Do you move furniture and pots?

Anything within the spray arc is moved and put back where it was found.

Do you treat garden and boundary walls on their own?

Yes, where the method matches and access allows.

Do you leave a written record of what was done?

Photographs of before and after the visit, plus anything found in poor condition.

When does a treated wall show its final appearance?

Some change can be visible after treatment, while remaining dead growth may continue to weather away over the following days.

Should the gutters be done at the same time?

Usually. Overflow is behind a large share of wall staining, so clearing it protects the work.

Do you work on bungalows differently?

Only in that everything is reachable from the ground, which makes the visit shorter.

Do you clean soffits and fascias?

They are in the same spray path, so they are done as part of the wall visit.

Chillaton wall cleaning without high pressure

Chillaton, Devon - PL16

This page covers wall and render softwash for Chillaton only, roughly 17.6 miles from our PL3 base and worked with the Tavistock round. Roofs, gutters and hard surfaces have their own pages.

Quote for a Chillaton property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm

How the work is actually carried out

1.Cills, frames and glass are wiped down as the masking comes off, so nothing dries as a film on the joinery.
2.A pass along the underside of the soffit catches the black spotting that everyone forgets until the wall is clean.
3.A short rinse of the whole face at the end removes residue rather than removing growth, which is a different job done at a different pressure.
4.The lance tip is changed rather than the pressure raised whenever coverage is not even enough.
5.Rinsing, where it is needed at all, runs top down at a pressure you could hold your hand in front of.
6.Sheltered corners and inside angles hold growth longest and get worked before the open faces.
7.Where a property is rendered onto insulation, extra care goes into avoiding water at the bead edges.
8.Dwell time is the active ingredient. The treatment is left on the growth long enough to kill it rather than being chased off with water.
9.Ridge and verge debris that has landed on the wall head is brushed off dry before anything wet goes on.
10.Airbricks are covered for the duration and uncovered before we leave, without exception.

Reading the finish on a Chillaton elevation

Cracks in render change the staining pattern, because water then sits behind the face as well as on it.
Where render sits over insulation, the wall is more sensitive still and the mix is weakened accordingly.
That gets pointed out before work starts rather than discovered halfway through.
A weaker mix and a longer wait suits paint better than anything stronger and faster.
A cob wall relies on staying dry inside, so any method that soaks it is the wrong method.
Any rinse on cob is minimal and directed downwards, never held on the surface.

The reasons behind the staining

A textured coating applied over an already dirty surface holds that dirt as a feeding layer.
A split downpipe puts a single wet stripe down an elevation, and that stripe goes green months before anything either side of it.
Growth on a painted wall often sits on top of a paint film that has already begun to chalk.
Growth thickest at head height usually means splash from a hard surface rather than run-off from above.
Mild damp winters here keep growth metabolising through months that would stop it in a colder, drier county.
The first sign is usually a faint grey cast rather than green, and grey is easier to ignore.
Algae needs moisture far more than it needs dirt, so the wettest elevation greens first regardless of how clean the house is.
Once lichen is established it holds water itself, which makes the surface beneath it wetter than it started.
Hedging planted tight to a wall cuts airflow, and still air is the same as slow drying.

Practical points to sort first

Note where hoses can be run without crossing a doorway.
Say if the elevation is overlooked by a neighbouring window that should stay shut.
Note the position of the stopcock in case the outside tap needs isolating.
Tell us if a gutter has been overflowing, because that changes what we look at first.
Note any external socket or garden power run near the base of the wall.
Point out any window that does not seal properly, so it gets sheeted rather than sprayed near.
Let us know whether the gutters have been cleared in the last couple of years.
Point out where the render was patched, since patches clean differently from the original.

How the wall is read first

01The presence of moss rather than algae suggests standing water rather than damp air.
02The mortar is tested with a key at a discreet point, since soft mortar sets the whole method.
03The ground level relative to the damp course is checked before the base of a wall is treated.
04The first question is whether the staining sits on the surface or has gone into the material, because only one of those cleans off.
05Whether the growth has spread onto glass and frames tells you how long it has been established.
06A test patch at low strength shows what the surface will do before the full elevation commits to it.
07The age of the finish is estimated before a strength of mix is chosen.
08Any staining that continues below ground level is a drainage question, not a cleaning one.

Before you get in touch

Do you move furniture and pots?: Anything within the spray arc is moved and put back where it was found.
Do you treat garden and boundary walls on their own?: Yes, where the method matches and access allows.
Do you leave a written record of what was done?: Photographs of before and after the visit, plus anything found in poor condition.
Do you need my electricity?: No. Kit runs off the van.
When does a treated wall show its final appearance?: Some change can be visible after treatment, while remaining dead growth may continue to weather away over the following days.
Should the gutters be done at the same time?: Usually. Overflow is behind a large share of wall staining, so clearing it protects the work.
Do you work on bungalows differently?: Only in that everything is reachable from the ground, which makes the visit shorter.
Do you clean soffits and fascias?: They are in the same spray path, so they are done as part of the wall visit.

Chillaton in plain facts

Recorded character: farming hamlet. Small crossroads hamlet north of Milton Abbot.
Access is usually via A386 and A390.
Postcode district: PL16. County: Devon. Approx 17.6 miles from the PL3 base.
Nearest full coverage hub: Tavistock (PL19), West Devon Borough Council.
Typical roof covering here is slate, which affects what washes down onto the walls.

See everywhere we cover in PL16

Also covered near PL16

Send a photo of the wall

One clear photo of the elevation and a postcode is usually all it takes to give you a written price.

Send a photo 07830 242403

Read a little further

The short version

Method, dwell, rinse, check. There is nothing else to it. The mortar is the weakest link on most walls, so the mortar sets the pressure. The difference between rinsing and treating is invisible on the day and obvious six months later. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.