The whole price list

Two firms out of roughly twenty around here publish a price. This is all of mine. You can work out what your job costs before you speak to me, which is the point.

Minimum job £150 Below about 33m² you are buying the minimum rather than the rate. It catches more people out than the rate ever does, so it goes first.

Rates

Everything, by the square metre

Published prices
Work	Price
Patio cleaning — slabs, concrete, paving Rotary surface cleaner, then a lance pass on the edges and joints.	from £4.50/m²
Natural stone — Indian sandstone, limestone, York Lower pressure and a wider fan. Sandstone is soft and takes longer.	from £5/m²
Driveway cleaning — concrete, slabs, pattern imprinted	from £4.50/m²
Block paving — clean and kiln-dried re-sand Re-sanding is included, not an extra. A clean without it is half a job.	from £5.50/m²
Decking — clean and rinse Softwood is done at low pressure or soft washed. Pressure furs the grain.	from £5.50/m²
Moss and algae treatment (add-on) Biocide applied after cleaning. Slows regrowth. Not a weedkiller.	from £1.50/m²
Impregnating sealer — natural finish Soaks in, barely changes the look. Second visit, on a dry forecast.	from £5.50/m²
Block paving joint-stabilising sealer Binds the kiln-dried sand in the joints. The right choice for block paving.	from £7.50/m²
Colour-enhancing / wet look sealer Darkens the stone. Worth seeing a test patch before you commit.	£8.50–£12/m²
Gutter clearing — full circuit, downpipes checked Bungalow at the lower end, large detached at the upper. Photos after.	£65–£140
Fascia, soffit and gutter exterior wash	£90–£180
Roof soft washing — moss removal and biocide No pressure on tiles. Scraped, treated, left to weather off.	from £9.50/m²
Render and cladding soft washing	from £6.50/m²

Worked examples

What that looks like on a real job

Four sizes I quote for constantly, with the arithmetic shown so you can check it against anybody else's number.

15m²

Small courtyard patio

Two-seater terrace behind a mid-terrace

15 × £4.50 = £67.50

£150

Below the minimum, so you pay £150. Worth adding the path or the steps, because the extra square metres are cheap once I am set up.
25m²

Average rear patio

Table, chairs and a bit of spare

25 × £4.50 = £112.50

£150

Below the minimum, so you pay £150. Worth adding the path or the steps, because the extra square metres are cheap once I am set up.
40m²

Block paving driveway

Two cars, re-sanding included

40 × £5.50 = £220

£220
60m²

Large patio and path

Full width of the house plus the side return

60 × £4.50 = £270

£270

What is included

Every quote covers the clean itself, edge and detail work with a lance rather than just a surface cleaner over the middle, removal of the slurry to a drain or soakaway, and a final rinse with clean water.

On block paving it also covers re-sanding with kiln-dried sand. That is included in the rate rather than added afterwards, because a clean without it leaves the drive structurally worse off than it was.

Photographs when I finish, including anything I found that you ought to know about.

What is not

Sealing, which is always a separate visit on a dry forecast and priced separately so you can see both numbers and decide.

Weed treatment. Applying herbicide commercially needs PA1 and PA6 certificates that I do not hold, so I do not offer it and I will not quietly do it anyway.

Repairs. Lifting and re-laying sunken paving, replacing damaged blocks, or fixing failed pointing are separate jobs, and where a drive needs a groundworker rather than a jet washer I will tell you that instead of taking the money.

How I work the price out

Area times the rate for the surface. If that comes to less than £150, you pay £150. If the job needs something unusual, that is added as its own line with an explanation.

You get the rate, the area and the total, so you can check the arithmetic. A quote that is a single number with no working is a quote worth questioning, mine included.

Questions

About the pricing

Why do you publish prices when nobody else does?

Because I would want them published if I were buying. It also means I cannot quietly charge the house with the new car on the drive more than the one without, which is a real practice in this trade. Out of roughly twenty firms working this stretch of coast, two put a price anywhere on their website.

Is the price ever more than the rate says?

Occasionally, and I tell you before I start rather than after. Thick moss that needs scraping, a hose run over about 30 metres, or a surface that needs a slower method all add time. Anything like that is in the written quote, not discovered on the day.

Do you charge for travel?

No. The rate and the minimum are the same in every town on my areas list, from Seaford to Battle. Travel is my cost to manage, not a line on your quote. What distance does affect is scheduling, because I group jobs at the far end of the range.

When do I pay?

Afterwards, by bank transfer, against an invoice with my name and number on it. I do not take a deposit on domestic work and I do not ask for cash. There is nothing to pay if you are not happy with what I have done.