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.

Do you work on bungalows differently?

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

Do you clean UPVC panels and door surrounds?

They are wiped by hand rather than sprayed.

Can you clean render on an insulated system?

Yes, with extra care around bead edges where water should not be driven in.

Is there any risk to the guttering?

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

Do you work on flats and shared buildings?

Yes, with permission from whoever is responsible for the elevation.

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.

Deviock walls: method before pressure

Deviock, Cornwall - PL11

This page is about one job in one place: cleaning painted render and stone walls in Deviock, Cornwall. Softwash means chemistry and dwell time doing the work rather than pressure.

What Deviock walls are usually finished in

Bead edges and stop ends on a rendered elevation are the details worth protecting from driven water.
Coloured through-render fades gradually, so what looks like dirt on an older wall is sometimes age in the finish.
Peeling in flakes means adhesion has gone; powdering under the hand means the surface has simply aged.
Where a painted wall has been patch-repainted, the patches clean at a different rate.
Rubble stone walls have deep joints that hold moisture and feed growth from within the joint.
Cleaning stone reveals natural colour variation, which some owners expect to be uniform and it never is.

Low pressure, longer dwell

1.Where a wall carries a satellite dish or cable run, the fixings are checked before they get wet.
2.The job is worked one elevation at a time from end to end so that nothing dries out mid-wall.
3.A wall backing onto a public pavement is worked at times that keep the spray arc away from passers-by.
4.The treatment is mixed to the surface, not to a fixed recipe, and a delicate finish gets a weaker mix and a longer wait.
5.Where a property is rendered onto insulation, extra care goes into avoiding water at the bead edges.
6.Ridge and verge debris that has landed on the wall head is brushed off dry before anything wet goes on.
7.Where a pond or water feature sits below an elevation, it is covered and the run-off diverted well away from it.
8.Overspray is controlled by working with the wind rather than across it, and by stopping when it gets up.
9.Where a property has solar panels on a wall-facing slope, the array is sheeted before treatment starts below.
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

Say if the elevation is overlooked by a neighbouring window that should stay shut.
Tell us about any planting you particularly care about at the base of the wall.
Move cars off a drive that runs tight to the house if you can, and tell us if you cannot.
Bring in washing, cushions and anything fabric that lives against the wall.
Point out any alarm sensor mounted externally on the elevation.
Let us know if a neighbour parks under the wall on certain days.
Tell us if there is a septic tank and where its outlet sits.
Note the position of the stopcock in case the outside tap needs isolating.

Facts on record for Deviock

Typical wall finish here is painted render and stone, which sets the cleaning method.
Postcode district: PL11. County: Cornwall. Approx 11.7 miles from the PL3 base.
Access is usually via A374 and Torpoint Ferry.
PL11 covers 4 town hubs and 12 villages or districts in our radius.
Nearest full coverage hub: Torpoint (PL11), Cornwall Council.

See everywhere we cover in PL11

What is actually growing on the wall

Where a wall sits below a bank or a raised garden, water arrives at it sideways rather than from above.
A wall under a mature hedge takes both shade and constant leaf litter, which is the worst pairing there is.
Salt-laden air roughens exposed surfaces slightly, and rougher surfaces hold more moisture.
Driven rain sticks to a wall face rather than running off it, which keeps the surface wet long enough for spores to settle.
Nutrients from a nearby feeding lawn or planting drift onto a wall and give growth something to work with.
Wall growth often maps exactly to where a previous extension roof used to sit.
Where a gutter joint weeps rather than pours, the stain is thin, vertical and very persistent.
Render laid over a colder substrate holds surface condensation into the morning.
A wall shaded by its own porch roof for half the day dries at half the rate of the face beside it.

Assessing a PL11 elevation

01Cracks are traced to their ends, because a crack that runs to an opening behaves differently from one that stops.
02Photographs taken before work provide the reference for judging the result later.
03Whether the property is exposed or sheltered is judged on the day, not from a map.
04Efflorescence is distinguished from lichen before anything is applied, since one is salt and one is alive.
05Where paint is peeling in flakes rather than powdering, adhesion has already gone.
06Whether the render is thin-coat or traditional is checked at a bead or a reveal.
07The presence of moss rather than algae suggests standing water rather than damp air.
08Where the wall carries a previous coating over render, its edges are inspected for lifting.

Nearby villages and districts

Common questions about wall softwash

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.
Do you work on bungalows differently?: Only in that everything is reachable from the ground, which makes the visit shorter.
Do you clean UPVC panels and door surrounds?: They are wiped by hand rather than sprayed.
Can you clean render on an insulated system?: Yes, with extra care around bead edges where water should not be driven in.
Is there any risk to the guttering?: No. It sits in the same spray path and gets wiped as part of the pass.
Do you work on flats and shared buildings?: Yes, with permission from whoever is responsible for the elevation.
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.

A single gable counts

Small jobs get the same preparation and the same method as large ones.

Ask about a gable 07830 242403

In a sentence or two

The best time to book is before the wet months, not after them. Gentle and patient beats fast and forceful on any coated finish. Softwash suits coated and textured finishes precisely because those are the finishes pressure ruins. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.

Quote for a Deviock property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm