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.

Do you clean conservatory roofs?

Yes, and they go before the wall above them so nothing lands back on clean glazing.

What about the smell for neighbours?

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

Will the colour be even afterwards?

Working bottom-up and one elevation at a time is what keeps it even.

Can you tell from a photo whether it will clean up?

Usually yes for surface growth. Staining that is in the material is harder to judge without seeing it.

Can you get behind downpipes?

Yes, by hand. It is the part a sprayed pattern always misses.

Do you have a minimum size of job?

A single gable or a porch is still worth doing properly.

Can you clean a wall covered in ivy?

The ivy needs removing first. Once it is off, the shaded face behind it is treated as normal.

PL20 - Devon - 8.1 miles from PL3

Milton Combe Village wall cleaning without high pressure

Most enquiries from Milton Combe Village start with one elevation that has gone darker than the rest. Nine times out of ten the reason is how long that face stays damp, not how dirty it is.

Quote for a Milton Combe Village property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm

What helps before we arrive

Close and latch every window on the elevations being worked, including any small top lights.
Let us know if the property is listed or in a conservation area, as it affects method choice.
Say where the outside tap is, and whether it runs at any pressure.
Move cars off a drive that runs tight to the house if you can, and tell us if you cannot.
Flag any recent repair or repaint, because fresh work is treated more gently.
Tell us about any previous treatment that came back quickly, and how quickly.
Warn us about a soft lawn or an unmade drive so boards come on the van.
Trim back anything that has grown tight against the wall, or ask us to work around it.

Wall build-ups common in PL20

Thin-coat systems are thinner than people assume, and a jet held still in one place leaves a permanent shadow.
A rendered wall under a failed drip detail restains within a season however well it was cleaned.
A test patch low down and out of sight is how failing paint is found deliberately.
Painted plinths take splash and are worked as a separate band from the main face.
A cob wall relies on staying dry inside, so any method that soaks it is the wrong method.
Any rinse on cob is minimal and directed downwards, never held on the surface.

Diagnosis before treatment

01Whether the render is thin-coat or traditional is checked at a bead or a reveal.
02Whether the property is exposed or sheltered is judged on the day, not from a map.
03Old repair patches are identified early, because they take treatment differently from the surrounding finish.
04How quickly a splash of water darkens the surface says how porous the finish has become.
05Where paint is peeling in flakes rather than powdering, adhesion has already gone.
06A slow walk of the gutter line from the ground finds most of the causes worth fixing.
07The mortar is tested with a key at a discreet point, since soft mortar sets the whole method.
08Any staining that continues below ground level is a drainage question, not a cleaning one.

Damp, airflow and what feeds growth

Silt washed down from the roof leaves a thin feeding layer on the render below.
A downpipe discharging onto a hard surface next to the wall sends the water straight back at the brickwork.
Where a downpipe discharges into a gully that has silted, the overflow soaks the wall base each winter.
Salt spray does not itself grow, but it roughens and holds damp, which is the same outcome.
Where a wall carries a heavy climbing plant, the fabric behind it is nearly always damper than the rest.
Where a hose reel or water butt overflows against a wall, the staining follows the overflow path exactly.
A wall under a mature hedge takes both shade and constant leaf litter, which is the worst pairing there is.
A wall behind a dense fence panel is in still air permanently, and still air never dries anything quickly.
An untreated wall carries a spore load already, so regrowth after a rinse is faster than first growth ever was.

Why order matters more than speed

Patio joints are checked before the wall above them is treated, since loose sand washes into puddles.

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

Fascia and soffit cleaning is folded into the wall visit rather than being priced as a separate trip.

Solar panels are cleaned separately from the roof slope they sit on, and after it.

How a softwash visit runs

1.Everything is packed down before the last inspection, so the wall is judged clear of kit.
2.Where a porch roof sits mid-elevation, it is sheeted and its own tiles cleared before the wall above is touched.
3.The mix is made up in small batches as the work moves, rather than one large batch that stands and weakens.
4.Application is by low-pressure fan, closer to a garden sprayer than a washer, and the wall is wetted evenly rather than saturated in patches.
5.The same operator works a whole elevation so the application rate stays consistent across it.
6.Ridge and verge debris that has landed on the wall head is brushed off dry before anything wet goes on.
7.A wall with a visible damp patch inside is treated on the dry areas only until the cause is found.
8.On render below a flat roof edge, the drip detail is checked, because a failed one puts the stain straight back.
9.Beds and borders at the foot of the wall are soaked with clean water first, so any run-off arrives diluted.
10.Photographs are taken of anything found in poor condition, so it can be shown rather than described.

Before you get in touch

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.
Do you clean conservatory roofs?: Yes, and they go before the wall above them so nothing lands back on clean glazing.
What about the smell for neighbours?: Mild and short-lived, and we avoid boundary elevations when someone next door has washing out.
Will the colour be even afterwards?: Working bottom-up and one elevation at a time is what keeps it even.
Can you tell from a photo whether it will clean up?: Usually yes for surface growth. Staining that is in the material is harder to judge without seeing it.
Can you get behind downpipes?: Yes, by hand. It is the part a sprayed pattern always misses.
Do you have a minimum size of job?: A single gable or a porch is still worth doing properly.
Can you clean a wall covered in ivy?: The ivy needs removing first. Once it is off, the shaded face behind it is treated as normal.

Read a little further

Where Milton Combe Village sits on our round

Recorded character: village. Whistling-Wench Inn valley village.
Milton Combe sits about 0.8 miles from Milton Combe Village on our round, so visits are often shared.
Postcode district: PL20. County: Devon. Approx 8.1 miles from the PL3 base.
PL20 covers 12 town hubs and 12 villages or districts in our radius.
Access is usually via local lanes off A386.

See everywhere we cover in PL20

Also covered near PL20

Get the order of work right

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

Sort the order 07830 242403

The short version

Method, dwell and patience beat pressure and speed on every wall finish we work on. Every coated wall has a maximum pressure it tolerates, and it is much lower than most people assume. If the staining sits in the substrate rather than on it, we will say so before taking the work on. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.