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.

Does the treatment stain paving?

No, and paving below the elevation is rinsed at the end anyway.

Do you jet wash walls?

Not on render, pebbledash or paint. Pressure takes the finish off with the growth and brings the problem back sooner.

What happens to the growth after it dies?

It loses its grip and weathers off over the following weeks, which is why the wall keeps improving.

Can you clean a wall with an electric meter on it?

Yes. The box is bagged before anything is applied around it.

Do you clean conservatory roofs?

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

Is the method different on a listed building?

The approach is gentler still, and lime finishes are treated with the lowest strength that will work.

What about air bricks and vents?

Covered for the duration, uncovered before we leave.

Low-pressure wall treatment across Muchlarnick

Muchlarnick, Cornwall - PL13

This page is about one job in one place: cleaning painted render and stone walls in Muchlarnick, Cornwall. Softwash means chemistry and dwell time doing the work rather than pressure.

What Muchlarnick walls are usually finished in

Render cleans up well at low pressure and badly at high pressure, because pressure removes the finish along with the growth.
Where render sits over insulation, the wall is more sensitive still and the mix is weakened accordingly.
Painted masonry can be cleaned, though a paint film that has already lost adhesion will lift where it was going to fail anyway.
Chalking paint is a rougher surface than new paint, which is why older painted walls green faster.
Method is set by the softest thing on the wall, not the hardest.
Slate-faced walls shed water quickly but the bedding mortar does not.

Low pressure, longer dwell

1.Applications are kept off hot surfaces in direct sun, because a mix that flashes off has no dwell time at all.
2.Corners are worked from both directions so the overlap sits in the angle and not on the open face.
3.Painted elevations get a small test patch first, low down and out of sight, so failing paint is found deliberately rather than by accident.
4.Growth in a shaded return is treated on the same visit even when only the front was asked about, if access allows.
5.Sheltered corners and inside angles hold growth longest and get worked before the open faces.
6.Any window left open is closed, or that section is skipped and left for a second visit.
7.Any garden furniture within the spray arc moves before the mix is made up, not while the lance is running.
8.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.
9.Where a lean-to gutter runs at wall height, it is cleared first so it does not overflow mid-visit.
10.Heavy lichen gets a second lighter application on a later visit instead of an increase in pressure on the first.

Small things that make the visit smoother

Warn us about a soft lawn or an unmade drive so boards come on the van.
Say if the property has a flat roof section that we would be working above.
If parking needs a permit or a bay suspension, tell us early.
Clear the base of the elevation of pots, ornaments and loose paving where you can.
Mention shared access or a right of way that we will be crossing.
Tell us about any planting you particularly care about at the base of the wall.
Point out ground-floor windows that are painted shut, as they need different masking.
Say if there is a wasp or bird nest under the eaves, and we will plan around it.

Facts on record for Muchlarnick

Access is usually via A387.
Typical wall finish here is painted render and stone, which sets the cleaning method.
Recorded character: farming hamlet. Deep-lane hamlet north-west of Looe.
Typical roof covering here is slate, which affects what washes down onto the walls.
Looe sits about 2.8 miles from Muchlarnick on our round, so visits are often shared.

See everywhere we cover in PL13

What is actually growing on the wall

A patio laid up against a wall reflects splash onto it every time it rains hard.
Where a downpipe discharges into a gully that has silted, the overflow soaks the wall base each winter.
The lowest metre of any wall takes splash-back off the path and stains from the ground up, not the top down.
Silt washed down from the roof leaves a thin feeding layer on the render below.
A wall shielded by a car port dries slowly because it never sees direct sun or driven rain.
An untreated wall carries a spore load already, so regrowth after a rinse is faster than first growth ever was.
A wall under a mature hedge takes both shade and constant leaf litter, which is the worst pairing there is.
North and east elevations dry last and green first, in that order, on nearly every property.
Growth on a painted wall often sits on top of a paint film that has already begun to chalk.

Assessing a PL13 elevation

01Whether the property is exposed or sheltered is judged on the day, not from a map.
02A fingernail drawn across the growth says more in a second than a photograph does.
03How quickly a splash of water darkens the surface says how porous the finish has become.
04Anything that cannot be explained by water is treated with more caution, not less.
05Colour matters: green suggests algae, black suggests fungal spotting, grey-white crust suggests lichen.
06The underside of the soffit is checked, because staining there rarely stays there.
07Weep holes are counted and checked for blockage while the wall is being read.
08Efflorescence is distinguished from lichen before anything is applied, since one is salt and one is alive.

Nearby villages and districts

Common questions about wall softwash

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.
Does the treatment stain paving?: No, and paving below the elevation is rinsed at the end anyway.
Do you jet wash walls?: Not on render, pebbledash or paint. Pressure takes the finish off with the growth and brings the problem back sooner.
What happens to the growth after it dies?: It loses its grip and weathers off over the following weeks, which is why the wall keeps improving.
Can you clean a wall with an electric meter on it?: Yes. The box is bagged before anything is applied around it.
Do you clean conservatory roofs?: Yes, and they go before the wall above them so nothing lands back on clean glazing.
Is the method different on a listed building?: The approach is gentler still, and lime finishes are treated with the lowest strength that will work.
What about air bricks and vents?: Covered for the duration, uncovered before we leave.

Tell us about the access

Narrow passages, soft ground and shared drives are all normal. We just need to know.

Describe access 07830 242403

In a sentence or two

One elevation, two elevations or the whole property. The method does not change, only the time it takes. The wall is nearly always sound. What has changed is what is living on it. A wall in poor condition is better found before cleaning than discovered halfway through. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.

Quote for a Muchlarnick property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm