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River Rock Refresh

We clean weedy river rock beds in place. No new stone, no herbicide.

Over time the stone fills with silt and weeds. Pulling by hand usually snaps the stem and leaves the root. We wash the weeds out with the pressure washer on low, rake the bed level, then go over it with saturated steam. A 200 sq ft bed takes about an hour and a half. Prices start at $225 and they're below.

Prices on this pageBBB accredited - A+Owner-led, every jobWater only, nothing applied
Before, During, After

One strip, one afternoon.

A river rock strip between an asphalt driveway and a wooden fence, the stone dull with silt and weeds growing along both edges
Before - a 200 sq ft strip beside a driveway. The driveway drains into it, so the stone sits in silt and the weeds have both edges. Shown with the owner's permission.
The same strip mid-clean, the stone wet and the silt pushed out onto the driveway as muddy water
During - the nozzle at low pressure pushes the silt out of the stone and onto the driveway, where it rinses away down the drain it came from.
The same strip after the clean, the stone bright, raked level, no weeds, the surface still wet
After - raked level, weeds gone. The stone is wet in this frame.

This one took two hours of cleaning instead of one, because of the silt. That is the one thing we price from a photo rather than from the table below.

Another One

Two strips with stepping stones.

A river rock path with large flagstone stepping stones beside a stone pillar, grass and weeds growing through the stone around every step
Before - the front path. Grass had taken the stone around every step.
The same path after the clean, the stone washed and raked level around the stepping stones, the steps clear
After - washed, raked, the steps clear again.
A narrow river rock strip along a house wall with a red downspout extension and stepping stones, weeds throughout
Before - the side strip by the downspout.
The same side strip after the clean, bright stone around the downspout and the stepping stones, no weeds
After - the same strip, the downspout now sitting on clean stone.

Stepping stones add a little time, because the edge of every one gets the nozzle and the rake. Count them when you send the photo.

How It Works

What we do, in order.

  1. 1

    We wash the weeds out of the stone

    The pressure washer, turned down low, lifts each weed out with its root. Pulling by hand snaps the stem and leaves the root behind to grow back; this doesn't.

  2. 2

    The silt goes with them

    Years of silt wash out from between the stones at the same time. We don't haul anything away or bring new stone in. The existing stone gets its colour back once the dirt is gone.

  3. 3

    We rake the bed level again

    Around the stepping stones, along the edges, and up to the shrubs you're keeping.

  4. 4

    Then we steam the whole bed

    Our saturated steam unit, the same one we use on interlock joints, goes over the bed and finishes off any root the washer missed. Just water, nothing added.

What it won't do

It won't keep weeds out forever. Seed blows in every year, so a bed cleaned this fall will usually show a few small seedlings by spring. Those are shallow and easy to pull or steam. Dandelions and thistle can come back from deep roots later in the season. That's what the follow-up steam pass is for. You get a clean bed that's much easier to maintain, not a weed-free bed forever.

Real Prices, Before You Ask

What a bed refresh costs.

$225 covers one bed up to 75 sq ft. Bigger beds add $1.20 a square foot after that, and a second bed adds $20. Tap your size and it drops into your enquiry with the number already attached.

Up to 75 sq ft$225Book this →Around 150 sq ft$315Book this →Around 200 sq ft$375Book this →Around 300 sq ft$495Book this →Bigger, or several bedsPriced from your photoSend a photo →
  • Already on your property for interlock work? $75 comes off, because there is no trip to pay. It shows as a discount line on the proposal.
  • The listed price assumes we schedule it with our other work nearby. A visit on a date of your own choosing is $150 more, anywhere in Ottawa.
  • Follow-up steam pass the same season, up to 200 sq ft: $175.
  • Same bed next year: $225 again. The second clean is a lighter one.
  • A bed that takes a driveway's run-off, heavy weed cover, a lot of stepping stones: send a photo and we price it from that, before you book.

All prices exclude 13% HST. Estimate the size yourself. We confirm it, and the price, on the day.

The Other Way

Why not just replace the stone?

The usual fix is to dig the whole bed out, put down new fabric, and bring in new stone. That's a full day of heavy work, a trip to the dump for stone that was still fine, and several times the price of a refresh on our numbers. The new bed starts collecting seed the next spring anyway. Cleaning the stone you already have once a year or so keeps the stone and most of the money.

Book a bed refresh →How the steam works
Good To Know

Common questions.

Is it really chemical-free?

On this service, yes. The only thing that touches the bed is water, as the wash and as saturated steam at over 100 °C. No herbicide, no residue, and nothing to keep children or pets off once the stone has cooled.

Will the weeds come back?

Some will. The wash and the steam kill what's there, roots included, but seed blows in every year and the new ones are shallow and quick to deal with. A dandelion or thistle that pushes up again from a deep root gets the second steam pass. That is what it exists for.

Can you do it the same day as my interlock restoration?

That is the best time to do it. The washer and the steam unit are already running on your property, so there's no trip to pay and $75 comes off the price. The beds get done on a wash day while the joints are drying.

What about the shrubs and perennials in the bed?

Steam kills what it touches, so we keep it off the plants you're keeping and work the stone around them with the nozzle and the rake. A bed that is mostly plants with a little stone between them is not a good fit for this, and we'll say so when we see the photo.

My driveway drains into the bed. Does that matter?

It did on the bed in the photos above. Silt washed in from a driveway or a downspout sits under and between the stones and doubled the cleaning time there. Send a photo of the bed and where the water comes from, and we price it before you book rather than after.

Where do you do this?

Anywhere in Ottawa. The listed price assumes we fit your bed in with our other work nearby, which is how a small job stays a small price. If you need it on a particular date on its own, that is the dedicated visit at $150 more.

Book a bed refresh →Call 613.830.9743

Related: Steam Weed Removal · Interlock Restoration - Natural Finish · Interlock Cleaning · Why David's Lawns