Green walls in Hexworthy? Start here
granite walls, slate roofs, 17.9 miles from the yard.
If the walls on your Hexworthy property have gone patchy or green, the finish itself is usually sound. High-moor hamlet on the West Dart, and growth on granite sits on the surface rather than in the structure.
The Devon detail
- Postcode district: PL20. County: Devon. Approx 17.9 miles from the PL3 base.
- Typical wall finish here is granite, which sets the cleaning method.
- Nearest full coverage hub: Princetown (PL20), West Devon Borough Council.
- PL20 covers 12 town hubs and 12 villages or districts in our radius.
- Access is usually via B3212 and B3357.
granite and what it needs
- The mortar between granite blocks is usually lime, which sets the whole method for the wall.
- Deeply rooted lichen on granite can take a full season to fade after treatment.
- Where granite has been repointed in cement, that band behaves differently from the rest of the wall.
- Iron staining from old fixings in granite is a separate problem from growth.
Application, dwell and rinse
- 1.Cills, frames and glass are wiped down as the masking comes off, so nothing dries as a film on the joinery.
- 2.Where a porch roof sits mid-elevation, it is sheeted and its own tiles cleared before the wall above is touched.
- 3.Where two different finishes meet on one elevation, they are treated as two jobs on one wall.
- 4.Gutter faces and fascia boards are wiped as part of the same pass, since they sit in the same spray path.
- 5.Airbricks are covered for the duration and uncovered before we leave, without exception.
- 6.Beds and borders at the foot of the wall are soaked with clean water first, so any run-off arrives diluted.
- 7.A wall backing onto a public pavement is worked at times that keep the spray arc away from passers-by.
- 8.Ridge and verge debris that has landed on the wall head is brushed off dry before anything wet goes on.
- 9.Where a bay window projects, its cheeks are treated separately from the main face to avoid a shadow line.
- 10.A wall with a visible damp patch inside is treated on the dry areas only until the cause is found.
The survey we do in Hexworthy
- 01A damp meter reading inside a stained corner separates a cleaning job from a building problem.
- 02A test patch at low strength shows what the surface will do before the full elevation commits to it.
- 03Any staining that continues below ground level is a drainage question, not a cleaning one.
- 04A slow walk of the gutter line from the ground finds most of the causes worth fixing.
- 05Weep holes are counted and checked for blockage while the wall is being read.
- 06Nearby properties with the same finish are a useful reference for what is normal on that street.
- 07The ground level relative to the damp course is checked before the base of a wall is treated.
- 08Anything that cannot be explained by water is treated with more caution, not less.
Planning a full exterior in Hexworthy
Where a roof clean is planned for later in the year, walls are worth leaving until after it.
The number of elevations completed in one visit depends on their area, access, condition and weather.
A wall treated in autumn goes into winter clean, which is when it matters most.
A first clean is heavier work than the ones that follow, so the interval afterwards can be longer than people expect.
What to tell us in advance
- Tell us where the drains run if the garden has a soakaway rather than a mains connection.
- Mention any cladding or timber detail that you would rather was left alone.
- Mention any glazing you already know is cracked before work starts.
- Say if there is a wasp or bird nest under the eaves, and we will plan around it.
- Say where the outside tap is, and whether it runs at any pressure.
- Flag any recent repair or repaint, because fresh work is treated more gently.
- Warn us about a soft lawn or an unmade drive so boards come on the van.
- If you have a pond, a water butt or a wildlife area, point it out in advance.
Practical questions answered
- Can you clean render on an insulated system?
- Yes, with extra care around bead edges where water should not be driven in.
- 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.
- Can I get the roof done at the same time?
- Yes, and the roof goes first so what comes off it does not land on clean walls.
- Will the wall need doing again next year?
- Not usually. How long it holds depends on shade, run-off and airflow rather than on the treatment.
- Do you have a minimum size of job?
- A single gable or a porch is still worth doing properly.
- Can you remove ivy marks?
- Suckers can be treated and weathered off, though the shadow of an old ivy run can take a season to fade fully.
- Do you clean chimney stacks?
- Where they can be reached safely from a position that keeps us off the roof covering.
- Do you treat mortar joints separately?
- The method is set by the mortar because it is nearly always the softest thing on the wall.
Neighbouring places we work
Summary
Photographs and a postcode are enough to start a conversation about the work. The difference between rinsing and treating is invisible on the day and obvious six months later. The mortar is the weakest link on most walls, so the mortar sets the pressure.
Not a hard sell
If the job is not worth doing yet, we will tell you that and you can call us next year.
Quote for a Hexworthy property
Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm