Hey there pressure washing community! So my company is trying some new things out, and we are using this high pressure washing tech , which basically is just a huge pressure washing system. We tried to wash some asphalt and our result was that we, as I understand it, sucked up the top layer of the asphalt?!
So here’s a photo of the asphalt we washed (You can see the streaks where we washed) and I could only upload one photo - but theres also a filter full a huge clump of material (Probably 5-15 pounds) that presumably is the thing layer of asphalt we took off.
Can anybody shed some light as to why it is this way? Is there different types of asphalt that we should know about? And is it even worth offering to pressure wash asphalt to clients? (We specialize in driveway cleaning).
Edit: I really don’t need comments on how to repair the asphalt, that is something that my company is dealing with right now - I wrote on here as to the specific reason as to why
I’m assuming you joined the forum just to ask this. You probably won’t get a lot of help, but I’ll tell you this:
I hope you have insurance, as you have ruined someone’s asphalt
There is information on this forum and online about asphalt and how it should be cleaned properly, if at all. Do a lot more research before you clean again.
Make friends with a local seal coat and asphalt company.
Give the customer what they want because that was clearly your mistake.
Idk what much more to say, you pretty much messed it up and it’s time to correct the problem. Going to cost you some money. Gotta do more research
I agree with what BTBPropertyService said. I have never cleaned asphalt but I do know it’s nowhere near as hard as concrete so there’s noway I would’ve used my surface cleaner. Might be possible to used a wheeled surface cleaner and change the tips to lower the pressure.
Personally I don’t think I’d even mess with cleaning asphalt and especially if it’s all cracked up. Being cracked and, too much pressure, is probably why you sucked so much up.
I get it fixed as Matthew suggested and chalk it up as a learning experience meaning always research something if you haven’t cleaned it before. There’s a lot of great info on here and, if you can’t find the answer that you’re looking for by searching, just ask.
Hi Ivan, welcome to the PWRA.
You definitely caused damage to the asphalt, should have seen it happening and stopped running the surface cleaner.
Like they said contact a local asphalt specialist to have it repaired. And don’t charge the customer for “cleaning” that, or return their money if they already paid you somehow.
I had a customer just ask me today to pressure wash the back of his restaurant back entrance and a few parking spaces because of all the grease spills. I was all sure no problem I will let you know when I can get to it, but after reading all this, I am wondering if I should walk away?
Did you adjust the pressure before washing the asphalt? There it is necessary to regulate the pressure correctly. Otherwise, the top layer of the material is removed. I know this because I once worked as a person who cleaned fences and roads using a similar technology called pressure washing. Next time, adjust the pressure correctly, and everything will be fine with you.
