Will it strip my paint?

Sound paint is unaffected. Paint that has already lost adhesion may lift, which is why a test patch goes on first.

Will the colour come back?

If the original finish is sound, the colour underneath is usually still there and comes back with the growth removed.

Will treatment damage a wildlife pond?

Ponds are sheeted and run-off is diverted well away from them.

Is the water mains-fed?

From your outside tap where there is one. Where there is not, we bring it with us.

Should I fix the downpipe before or after?

Before, if it is the cause. Cleaning around a live leak puts the stain straight back.

How much water does a wall job use?

Less than a pressure wash, because the work is dwell time rather than volume.

What about air bricks and vents?

Covered for the duration, uncovered before we leave.

Do you work on bungalows differently?

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

PL19 - Devon - 14.1 miles from PL3

Gulworthy (PL19) render softwash

We work Gulworthy as part of the Tavistock round, which keeps travel down. Wall softwash is the service most often asked about here because painted render and stone shows growth earlier than brick does.

Quote for a Gulworthy property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm

What helps before we arrive

Let us know if a neighbour parks under the wall on certain days.
Mention any planned decorating so the drying window can be built into the date.
If parking needs a permit or a bay suspension, tell us early.
Tell us if there is a septic tank and where its outlet sits.
Tell us about pets in the garden before the day rather than on it.
Say if the property has a flat roof section that we would be working above.
Note where hoses can be run without crossing a doorway.
Tell us if a fence panel is loose, because sheeting gets pegged to something solid.

Wall build-ups common in PL19

Cracks in render change the staining pattern, because water then sits behind the face as well as on it.
Render responds to dwell time better than almost any other finish, which is what makes softwash suit it.
That gets pointed out before work starts rather than discovered halfway through.
Masonry paint over render adds a film that traps moisture if the substrate was damp when it was applied.
Copings on stone boundary walls take the worst of the weather and the worst of the growth.
The rinse on stone is gentle enough that nothing is driven into an open joint.

Diagnosis before treatment

01Where a wall meets a roof abutment, the flashing is looked at first.
02Where the wall carries a previous coating over render, its edges are inspected for lifting.
03Colour matters: green suggests algae, black suggests fungal spotting, grey-white crust suggests lichen.
04Whether the growth has spread onto glass and frames tells you how long it has been established.
05A test patch at low strength shows what the surface will do before the full elevation commits to it.
06Where the pattern is a band at the bottom, splash from the ground is doing it.
07Photographs taken before work provide the reference for judging the result later.
08The presence of moss rather than algae suggests standing water rather than damp air.

Damp, airflow and what feeds growth

Growth returns fastest where the underlying cause was never dealt with, which is usually water going somewhere it should not.
Rain running off an unsealed timber fascia carries tannin down the wall as a brown stripe, not growth at all.
An untreated wall carries a spore load already, so regrowth after a rinse is faster than first growth ever was.
Lichen prefers hard, alkaline surfaces, which is why it shows on mortar and cills before it shows on render.
Render that has lost its water repellency absorbs and holds surface water instead of shedding it.
Bird activity along a gutter line concentrates nutrients on the wall directly below it.
Cold bridging at a lintel can keep a narrow band of render damper than everything around it.
A patio laid up against a wall reflects splash onto it every time it rains hard.
A textured coating applied over an already dirty surface holds that dirt as a feeding layer.

Where wall work sits in a Gulworthy visit

Where a soakaway is already struggling, wall work is planned for a drier stretch.

Small repairs to pointing are best done after cleaning, when what needs doing is visible.

If windows were cleaned recently, tell us, and they get sheeted rather than redone.

Where gutters need repair rather than clearing, that goes ahead of any cleaning at all.

How a softwash visit runs

1.Treatment goes on from the bottom of the elevation upwards, which stops clean streaks forming where liquid runs onto dry surface.
2.Cable clips, aerial brackets and old fixings are noted, and loose ones are left rather than pushed further.
3.Any garden furniture within the spray arc moves before the mix is made up, not while the lance is running.
4.Applications are kept off hot surfaces in direct sun, because a mix that flashes off has no dwell time at all.
5.Paving, steps and paths below the elevation are rinsed clear at the end of the visit.
6.Between elevations the kit is rinsed so nothing dries in the line and blocks the fan pattern.
7.A final walk of each finished elevation happens with the property owner where they are home, and by photograph where they are not.
8.Where a wall meets a conservatory or lean-to, the roof glazing is sheeted before anything is applied above it.
9.Any window left open is closed, or that section is skipped and left for a second visit.
10.Painted elevations get a small test patch first, low down and out of sight, so failing paint is found deliberately rather than by accident.

Common questions about wall softwash

Will it strip my paint?: Sound paint is unaffected. Paint that has already lost adhesion may lift, which is why a test patch goes on first.
Will the colour come back?: If the original finish is sound, the colour underneath is usually still there and comes back with the growth removed.
Will treatment damage a wildlife pond?: Ponds are sheeted and run-off is diverted well away from them.
Is the water mains-fed?: From your outside tap where there is one. Where there is not, we bring it with us.
Should I fix the downpipe before or after?: Before, if it is the cause. Cleaning around a live leak puts the stain straight back.
How much water does a wall job use?: Less than a pressure wash, because the work is dwell time rather than volume.
What about air bricks and vents?: Covered for the duration, uncovered before we leave.
Do you work on bungalows differently?: Only in that everything is reachable from the ground, which makes the visit shorter.

Where Gulworthy sits on our round

Recorded character: farming hamlet. Between Tavistock and the Tamar.
Typical wall finish here is painted render and stone, which sets the cleaning method.
Tavistock sits about 0.6 miles from Gulworthy on our round, so visits are often shared.
Postcode district: PL19. County: Devon. Approx 14.1 miles from the PL3 base.
Typical roof covering here is slate, which affects what washes down onto the walls.

See everywhere we cover in PL19

Nearby villages and districts

Get the order of work right

Roof, gutters, walls, hard surfaces. Doing it in that order protects each stage.

Sort the order 07830 242403

In a sentence or two

The finish underneath is usually intact. It is the film on top that has aged. Where the cause is plumbing, cleaning is a cosmetic answer to a practical problem. Prep takes longer than application, and that is the right way round.