How long before I can repaint?

Several dry days after the wall has been treated and rinsed.

Do I need to move my car?

It helps. If it cannot be moved we sheet it or work around it.

Is there any risk to the guttering?

No. It sits in the same spray path and gets wiped as part of the pass.

Will the treatment harm my planting?

Beds are wetted down first so run-off arrives diluted, and rinsing is directed away from anything growing.

Is it safe around pets?

Keep them indoors during application and for a couple of hours after, and there is nothing to worry about.

Can I get the roof done at the same time?

Yes, and the roof goes first so what comes off it does not land on clean walls.

There is a mild one during application that clears within a few hours.

Can you do it while I am at work?

Yes, as long as gates are unlocked and we can reach the elevations.

Wall cleaning for city district property in Coxside

Coxside, Devon - PL4

This page covers wall and render softwash for Coxside only, roughly 1.5 miles from our PL3 base and worked with the Cattedown round. Roofs, gutters and hard surfaces have their own pages.

What Coxside walls are usually finished in

Bead edges and stop ends on a rendered elevation are the details worth protecting from driven water.
Render responds to dwell time better than almost any other finish, which is what makes softwash suit it.
Weathered pointing washes out under pressure, so brick elevations are treated and rinsed rather than blasted.
Soft older bricks spall when driven with water, and the damage shows as a pale scar that never weathers back.
Lime plaster on an exposed elevation erodes gently, and cleaning should not accelerate that.
The colour of a lime finish is in the material, so it returns rather than being restored.

Low pressure, longer dwell

1.The finished elevation is looked at from the pavement, not from the ladder, because that is where it will be seen from.
2.The wall is left to dry naturally rather than being wiped, which is what keeps the finish even.
3.A hose test on the nearest outside tap happens before anything is mixed, because flow rate changes how the day is planned.
4.Render beads and stop ends are inspected as work reaches them, because a lifted bead traps water behind the finish.
5.Treatment goes on from the bottom of the elevation upwards, which stops clean streaks forming where liquid runs onto dry surface.
6.Anything found broken before we arrived is photographed before work starts, not after.
7.The finished wall is photographed in the same light as the start photograph, so the comparison is honest.
8.Fence panels tight against a wall are wetted first so run-off does not sit on dry timber.
9.A final walk of each finished elevation happens with the property owner where they are home, and by photograph where they are not.
10.The elevation is walked first and anything loose, open or already failing is noted before a drop of water goes near it.

Small things that make the visit smoother

Let us know if the property is listed or in a conservation area, as it affects method choice.
Point out where the render was patched, since patches clean differently from the original.
Say whether the side passage is wide enough for a wheeled kit trolley.
Point out any alarm sensor mounted externally on the elevation.
Say if the property has a flat roof section that we would be working above.
Warn us about a soft lawn or an unmade drive so boards come on the van.
Point out ground-floor windows that are painted shut, as they need different masking.
Say whether the elevation backs onto a public footpath.

Facts on record for Coxside

Recorded character: city district. Converted warehouses beside the National Marine Aquarium.
PL4 covers 5 town hubs and 3 villages or districts in our radius.
Postcode district: PL4. County: Devon. Approx 1.5 miles from the PL3 base.
Typical roof covering here is flat felt and slate, which affects what washes down onto the walls.
Nearest full coverage hub: Cattedown (PL4), Plymouth City Council.

See everywhere we cover in PL4

What is actually growing on the wall

Airflow through a passage between two houses is fast but the passage itself is in permanent shade.
Where a wall sits below a bank or a raised garden, water arrives at it sideways rather than from above.
Ivy pulled off a wall leaves suckers and a shaded, damp face that greens quickly afterwards.
Cold bridging at a lintel can keep a narrow band of render damper than everything around it.
Growth on a painted wall often sits on top of a paint film that has already begun to chalk.
Where a gutter joint weeps rather than pours, the stain is thin, vertical and very persistent.
A leaking outside tap or an unlagged pipe can be the entire reason one corner of a house looks different from the rest.
Painted walls chalk with age, and chalked paint is a rougher surface than new paint.
Cracked render lets water sit behind the face as well as on it, so the staining pattern follows the crack.

Assessing a PL4 elevation

01Whether the growth has spread onto glass and frames tells you how long it has been established.
02Any staining that continues below ground level is a drainage question, not a cleaning one.
03Cracks are traced to their ends, because a crack that runs to an opening behaves differently from one that stops.
04A short section of hose test shows whether run-off drains away or ponds at the base.
05The ground level relative to the damp course is checked before the base of a wall is treated.
06The underside of the soffit is checked, because staining there rarely stays there.
07A slow walk of the gutter line from the ground finds most of the causes worth fixing.
08Whether the property is exposed or sheltered is judged on the day, not from a map.

Within a short run of Coxside

Questions Coxside owners ask

How long before I can repaint?: Several dry days after the wall has been treated and rinsed.
Do I need to move my car?: It helps. If it cannot be moved we sheet it or work around it.
Is there any risk to the guttering?: No. It sits in the same spray path and gets wiped as part of the pass.
Will the treatment harm my planting?: Beds are wetted down first so run-off arrives diluted, and rinsing is directed away from anything growing.
Is it safe around pets?: Keep them indoors during application and for a couple of hours after, and there is nothing to worry about.
Can I get the roof done at the same time?: Yes, and the roof goes first so what comes off it does not land on clean walls.
Is there a smell?: There is a mild one during application that clears within a few hours.
Can you do it while I am at work?: Yes, as long as gates are unlocked and we can reach the elevations.

Guides worth a look first

Just want to know if it is fixable?

Some staining cleans off and some is in the material. Ask us and we will tell you which one you have.

Ask first 07830 242403

To sum up for PL4

Method, dwell, rinse, check. There is nothing else to it. Shade, run-off and airflow decide how long a clean lasts. The treatment decides whether it worked at all. Access and surface type decide the plan far more than the size of the house does. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.

Quote for a Coxside property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm