PL13 - Cornwall - 15.4 miles from PL3
Plaidy walls: method before pressure
Wall cleaning in Plaidy is mostly a question of what the wall is made of. Small cove east of Looe. The nearest hub we cover in depth is Looe, and the building stock here follows the same pattern.
Quote for a Plaidy property
Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm
What helps before we arrive
- Let us know whether the gutters have been cleared in the last couple of years.
- Note where hoses can be run without crossing a doorway.
- Say if there is a wasp or bird nest under the eaves, and we will plan around it.
- Point out any alarm sensor mounted externally on the elevation.
- Tell us if a gutter has been overflowing, because that changes what we look at first.
- Note where the electricity meter and consumer unit sit relative to the wall.
- If there are children's toys or a trampoline against the wall, they need to move.
- Let us know if anyone in the house works nights and needs quiet at a particular time.
Wall build-ups common in PL13
- A rendered plinth takes more water than the face above it and is usually the first band to look tired.
- Where render sits over insulation, the wall is more sensitive still and the mix is weakened accordingly.
- Colour on a painted wall usually returns once the film on top is removed.
- Painted plinths take splash and are worked as a separate band from the main face.
- Where stone has been repointed with cement, water is pushed into the stone instead of out through the joint.
- Loose stones and open joints are recorded and left alone rather than washed.
Diagnosis before treatment
- 01Anything that cannot be explained by water is treated with more caution, not less.
- 02A short section of hose test shows whether run-off drains away or ponds at the base.
- 03Where the pattern is vertical and narrow, plumbing is looked at before chemistry is.
- 04Where the pattern is a band at the bottom, splash from the ground is doing it.
- 05A damp meter reading inside a stained corner separates a cleaning job from a building problem.
- 06The state of the pointing is judged at the most exposed corner, not the most convenient one.
- 07A slow walk of the gutter line from the ground finds most of the causes worth fixing.
- 08Nearby properties with the same finish are a useful reference for what is normal on that street.
Damp, airflow and what feeds growth
- Silt washed down from the roof leaves a thin feeding layer on the render below.
- A blocked weep hole means the cavity drains through the face instead of out of the hole.
- Tree canopy overhead drips long after the rain has stopped and drops organic debris onto the wall face.
- A cracked cill throws water back at the wall instead of clear of it.
- Growth on a painted wall often sits on top of a paint film that has already begun to chalk.
- A downpipe discharging onto a hard surface next to the wall sends the water straight back at the brickwork.
- Rain running off an unsealed timber fascia carries tannin down the wall as a brown stripe, not growth at all.
- Old sealant around window heads cracks and lets a thin trickle run down the face below.
- A conservatory or extension roof abutting a wall throws water back at it every time it rains.
What to book before and after the walls
Where a roof clean is planned for later in the year, walls are worth leaving until after it.
If windows were cleaned recently, tell us, and they get sheeted rather than redone.
Solar panels are cleaned separately from the roof slope they sit on, and after it.
Roof work always precedes wall work, because everything released from the slope lands on the elevation below it.
How a softwash visit runs
- 1.Render beads and stop ends are inspected as work reaches them, because a lifted bead traps water behind the finish.
- 2.Cable clips, aerial brackets and old fixings are noted, and loose ones are left rather than pushed further.
- 3.Paving, steps and paths below the elevation are rinsed clear at the end of the visit.
- 4.Where growth has spread onto a UPVC panel or door surround, it is wiped rather than sprayed.
- 5.Anything that has to be moved - bins, planters, a bike - goes back exactly where it was found.
- 6.A wall carrying a house number, plaque or bell push has those items worked around by hand.
- 7.Treatment goes on from the bottom of the elevation upwards, which stops clean streaks forming where liquid runs onto dry surface.
- 8.Vents, extractor terminals and trickle vents get taped, because water pushed into them is the one thing that turns an exterior job into an interior one.
- 9.Any window left open is closed, or that section is skipped and left for a second visit.
- 10.The treatment is mixed to the surface, not to a fixed recipe, and a delicate finish gets a weaker mix and a longer wait.
Common questions about wall softwash
- Does anyone need to be home?
- No. It is outside work. Access to the elevations, ideally an outside tap, and windows shut for the visit.
- Can you do it while I am at work?
- Yes, as long as gates are unlocked and we can reach the elevations.
- 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.
- Will you tell me if the gutters are the real problem?
- Yes, and it is common enough that the gutter line is checked on every wall visit.
- Do you clean render above a flat roof?
- Yes, with the roof covering sheeted and the drip detail checked.
- Do you need a parking space?
- Somewhere within hose reach of the elevation is enough.
- 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.
- Will the drive get messy?
- Anything below the elevation is rinsed off before we finish.
Where Plaidy sits on our round
- Looe sits about 4 miles from Plaidy on our round, so visits are often shared.
- Typical wall finish here is painted stone and render, which sets the cleaning method.
- Recorded character: coastal hamlet. Small cove east of Looe.
- Typical roof covering here is slate, which affects what washes down onto the walls.
- Nearest full coverage hub: Looe (PL13), Cornwall Council.
Nearby villages and districts
Send the postcode and finish type
Those two things get you a written price without a site visit in most cases.
In a sentence or two
Where the cause is plumbing, cleaning is a cosmetic answer to a practical problem. If a wall is greening in one strip, the answer is usually plumbing rather than cleaning. The finish keeps improving after we leave, which is how you know the treatment did the work rather than the water. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.