Can you clean a wall before painting?

Yes, and it should be done first. Paint over live growth fails from underneath.

What if part of the wall does not come up?

It is left to weather rather than pushed harder, and we will say what we think is happening.

When does a treated wall show its final appearance?

Some change can be visible after treatment, while remaining dead growth may continue to weather away over the following days.

Will you tell me if the job is not worth doing?

Yes. If the staining is in the substrate rather than on it, cleaning will not change much and we will say so.

How long before I can repaint?

Several dry days after the wall has been treated and rinsed.

How much water does a wall job use?

Less than a pressure wash, because the work is dwell time rather than volume.

Do you clean chimney stacks?

Where they can be reached safely from a position that keeps us off the roof covering.

Do you clean conservatory roofs?

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

Sourton wall cleaning without high pressure

Sourton, Devon - EX20

Where a Sourton wall has gone patchy rather than evenly dirty, the cause is nearly always local: a downpipe, a hedge, a shaded corner. That is where we look first.

What Sourton walls are usually finished in

Granite cills and thresholds collect the heaviest lichen because they stay wet longest.
Iron staining from old fixings in granite is a separate problem from growth.
They need the gentlest approach available and a lot of care about how much water goes onto the surface.
Thatch or deep eaves above cob change how much of the wall ever gets wet.

Low pressure, longer dwell

1.Access equipment is footed on boards where the ground is soft, so nothing sinks into a lawn.
2.Guttering above a worked elevation is checked for standing water, because a drip mid-treatment ruins an even finish.
3.Growth in a shaded return is treated on the same visit even when only the front was asked about, if access allows.
4.Cable clips, aerial brackets and old fixings are noted, and loose ones are left rather than pushed further.
5.Weep holes above openings are left clear so the wall can drain the way it was designed to.
6.A pass along the underside of the soffit catches the black spotting that everyone forgets until the wall is clean.
7.Anything that has to be moved - bins, planters, a bike - goes back exactly where it was found.
8.Waste water is directed to a soakaway or drain that can take it rather than allowed to pond on a lawn.
9.Where two different finishes meet on one elevation, they are treated as two jobs on one wall.
10.Corners are worked from both directions so the overlap sits in the angle and not on the open face.

Small things that make the visit smoother

Close and latch every window on the elevations being worked, including any small top lights.
Bring in washing, cushions and anything fabric that lives against the wall.
Tell us if a gutter has been overflowing, because that changes what we look at first.
Point out any window that does not seal properly, so it gets sheeted rather than sprayed near.
Say if the property has a flat roof section that we would be working above.
Note where the electricity meter and consumer unit sit relative to the wall.
If you have a pond, a water butt or a wildlife area, point it out in advance.
Mention any cladding or timber detail that you would rather was left alone.

Facts on record for Sourton

Nearest full coverage hub: Lydford (EX20), West Devon Borough Council.
Typical wall finish here is granite and cob, which sets the cleaning method.
Recorded character: moorland hamlet. Dartmoor tors and the Highwayman Inn.
Lydford sits about 0.8 miles from Sourton on our round, so visits are often shared.
EX20 covers 1 town hubs and 7 villages or districts in our radius.

See everywhere we cover in EX20

What is actually growing on the wall

A textured coating applied over an already dirty surface holds that dirt as a feeding layer.
Guttering that has dropped at one end holds standing water and drips continuously at the low point.
Low winter sun never reaches the bottom third of a wall behind a fence, and it shows.
The lowest metre of any wall takes splash-back off the path and stains from the ground up, not the top down.
Lichen anchors into the surface rather than resting on it, which is why brushing achieves nothing and pressure achieves damage.
Airflow through a passage between two houses is fast but the passage itself is in permanent shade.
A wall behind a dense fence panel is in still air permanently, and still air never dries anything quickly.
Where a wall sits below a bank or a raised garden, water arrives at it sideways rather than from above.
Growth returns fastest where the underlying cause was never dealt with, which is usually water going somewhere it should not.

Assessing a EX20 elevation

01Where the pattern is vertical and narrow, plumbing is looked at before chemistry is.
02Cracks are traced to their ends, because a crack that runs to an opening behaves differently from one that stops.
03Where the pattern is even across the whole face, exposure and aspect are the cause.
04The condition of the cills tells you how much water has been running down the face.
05The direction the growth thickens in points at the source of the moisture.
06A short section of hose test shows whether run-off drains away or ponds at the base.
07A fingernail drawn across the growth says more in a second than a photograph does.
08Any staining that continues below ground level is a drainage question, not a cleaning one.

Within a short run of Sourton

Questions Sourton owners ask

Can you clean a wall before painting?: Yes, and it should be done first. Paint over live growth fails from underneath.
What if part of the wall does not come up?: It is left to weather rather than pushed harder, and we will say what we think is happening.
When does a treated wall show its final appearance?: Some change can be visible after treatment, while remaining dead growth may continue to weather away over the following days.
Will you tell me if the job is not worth doing?: Yes. If the staining is in the substrate rather than on it, cleaning will not change much and we will say so.
How long before I can repaint?: Several dry days after the wall has been treated and rinsed.
How much water does a wall job use?: Less than a pressure wash, because the work is dwell time rather than volume.
Do you clean chimney stacks?: Where they can be reached safely from a position that keeps us off the roof covering.
Do you clean conservatory roofs?: Yes, and they go before the wall above them so nothing lands back on clean glazing.

Guides worth a look first

Tell us about the access

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

Describe access 07830 242403

To sum up for EX20

Read the staining pattern first and the answer usually names itself. Anything that keeps a wall wet for longer will bring the growth back sooner, whatever product goes on it. Method, dwell and patience beat pressure and speed on every wall finish we work on.

Quote for a Sourton property

Monday to Saturday, 8am – 7pm