Polperro patios & driveways, done properly

Local context that changes the job

Owning a place in Polperro means accepting that patios & driveways is on the maintenance list — the question is just how often. Holiday-let owners need a clean that turns the property around fast between changeovers. Polperro sits in Cornwall at PL13, close enough to pelynt that we regularly share visits.

Working harbour village in a tight Cornish combe, which shapes how patios & driveways on painted lime render and stone and Cornish slate actually plays out around PL13. We tend to batch Polperro bookings with jobs in Looe the same week.

There's no doorstep pressure at any point in the process, and no fake deadline to sign a quote. If we spot something on the visit that's cheaper for you to sort a different way, we'll say so. Working-at-height planning is done before the visit, so the right access equipment arrives with the crew. We'll write down exactly what's included and, more importantly, what isn't — no wiggle room on the invoice. Cameras go on the vac pole as standard so you see the gutter before and after, not just take it on trust. Windows are usually the entry-point job for new customers, and everything else follows on from that first visit. We keep two vans on the road, which is why illness or weather rarely pushes a booking more than a day or two. Parking is where a lot of jobs go slow, so we ask about it up front rather than turn up and hope. Small jobs get done in the gap between larger jobs, which is why one-off cleans aren't more expensive here. Biocide runs get re-tested for concentration at the top of every day, not the top of every week. Pressure washing patios always finishes with a lawn edge tidy so borders don't end up sanded. Extras are always agreed on the day in writing before any additional work starts. We keep bookings deliberately short in summer so a hot week doesn't back the diary up for a month. For solar-panel arrays the panel owner's approach method takes precedence over ours, always. Traffic-film patches on driveways get a hot detergent pre-wash before any surface cleaner touches them.

Materials & methods we'd use here

Most Polperro properties we treat have painted lime render and stone walls and a Cornish slate roof. That changes a few of the choices we'd make.

• Method

  Selective biocide pre-treat to kill moss at the root - extra important on very-exposed harbour town sites - noted 22.4 miles from PL3 - handled with the same rig we use for coastal properties.

• Method

  Fan-tip cold rinse on Indian sandstone with the pressure dialled for Polperro - noted at roughly 50.331,-4.516 - the reason our reviews mention 'no surprises' more than anything.

• Method

  Kiln-dried jointing sand brushed in once the surface is dry on every Polperro job - noted on painted lime render and stone - the sort of visit that ends with a photo pack, not just an invoice.

• Method

  Optional breathable acrylic sealer - lasts longer at Polperro's very-exposed exposure - noted across Cornish slate - and it's exactly the sort of job the fleet was set up for.

What Polperro owners ring us about

• Indian sandstone losing colour under a thin algae film at Polperro's very-exposed - across Cornish slate - the reason we keep this round on a tight schedule.
• Sunken joint sand making blocks rock under the car on driveways near A387 - on whitewashed fishermen's cottages stock - worth flagging on enquiries this side of town.
• Weeds firing up through joints by April on harbour town properties - at very exposed exposure - a maintenance item that gets cheaper the earlier you catch it.
• Tyre rub marks at the gate end of block-paved drives on whitewashed fishermen's cottages and cliff-cut terraces - in the Cornwall Council patch - one of the calls we get most in the wetter half of the year.
• Pattern-imprinted concrete dulled by UV and surface algae on harbour town layouts - 22.4 miles from PL3 - handled with the same rig we use for coastal properties.

Nearby areas we also cover

Things Polperro customers ask us first