Green walls in Crafthole? Start here
Whitsand Bay village on the Rame ridge.
Cleaning walls in Crafthole is a slow, quiet job done at low pressure. It is nothing like a driveway wash, and on painted render and stone that difference is the whole point.
Working out what is wrong on a Crafthole wall
- 01Whether the render is thin-coat or traditional is checked at a bead or a reveal.
- 02Where paint is peeling in flakes rather than powdering, adhesion has already gone.
- 03Where a wall meets a roof abutment, the flashing is looked at first.
- 04Where the pattern is even across the whole face, exposure and aspect are the cause.
- 05A test patch at low strength shows what the surface will do before the full elevation commits to it.
- 06Colour matters: green suggests algae, black suggests fungal spotting, grey-white crust suggests lichen.
- 07Cracks are traced to their ends, because a crack that runs to an opening behaves differently from one that stops.
- 08The presence of moss rather than algae suggests standing water rather than damp air.
Material first, method second
- Patched render takes treatment differently from the original, which is why patches are identified before work starts.
- A rendered wall under a failed drip detail restains within a season however well it was cleaned.
- Chalking paint is a rougher surface than new paint, which is why older painted walls green faster.
- Cleaning before repainting is not optional, because paint over live growth fails from underneath.
- Rubble stone walls have deep joints that hold moisture and feed growth from within the joint.
- Lime mortar in a stone wall is softer than the stone by design, and that design is worth respecting.
Why this keeps happening on PL11 elevations
- Where a chimney is no longer used, rain that once dried out now sits in the stack and shows on the wall below.
- A blocked weep hole means the cavity drains through the face instead of out of the hole.
- Airflow along a terrace is different from airflow around a detached house, and the drying patterns follow.
- Sheltered gable ends collect airborne spores because there is no wind to move them along.
- Soil banked above the damp course keeps the base of a wall permanently wet.
- Old sealant around window heads cracks and lets a thin trickle run down the face below.
- A wall shielded by a car port dries slowly because it never sees direct sun or driven rain.
- Where a hose reel or water butt overflows against a wall, the staining follows the overflow path exactly.
- Lichen prefers hard, alkaline surfaces, which is why it shows on mortar and cills before it shows on render.
On site in Crafthole
- 1.Where a bay window projects, its cheeks are treated separately from the main face to avoid a shadow line.
- 2.Treatments are kept away from vegetable beds entirely, with those sections sheeted rather than diluted.
- 3.Expected rain is considered before application because the treatment needs suitable dwell time on the wall.
- 4.Guttering above a worked elevation is checked for standing water, because a drip mid-treatment ruins an even finish.
- 5.Fixings for hanging baskets and washing lines are unloaded before the elevation is worked, then put back.
- 6.Vents serving a boiler or flue are checked and left uncovered, with the elevation around them worked dry.
- 7.The finished elevation is looked at from the pavement, not from the ladder, because that is where it will be seen from.
- 8.Cable clips, aerial brackets and old fixings are noted, and loose ones are left rather than pushed further.
- 9.Weep holes above openings are left clear so the wall can drain the way it was designed to.
- 10.Between elevations the kit is rinsed so nothing dries in the line and blocks the fan pattern.
Local detail that changes the job
- Typical wall finish here is painted render and stone, which sets the cleaning method.
- Postcode district: PL11. County: Cornwall. Approx 8.4 miles from the PL3 base.
- Recorded character: village. Whitsand Bay village on the Rame ridge.
- PL11 covers 4 town hubs and 12 villages or districts in our radius.
- Typical roof covering here is slate, which affects what washes down onto the walls.
Preparing a village property
- Note the position of the stopcock in case the outside tap needs isolating.
- Say if any part of the wall has been jet washed before, and roughly when.
- Trim back anything that has grown tight against the wall, or ask us to work around it.
- Tell us if there is a low wall or a step at the base of the elevation that gets slippery.
- If you have a pond, a water butt or a wildlife area, point it out in advance.
- Note where hoses can be run without crossing a doorway.
- Close and latch every window on the elevations being worked, including any small top lights.
- Tell us where the drains run if the garden has a soakaway rather than a mains connection.
Planning a full exterior in Crafthole
If windows were cleaned recently, tell us, and they get sheeted rather than redone.
A first clean is heavier work than the ones that follow, so the interval afterwards can be longer than people expect.
Solar panels are cleaned separately from the roof slope they sit on, and after it.
If a decorator is due, the wall clean goes in first and is given time to dry fully.
Straight answers before you book
- Is there any risk to the guttering?
- No. It sits in the same spray path and gets wiped as part of the pass.
- Can you clean a wall covered in ivy?
- The ivy needs removing first. Once it is off, the shaded face behind it is treated as normal.
- Do you need my electricity?
- No. Kit runs off the van.
- Will my drive be slippery afterwards?
- Anything walked on is rinsed clear before we leave.
- Do you offer a maintenance visit?
- A lighter top-up treatment every couple of years is much less work than leaving it until it is heavy again.
- Can you treat a wall that has already been jet washed?
- Yes. The damaged band is worked at a reduced strength because it is more open than the rest.
- Do you jet wash walls?
- Not on render, pebbledash or paint. Pressure takes the finish off with the growth and brings the problem back sooner.
- What if the render is hollow in places?
- It is tapped and mapped first, and hollow sections are treated dry-side only rather than soaked.
Other Cornwall places on the same round
The essentials
Photographs and a postcode are enough to start a conversation about the work. Method, dwell, rinse, check. There is nothing else to it. Anything that keeps a wall wet for longer will bring the growth back sooner, whatever product goes on it. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.
Straight answer, no chasing
You get a price, then you get left alone to think about it.
Quote for a Crafthole property
Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm