Can you work in cool damp weather?

Yes. Wall softwash is fine in cool damp conditions. Heavy rain during application is the only real blocker.

Is a lower price ever a bad sign?

Not automatically, but ask what method is being used. Speed on a delicate finish usually means pressure.

Do you clean soffits and fascias?

They are in the same spray path, so they are done as part of the wall visit.

Should I fix the downpipe before or after?

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

Can you treat one elevation only?

Yes, and it is common. Often only the shaded side has a problem and the rest of the house needs nothing.

What about the smell for neighbours?

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

Is timber cladding treated the same way?

No. Cladding takes a weaker mix, and pressure is avoided entirely because it raises the grain.

Do you take the waste away?

There is very little on a wall job. What comes off the surface is rinsed to a drain that can take it.

PL17 - Cornwall - 10.7 miles from PL3

Softwashing painted render and stone walls around Harrowbarrow

Where a Harrowbarrow wall has gone patchy rather than evenly dirty, the cause is nearly always local: a downpipe, a hedge, a shaded corner. That is where we look first.

The wall finishes we meet around PL17

Thin-coat systems are thinner than people assume, and a jet held still in one place leaves a permanent shadow.
A rendered plinth takes more water than the face above it and is usually the first band to look tired.
That gets pointed out before work starts rather than discovered halfway through.
Gloss-painted details like cills are wiped rather than sprayed.
Stone elevations vary enormously in hardness, and the pointing is usually the weakest part.
Loose stones and open joints are recorded and left alone rather than washed.

Conditions around Harrowbarrow that feed growth

Growth that appears in a neat rectangle usually marks something that was leaning against the wall.
Salt-laden air roughens exposed surfaces slightly, and rougher surfaces hold more moisture.
An untreated wall carries a spore load already, so regrowth after a rinse is faster than first growth ever was.
A conservatory or extension roof abutting a wall throws water back at it every time it rains.
The lowest metre of any wall takes splash-back off the path and stains from the ground up, not the top down.
Where a chimney is no longer used, rain that once dried out now sits in the stack and shows on the wall below.
Driven rain sticks to a wall face rather than running off it, which keeps the surface wet long enough for spores to settle.
A wall under a mature hedge takes both shade and constant leaf litter, which is the worst pairing there is.
Prevailing wind decides which elevation takes driven rain, and that elevation is nearly always the tired-looking one.

Checks made before anything is applied

01Whether the render is thin-coat or traditional is checked at a bead or a reveal.
02Where a wall meets a roof abutment, the flashing is looked at first.
03Where paint is peeling in flakes rather than powdering, adhesion has already gone.
04The underside of the soffit is checked, because staining there rarely stays there.
05A test patch at low strength shows what the surface will do before the full elevation commits to it.
06Cracks are traced to their ends, because a crack that runs to an opening behaves differently from one that stops.
07The first question is whether the staining sits on the surface or has gone into the material, because only one of those cleans off.
08Whether the growth has spread onto glass and frames tells you how long it has been established.

What happens on the day

1.A wall backing onto a public pavement is worked at times that keep the spray arc away from passers-by.
2.Where growth has spread onto a UPVC panel or door surround, it is wiped rather than sprayed.
3.Cable clips, aerial brackets and old fixings are noted, and loose ones are left rather than pushed further.
4.The lance tip is changed rather than the pressure raised whenever coverage is not even enough.
5.Overspray is controlled by working with the wind rather than across it, and by stopping when it gets up.
6.Where a property is rendered onto insulation, extra care goes into avoiding water at the bead edges.
7.Chimney stacks are treated from a position that keeps the operator off the roof covering entirely.
8.Where a wall runs straight down to a lawn, a run of sheeting is pegged along the base instead of relying on dilution alone.
9.Any electric meter box, alarm bell or external socket is bagged before the lance comes out.
10.Anything that has to be moved - bins, planters, a bike - goes back exactly where it was found.

Access and preparation

Let us know if scaffold or a tower is already up for other work.
Let us know if anyone in the house works nights and needs quiet at a particular time.
Say if there is a wasp or bird nest under the eaves, and we will plan around it.
Say whether the property is occupied during the day, since that changes nothing technically but helps the plan.
Say whether the side passage is wide enough for a wheeled kit trolley.
Say if you would prefer the front done on a different day from the back.
Close and latch every window on the elevations being worked, including any small top lights.
Mention any cladding or timber detail that you would rather was left alone.

Coverage and travel

PL17 covers 2 town hubs and 7 villages or districts in our radius.
Postcode district: PL17. County: Cornwall. Approx 10.7 miles from the PL3 base.
Calstock sits about 0.1 miles from Harrowbarrow on our round, so visits are often shared.
Typical roof covering here is slate, which affects what washes down onto the walls.
Access is usually via local lanes off A390.

See everywhere we cover in PL17

Asked most often in PL17

Can you work in cool damp weather?: Yes. Wall softwash is fine in cool damp conditions. Heavy rain during application is the only real blocker.
Is a lower price ever a bad sign?: Not automatically, but ask what method is being used. Speed on a delicate finish usually means pressure.
Do you clean soffits and fascias?: They are in the same spray path, so they are done as part of the wall visit.
Should I fix the downpipe before or after?: Before, if it is the cause. Cleaning around a live leak puts the stain straight back.
Can you treat one elevation only?: Yes, and it is common. Often only the shaded side has a problem and the rest of the house needs nothing.
What about the smell for neighbours?: Mild and short-lived, and we avoid boundary elevations when someone next door has washing out.
Is timber cladding treated the same way?: No. Cladding takes a weaker mix, and pressure is avoided entirely because it raises the grain.
Do you take the waste away?: There is very little on a wall job. What comes off the surface is rinsed to a drain that can take it.

Close to Harrowbarrow

Useful pages alongside this one

One visit for the whole outside

Where it fits in a day, everything gets planned into a single trip.

Ask about one visit 07830 242403

Harrowbarrow wall softwash, in short

Book it in autumn and the property goes into the wet months clean, which is when the difference shows most. Killing growth and removing growth are two different jobs, and only one of them lasts. Where the cause is plumbing, cleaning is a cosmetic answer to a practical problem.

Quote for a Harrowbarrow property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm