The interwar semi is the most common house we quote around Plymouth, and the jobs it needs are remarkably consistent from one street to the next.
The bay roof
Small flat or lead-covered bay roofs collect debris from the main roof above and are rarely cleared. Water sitting there is a common cause of damp showing on the front bedroom wall.
This guide sits under our Wall Cleaning & Softwash work, covering 20-mile radius of Plymouth.
Pebbledash upper, brick lower
The typical half-and-half elevation weathers unevenly - the dash goes green while the brick below stays reasonable, which is why the house looks tired even when it is sound.
Shared drives and boundaries
Half a cleaned drive looks worse than none. Where a drive is shared, we suggest agreeing the whole surface with the neighbour and splitting it.
Questions we get on this
- Can you do the whole house in a day?
- Many semis are a single visit for walls, windows and gutters. Driveways may add time.
- Do you clean the bay roof?
- We clear debris and photograph it - it is one of the most useful ten minutes of the job.
- Will the two halves match afterwards?
- They will both be clean, but brick and dash weather differently and will still read as two materials.
Related reading
- Lichen on roofs and copings: the slow damage nobody sees
- Seven signs your gutters are blocked before the ceiling tells you
- Gutters overflowing only in heavy rain - what that means
- Slippery patios: why they get dangerous and what fixes it