Where the river meets the harbour the ground never really dries out, and paving greens faster here than almost anywhere we work. The film that makes it slippery is alive, which is why treating it lasts and scrubbing it does not.
Entry points for the ground-level jobs, so you know the shape of it before you ring.
Starting points, not prices you will be charged. Paving is priced on what it is — block paving, poured concrete, flagstone and natural stone all take treatment differently — and on how much of it there is. The figure for a driveway moves with its length more than anything else, which is why it starts higher than a patio. Send a photograph taken from one end and you get a real figure rather than a floor.
Two patios, same paving, same treatment. What separates them is how many hours a day the ground spends dry.
The north side of a patio, the path down the side of the house, the bottom of a drive under a hedge. Harbour damp arrives and then has nowhere to go, so the surface is wet for most of the day through most of the year. This is nearly always where the slipperiness starts, and where it comes back to first.
The same paving out where sun and moving air reach it dries between showers, and growth has to work far harder to establish. Treat these areas once and they hold for a long stretch. That is why we will sometimes suggest doing the shaded runs now and leaving the open ones for another year.
The preparation takes longer than the treatment, and the result shows up afterwards.
Block paving, concrete, flagstone and natural stone all behave differently, and so does what is growing on them. A photo down the length of it tells us which and how far along.
We cover the drains and soak the planting along the edges before anything goes on. On a driveway that preparation is most of the job. Then the solution at low pressure, left to work in.
The film lifts as the solution works, and whatever is left of it clears over the next few days. You are told what to expect and roughly when, so nothing about the finish takes you by surprise.
One quick check and one short read, neither costing a thing.
Ask each of them whether they are blasting the surface or treating what is in it. On paving that single question explains most of the gap between two quotes.
The Gutter Check takes under a minute from the ground. Where paving stays green in one particular patch, a downpipe discharging onto it is very often the whole explanation.
We cover Castlebridge along with Ardcolm, Ballyboggan Lower and Elderwood, through the village and out along the harbour road.
Sheeting a driveway takes as long as sheeting a whole house, so anything else on the same visit rides on work already done.
Usually about when it stops being slippery.
No, and that is one of the main reasons to treat paving rather than blast it. Force is what strips jointing sand out of block paving; a low-pressure application leaves the joints exactly as they are.
Two things, and both are free. Keep the gutter above the wall running, and cut back whatever actually overhangs it. Between them they buy a surprising amount of extra time.
Usually very little. Anything loose against the wall — furniture, pots, a bike — is easiest moved before we arrive, and we will say so when we confirm the date. Planting stays put; it gets covered rather than shifted.
Most of it on the day. The rest follows over the next few days as the treatment finishes and the weather takes off what is left. We tell you in advance roughly where it will get to, so you are not standing there on day two wondering whether it worked.
What goes on the surface, how long it needs, and why soaking in beats working at it from outside. The main softwashing page runs through the lot.
A photo of the drive or the patio, and a rough idea of the size, gets us started.
Phone: 089-949-1525
WhatsApp: Send a couple of photos
Email: info@eireshine.ie
Send a photograph and we will tell you what is on it and what clears it. Worth sorting before the winter rather than after.
A picture taken from one end gives us the length, which is what drives the price.
