Somerset County

Sprinkler rust is the local signature

If your driveway has orange fan-shaped staining, or the bottom of your siding has gone rust-colored in an arc, that is iron from well water — not dirt, not algae, and not something a stronger wash will fix. The fix is an oxalic acid treatment applied to the stained area, left to work, and rinsed. It is dramatic, it is quick, and it is the single most common thing we get called about in Somerset County.

Worth knowing: it will come back as long as the irrigation runs on the same water. An iron filter on the irrigation line solves it at source. Otherwise plan on treatment as part of your regular cleaning.

Large properties, long approaches

Through Bernardsville, Bedminster, Far Hills and Peapack-Gladstone the properties are big, the driveways are long, and a great deal of the visible surface is hardscape — pavers, bluestone, stone walls, pool surrounds and pool houses. That work is priced by area rather than by house, and it is usually more efficient to do all of it in one mobilization than to bring us back three times.

Bluestone and natural stone

There is more natural stone in Somerset County than anywhere else we work: bluestone patios, fieldstone walls, stone steps and veneer. Stone is durable but the mortar and the setting bed are not, and bluestone in particular can spall if it is hit hard while saturated. Low pressure, right cleaner, patience.

Bridgewater, Hillsborough and the townships

More conventional suburban work here — vinyl siding, concrete driveways, decks. Straightforward, quick, and normally the best value as a combined house-and-driveway visit.