Collister runs on two different water sources and a mix of long gravel drives, and both leave their mark on concrete. Ditch water rusts and films the patio near the sprinkler heads, decomposed granite dust off the Boise Front cakes onto gravel-to-concrete transitions, and maple leaves left over winter etch a tannin stain into the slab.
Some of the older lots along the canal still take irrigation water straight off the ditch instead of through Veolia tap, and that water carries dissolved iron along with the silt. Run a ditch-fed sprinkler head across a concrete patio or walk for a season and you get an orange-brown stain radiating out from wherever the head throws, not the flat gray dirt film you get from tap water overspray. Iron sets into the pores of the concrete rather than sitting on top of it, so a straight rinse or even a standard pressure pass lightens it without fully clearing it. We hit iron staining with a surface cleaner and a rust-specific treatment ahead of the pressure work, and we will tell you upfront if a stain has been baking for years and is only going to fade, not disappear.
Collister sits right at the base of the Boise Front, and the fine decomposed granite dust that drains off the foothills at night settles heaviest where a gravel drive meets a concrete apron or parking pad. Dry, it just looks pale and dusty. Wet, it turns into a gray slurry that tracks onto the concrete and dries into a hard cake that plain rinsing will not lift. This is different from the softer silt that settles on the west side of the valley, since the granite grit is sharper and packs down harder once cars have driven over it a few times. We pre-treat and run a rotary surface cleaner rather than a straight wand on these transition zones so the cake actually lifts instead of getting pushed around and left to dry back into the joints.
The big lots along the canal and older interior streets carry maple and spruce that were mature before most tract houses went up, and both leave marks plain sweeping does not solve. A wet maple leaf sitting on a patio slab over a Boise winter leaves a dark tannin outline in the exact shape of the leaf once cleared away, and that stain has soaked into the surface, not sat on it. Spruce drips sap onto anything parked underneath it, and the sap grabs dust and grit as it cures into a rough dark patch that gets worse the longer it sits. Fresh leaf and sap staining lifts with a normal pressure pass and cleaning solution. A stain that had all winter to set usually needs a second, chemical-assisted pass, and we say so rather than running the wand over it twice at full pressure, which just polishes the surface instead of lifting the stain underneath.
A lot of Collister properties run a long gravel drive back to a detached garage or shop instead of concrete the whole way, and we get asked to pressure wash the gravel itself more than you would think. We do not, and the reason matters: a pressure washer displaces gravel fines and base material rather than cleaning them, which erodes the drive and opens ruts that wash out worse in the next irrigation cycle or rainstorm. What we do wash is the concrete apron where the gravel meets the street or garage slab, the walkways, and any parking pad, all billed at $0.20 per square foot. Those transition edges are usually the dirtiest part of the property anyway, since every tire and boot drags gravel fines onto the concrete and grinds them in.
Pressure washing runs $0.20 per square foot on driveways, patios and walkways, priced off the actual measured area rather than a flat per-visit rate, so a small courtyard patio costs less than a full ranch driveway with a long approach. House washing is $0.18 per square foot on a soft-wash setting suited to painted lap siding and older mortar, which matters on Collister's mix of 1950s through 1970s ranches. We do not run driveway-grade pressure against siding, gutters or roofing; those get the gentler soft-wash chemical process instead, since raw pressure can drive water behind siding or strip paint. Memberships run Monthly or Quarterly with no contract, Quarterly saves $100 per cleaning, and every job carries the 7-Day Rain Guarantee. Same-day and next-day slots open most weeks. Locally owned, fully insured, 4.9 stars across 115+ Google reviews. Call (208) 453-6760.
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Depends how long they have been there. Fresh iron staining from a ditch-fed or hard-water sprinkler lifts most of the way with a surface cleaner and a rust-specific pretreatment ahead of the pressure pass. Staining that has baked in over several seasons has iron set into the pores of the concrete itself, and that will fade rather than fully disappear. We test a section and tell you honestly which one you are dealing with before quoting the job.
No, and that's on purpose. A pressure washer moves gravel and base material around instead of cleaning it, which erodes the drive and opens ruts. What we wash is the concrete apron, walkway or parking pad where the gravel ends, billed at $0.20 per square foot. If the gravel itself needs work, that's a regrade or a fresh load of material, not a pressure washing job.
Usually, yes, but expect two passes if the leaves sat there all winter. Fresh tannin staining from wet leaves lifts with a standard pressure pass and cleaning solution. A stain that soaked in over a full winter needs a chemical-assisted pass first, since running the wand at full pressure on set-in tannin just polishes the surface without lifting the stain underneath. We will tell you which one your patio needs before we start.
Once a year covers most properties, timed for spring after the leaf litter and winter grime, or fall before the maples drop again. Ditch-fed or heavily irrigated lots with iron staining sometimes want a mid-year check on the concrete nearest the sprinkler heads, since that mineral keeps depositing all season. Ask us to flag it at your cleaning rather than scheduling a second full visit if it's only a small area.
Yes, with the pressure and technique matched to the surface. Older concrete out here is more porous than a new pour, so stains soak in deeper but the slab itself also scars more easily under a straight wand at close range. We run a rotary surface cleaner at a set standoff distance on these older slabs rather than a handheld wand at full pressure, which keeps the surface even instead of leaving streak lines or eating into the aggregate.
Driveways, patios and walkways price at $0.20 per square foot based on actual measured area. A typical ranch driveway with an attached walk runs a different number than a courtyard patio, so we measure rather than quote a flat number sight unseen. Call (208) 453-6760 with rough dimensions and we can get you a close estimate before we come out.
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