Mary Tavy Village (PL19) render softwash
Mary Tavy Village, Devon - PL19
Mary Tavy Village is a moorland hamlet within the PL19 area, roughly 14.3 miles out from PL3 and one of 17 places we cover in that district. Its granite walls behave in a predictable way once you know the exposure.
What Mary Tavy Village walls are usually finished in
- Granite is hard-faced but the joints are not, and lichen roots into micro-fissures in the stone.
- Granite dressed centuries ago has an open surface that holds water in a way polished stone does not.
- A granite elevation is judged corner by corner, because exposure varies more than on a rendered face.
- Second lighter applications suit granite better than one strong pass.
Low pressure, longer dwell
- 1.The finished wall is photographed in the same light as the start photograph, so the comparison is honest.
- 2.Where a property is rendered onto insulation, extra care goes into avoiding water at the bead edges.
- 3.A short rinse of the whole face at the end removes residue rather than removing growth, which is a different job done at a different pressure.
- 4.Where a pond or water feature sits below an elevation, it is covered and the run-off diverted well away from it.
- 5.A pass along the underside of the soffit catches the black spotting that everyone forgets until the wall is clean.
- 6.The elevation is walked first and anything loose, open or already failing is noted before a drop of water goes near it.
- 7.Rinsing, where it is needed at all, runs top down at a pressure you could hold your hand in front of.
- 8.Chimney stacks are treated from a position that keeps the operator off the roof covering entirely.
- 9.Sheeting comes off from the top down so nothing collected on it lands on cleaned work.
- 10.External drains below the work are covered with a grate mat and cleared before we leave.
Small things that make the visit smoother
- Point out any alarm sensor mounted externally on the elevation.
- Tell us if there is a low wall or a step at the base of the elevation that gets slippery.
- Mention any planned decorating so the drying window can be built into the date.
- Note the position of the stopcock in case the outside tap needs isolating.
- Point out ground-floor windows that are painted shut, as they need different masking.
- Say whether the side passage is wide enough for a wheeled kit trolley.
- Note where the electricity meter and consumer unit sit relative to the wall.
- Tell us about any planting you particularly care about at the base of the wall.
Facts on record for Mary Tavy Village
- PL19 covers 5 town hubs and 12 villages or districts in our radius.
- Recorded character: moorland hamlet. Old mining village on the A386.
- Mary Tavy sits about 1 miles from Mary Tavy Village on our round, so visits are often shared.
- Access is usually via A386.
- Typical wall finish here is granite, which sets the cleaning method.
What is actually growing on the wall
- Lichen anchors into the surface rather than resting on it, which is why brushing achieves nothing and pressure achieves damage.
- A wall under a mature hedge takes both shade and constant leaf litter, which is the worst pairing there is.
- Driven rain sticks to a wall face rather than running off it, which keeps the surface wet long enough for spores to settle.
- Mild damp winters here keep growth metabolising through months that would stop it in a colder, drier county.
- Ivy pulled off a wall leaves suckers and a shaded, damp face that greens quickly afterwards.
- Render laid over a colder substrate holds surface condensation into the morning.
- Overflowing gutters feed the top of the wall continuously through the wet months.
- Rain shadow works both ways: the sheltered face stays dry of rain but also of the washing that rain provides.
- A blocked weep hole means the cavity drains through the face instead of out of the hole.
Assessing a PL19 elevation
- 01Anything that cannot be explained by water is treated with more caution, not less.
- 02Where the wall carries a previous coating over render, its edges are inspected for lifting.
- 03The first question is whether the staining sits on the surface or has gone into the material, because only one of those cleans off.
- 04Cracks are traced to their ends, because a crack that runs to an opening behaves differently from one that stops.
- 05Efflorescence is distinguished from lichen before anything is applied, since one is salt and one is alive.
- 06A slow walk of the gutter line from the ground finds most of the causes worth fixing.
- 07A fingernail drawn across the growth says more in a second than a photograph does.
- 08The condition of the cills tells you how much water has been running down the face.
Also covered near PL19
Before you get in touch
- Do you leave a written record of what was done?
- Photographs of before and after the visit, plus anything found in poor condition.
- 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.
- Does softwash actually kill the growth or just wash it off?
- It kills it. The treatment is left on long enough to work, which is why the surface keeps lightening for a week or two after the visit.
- Can you clean a wall with an electric meter on it?
- Yes. The box is bagged before anything is applied around it.
- How is a quote put together?
- By elevation area, surface type and access, written down before anything starts.
- Do you cover air bricks the whole time?
- Covered while the wall around them is worked and uncovered before we go.
- Can you clean a wall before painting?
- Yes, and it should be done first. Paint over live growth fails from underneath.
- Can you deal with black spotting on white render?
- That is usually a fungal spot rather than algae. It responds to treatment but often needs a second lighter pass.
A single gable counts
Small jobs get the same preparation and the same method as large ones.
The short version
Where the cause is plumbing, cleaning is a cosmetic answer to a practical problem. Water in the wrong place explains most tired elevations, and it is cheaper to fix than to keep cleaning. Getting the order of work right protects the money already spent on the parts that were cleaned first. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.
Quote for a Mary Tavy Village property
Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm