Do you clean under the eaves?

The soffit line is in the spray path and gets a pass as part of the work.

Do you move furniture and pots?

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

Can lichen be removed completely?

The organism is killed, and what is left weathers off. Deeply rooted lichen on stone can take a season to fade.

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.

What about the smell for neighbours?

Mild and short-lived, and we avoid boundary elevations when someone next door has washing out.

What about the neighbour's side?

We only work surfaces you own or have permission for, and we check before spraying near a boundary.

Is a second visit ever needed?

For heavy lichen, a lighter second application later beats increasing pressure on the first.

How soon can the walls be painted afterwards?

Once fully dry, which in practice means giving it several dry days.

Render and wall cleaning in Harbertonford

River Harbourne village on the A381.

Cleaning walls in Harbertonford is a slow, quiet job done at low pressure. It is nothing like a driveway wash, and on painted render and cob that difference is the whole point.

Working out what is wrong on a Harbertonford wall

01The underside of the soffit is checked, because staining there rarely stays there.
02The mortar is tested with a key at a discreet point, since soft mortar sets the whole method.
03Old repair patches are identified early, because they take treatment differently from the surrounding finish.
04Photographs taken before work provide the reference for judging the result later.
05Where the pattern is even across the whole face, exposure and aspect are the cause.
06Anything that cannot be explained by water is treated with more caution, not less.
07Hollow-sounding render is checked by tapping before any water is put onto it.
08Cracks are traced to their ends, because a crack that runs to an opening behaves differently from one that stops.

Material first, method second

Bead edges and stop ends on a rendered elevation are the details worth protecting from driven water.
Where render sits over insulation, the wall is more sensitive still and the mix is weakened accordingly.
Cleaning before repainting is not optional, because paint over live growth fails from underneath.
A weaker mix and a longer wait suits paint better than anything stronger and faster.
Thatch or deep eaves above cob change how much of the wall ever gets wet.
The safest outcome on cob is a lighter, slower improvement rather than an immediate transformation.

Why this keeps happening on TQ9 elevations

North-east corners hold frost longest and thaw slowest, which extends the damp window every morning.
Where a chimney is no longer used, rain that once dried out now sits in the stack and shows on the wall below.
Any surface that holds a drop of water long enough to be seen will hold it long enough to feed growth.
Once lichen is established it holds water itself, which makes the surface beneath it wetter than it started.
Frost damage opens the surface slightly, which gives the next season's growth somewhere to sit.
A leaking outside tap or an unlagged pipe can be the entire reason one corner of a house looks different from the rest.
Where a gutter joint weeps rather than pours, the stain is thin, vertical and very persistent.
Sheltered courtyards feel pleasant and dry slowly, which is a bad combination for a wall.
A textured coating applied over an already dirty surface holds that dirt as a feeding layer.

On site in Harbertonford

1.Where a property has solar panels on a wall-facing slope, the array is sheeted before treatment starts below.
2.Corners are worked from both directions so the overlap sits in the angle and not on the open face.
3.Mortar joints that have already lost material are pointed out and left alone rather than washed further open.
4.Access equipment is footed on boards where the ground is soft, so nothing sinks into a lawn.
5.Where a wall runs straight down to a lawn, a run of sheeting is pegged along the base instead of relying on dilution alone.
6.A pass along the underside of the soffit catches the black spotting that everyone forgets until the wall is clean.
7.The wall is left to dry naturally rather than being wiped, which is what keeps the finish even.
8.Rainwater goods are checked while the elevation is being worked, since a blocked hopper explains most single-strip staining.
9.Weep holes above openings are left clear so the wall can drain the way it was designed to.
10.On render below a flat roof edge, the drip detail is checked, because a failed one puts the stain straight back.

Local detail that changes the job

Access is usually via A38.
Recorded character: village. River Harbourne village on the A381.
South Brent sits about 3.8 miles from Harbertonford on our round, so visits are often shared.
Postcode district: TQ9. County: Devon. Approx 17.6 miles from the PL3 base.
Typical wall finish here is painted render and cob, which sets the cleaning method.

See everywhere we cover in TQ9

Preparing a village property

Let us know whether the gutters have been cleared in the last couple of years.
Bring in washing, cushions and anything fabric that lives against the wall.
Mention any planned decorating so the drying window can be built into the date.
Say if you would prefer the front done on a different day from the back.
Unlock side gates the night before if you are not going to be in, because a locked passage stops a whole elevation.
Note any external socket or garden power run near the base of the wall.
If you have a pond, a water butt or a wildlife area, point it out in advance.
Point out any alarm sensor mounted externally on the elevation.

First, next, last

Roof work always precedes wall work, because everything released from the slope lands on the elevation below it.

If a decorator is due, the wall clean goes in first and is given time to dry fully.

A wall treated in autumn goes into winter clean, which is when it matters most.

Where a roof clean is planned for later in the year, walls are worth leaving until after it.

Asked most often in TQ9

Do you clean under the eaves?: The soffit line is in the spray path and gets a pass as part of the work.
Do you move furniture and pots?: Anything within the spray arc is moved and put back where it was found.
Can lichen be removed completely?: The organism is killed, and what is left weathers off. Deeply rooted lichen on stone can take a season to fade.
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.
What about the smell for neighbours?: Mild and short-lived, and we avoid boundary elevations when someone next door has washing out.
What about the neighbour's side?: We only work surfaces you own or have permission for, and we check before spraying near a boundary.
Is a second visit ever needed?: For heavy lichen, a lighter second application later beats increasing pressure on the first.
How soon can the walls be painted afterwards?: Once fully dry, which in practice means giving it several dry days.

Close to Harbertonford

Useful pages alongside this one

Harbertonford wall softwash, in short

Anything that keeps a wall wet for longer will bring the growth back sooner, whatever product goes on it. If a wall is greening in one strip, the answer is usually plumbing rather than cleaning. Written price first, method matched to the surface, then the work. In that order. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.

Check the gutter line too

If the staining starts at the top, the gutters are worth looking at in the same visit.

Add the check 07830 242403

Quote for a Harbertonford property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm