Driveway cleaning in Stroud — stone setts, steep valley drives and block paving, restored not just rinsed.

Yes — and slippery stone is one of the most common Stroud call-outs we get. Cotswold stone setts and slabs are a porous oolitic limestone, so the green film you're slipping on is algae sitting in the open grain, not the stone itself wearing out. We lift it with a gentle low-pressure clean and a stone-safe treatment rather than blasting it, because high pressure pits the surface and washes the jointing out. Done properly the sett comes back to its honey colour and, crucially, stops being a skating rink in the wet — the algae is gone at the root, not just rinsed off the top.

No, because we plan the run-off before we start. Stroud is built into the valley sides, so a lot of drives at Rodborough, Uplands and Whiteshill fall steeply towards the lane below. We work top-to-bottom in controlled sections, catch and divert the dirty water with matting and bunding so the silt doesn't sheet straight onto the highway or a neighbour's plot, and vacuum or sweep the slurry up rather than letting it run. It's slower than just hosing a flat drive, and we price the job knowing that — but it's the difference between a clean drive and a complaint from next door.

Yes, on every block-paving job — it's included, not an add-on. Cleaning block paving inevitably flushes the kiln-dried sand out of the joints, and on the Cainscross and Stonehouse estates that sand has usually half-washed-out already, which is why weeds and moss have moved in. Once the surface has dried we brush fresh kiln-dried sand back into every joint and sweep off the excess, so the blocks are locked together again and the weeds have nowhere to root. Skip that step and the clean looks great for a fortnight then starts shifting.

It's the Five Valleys. Stroud sits where five steep, wooded valleys meet, and they trap damp air — mist pools in the bottoms on autumn and winter mornings, humidity stays high, and the mature tree cover up the Slad, at Whiteshill and around the Uplands keeps north-facing drives in shade for half the year. A surface that barely dries out between October and April is the perfect bed for algae and moss. Out on the open Severn plain a few miles west, the same drive would green up far slower. It's why a treatment that kills the spores matters more here than almost anywhere in the county.

Often, yes, but it depends on the cause. Iron and ochre staining is common on natural Cotswold stone — sometimes it's iron in the stone itself bleeding out, sometimes it's run-off from old railings, a rotary washing line or a leaking drain. We identify the source first, because a stain that's still being fed will just come back. The staining itself we treat with a targeted, stone-safe stain remover at low strength and lift it gradually rather than dousing the whole drive in acid, which would etch and bleach the limestone. We'll tell you honestly at the survey whether it'll lift fully, mostly, or whether it's bonded in for good.

It's worth thinking about, especially in this damp valley climate. On block paving a sealer locks the fresh sand in, blocks weeds out of the joints, and adds roughly two to three years before the next deep clean — handy when a shaded Stroud drive would otherwise green up inside eighteen months. On porous Cotswold stone a breathable sealer can help shed water and slow the algae, but it has to be the right product so the stone can still breathe. We'll give you a straight answer at the quote rather than upselling it on every job. You can read more on our sealing page.

Yes. Gravel and shingle drives — common at the larger period properties on the valley lanes — never get the rotary cleaner or a hard lance, because that just fires the stones into the borders and the hedge. Instead we clear the moss, weed and built-up organic silt that's clogged the gravel, rake and re-level the surface, and treat it so growth doesn't come straight back. Where the gravel has thinned or migrated down a slope we'll tell you, and we can top it up if you want. The aim is a drive that drains and looks tidy again, not a scattered mess.

The clean-and-re-sand fixes the immediate problem — it pulls the weeds and moss out, flushes the dead growth, and re-locks the joints with fresh kiln-dried sand so there's nothing for new weeds to root into. How long it stays that way depends on the drive: a shaded, north-facing plot in a valley bottom will need it again sooner than a sunnier, well-drained one. Sealing afterwards roughly doubles the interval. We're honest about that at the quote — a once-and-done miracle doesn't exist on a damp Stroud drive, but a proper clean, re-sand and optional seal gets you years rather than months.

Most domestic drives are half a day to a full day. A steep valley-side drive that needs run-off management, or a heavily-mossed stone sett with planted borders, takes longer than a flat, simple block-paved area on one of the newer estates. We give you a realistic time estimate with the written quote, and we don't pack up until it's done and the run-off is cleared away.

All of Stroud and the Five Valleys — Rodborough, Cainscross, Cashes Green, Paganhill, Uplands, Whiteshill, Bisley Road and the centre — plus Stonehouse, Nailsworth, Painswick, Minchinhampton, Woodchester and the surrounding villages. Same pricing across the catchment, no extra travel charge for the valleys. If you're not sure we reach you, send your GL5 or GL6 postcode and we'll confirm.