TQ13: Ashburton, Holne and slate-hung moor walls
TQ13 is the eastern limit of what we cover: Ashburton and Holne, right on the moor boundary at around nineteen miles from base. The distinguishing feature here is slate hanging - vertical slate used as a weather coat on the walls, not just on the roof.
TQ13 covers 2 places we work in, 18.4 to 19.6 miles from our base at 58 Reddington Road, Plymouth (Devon) - all inside our 20-mile radius of Plymouth.
Slate hanging is a wall, treated like a roof
Vertical slate cladding was the traditional answer to driving rain on this side of the moor, and it works. But it is nailed, it is brittle, and the fixings behind it are the weak point.
Pressure directed up under the slates gets behind them and into the batten space. On a hung elevation we work downwards at low pressure, or we do not work on it at all.
Granite and moor-edge weather
Ashburton and Holne take moor rainfall without the altitude of Princetown. Growth is heavy but the drying windows are longer, so treated surfaces clear faster than they do higher up.
Working at the edge of the radius
At around nineteen miles this is a planned-day district rather than a call-out one. We will usually offer a date that lines up with other work heading east.
Questions we get asked in TQ13
- Is slate hanging safe to clean?
- Yes, worked downwards at low pressure. Directing water upwards under the slates is what causes damage.
- How far is Ashburton from your base?
- Roughly nineteen miles, inside our working radius but scheduled as a planned trip.
- Do you cover further east than this?
- Not routinely - beyond TQ13 we are outside the radius we can honestly service.