that chips that skin lets water in, and then summer heat and winter freezes do the rest.
Brick gets low pressure, a cleaner for the growth, and a separate treatment for white efflorescence if it is there. Mortar joints need the same care as they do on stone. Our brick cleaning guide covers walls and steps as well as the ground.
A patio clean usually means moving what is on the patio. Resin and aluminum furniture can be rinsed while it is out of the way. Cushions, rugs, and anything fabric go inside. Planters leave rings and metal feet leave rust marks, so the spots under them often need their own treatment once they are moved.
If the porch or patio has a wood floor, that is a different job again, closer to a deck clean. Our gray deck guide covers wood.
Patios in shade want cleaning more often than driveways, because they stay damp and get less traffic to wear the film off. Once a year is typical for a shaded patio here. A sunny one can go two.
The best time is spring, after the yellow pollen settles, so the patio is clean for the months you actually use it. Early fall is a close second, and it is the better time if you want it sealed. Book the house wash on the same visit and the siding and patio come clean together, which costs less than two trips.
We do patio and concrete cleaning across Clayton, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, and the rest of our area. Tell us what the patio is made of when you call, or send a photo, and we will tell you the method before we quote it. Call (919) 698-3669.
We do this work every week across the Triangle and Johnston County. Free quote, no obligation, and a real person on the phone.
“Great communication and fair pricing on short notice. Gutters and driveway both done same visit.”
“Same-day service and the whole property looks better. Will use them every year.”
“Long driveway with years of clay stains. It came out even end to end with no stripes anywhere.”
Low pressure and non-pressure roof cleaning are the same idea: the solution does the cleaning and the water only carries it away. Here is what that looks like on shingles, metal, and flat roofs, and how long it holds in central North Carolina.
Read the guide →ConcreteA driveway clean is more than a pressure washer and an afternoon. Here is what a proper concrete cleaning service does, stain by stain, and what no amount of cleaning will fix.
Read the guide →DecksA fence weathers two different ways at once. Here is how a fence cleaning service handles wood, vinyl, and aluminum, why pressure ruins pine, and what has to happen before a stain goes on.
Read the guide →We fly the roofline and show you the footage on the spot. You see your own gutters, joints, and downspouts on the screen instead of taking our word for it. It costs nothing and you are not committing to the cleaning.
Free for homes and businesses across the Triangle and Johnston County. No obligation to book any work afterwards.
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