Wall, Render & Driveway Cleaning Bournemouth
Green algae, black spotting and grime off your render, walls, patio and drive, across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. Soft washing where the surface is delicate, pressure washing where it is not, and a biocide treatment that keeps working after we have gone.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Last updated
Exterior cleaning
Exterior Cleaning & Treatments in Bournemouth, Poole & Christchurch
Render and painted walls are soft washed, not pressure washed. High pressure strips paint, scours the face of render and blows out mortar joints. Soft washing at low pressure lets a cleaning solution lift the growth, and a biocide afterwards slows the regrowth. Pressure washing belongs on hard flat surfaces that can genuinely take it, such as block paving and concrete. Roofs are a separate job, set out on our roof cleaning and moss removal page.
Cleaning that does not cost you the surface underneath
Anyone can point a lance at a roof. The skill is knowing which surfaces take pressure, which ones need treating instead, and where the water is going to end up.
We clean render, pebbledash, brickwork, patios, paths and driveways, and we treat them afterwards so the growth takes longer to come back. Because we are roofers as well, we spot the cracked tile or the flashing that has lifted while we are up there, and we tell you about it instead of washing over it.
Domestic and commercial, one-off cleans or maintenance visits. Everything is quoted in writing after we have seen the job.
Where the house sits makes a real difference to how quickly it greens up. Properties on the edge of the New Forest get a constant fall of leaf litter, which is why walls and paving around Ringwood green up so quickly, and the pine trees around Verwood drop needles into the tile laps and gutters all year round, not just in autumn.
What we clean
Wall Cleaning, Render Soft Washing and Driveway Cleaning
Walls and render are soft washed at low pressure, driveways and paving take a pressure clean, and roofs are scraped by hand as a separate job. Each surface gets its own method, matched to the surface instead of the same machine on everything.
Roofs, as a separate job
Moss scraped out of the tile laps by hand, then the roof soft washed at low pressure so the tiles are not damaged. Gutters, valleys and outlets are cleared of everything that comes down with it. A biocide treatment is then applied to kill what is left in the surface, which is the part that slows the regrowth. The full method, and what it costs to leave moss in place, is on our roof cleaning page.
Wall Cleaning & Treatment
Render, pebbledash, painted masonry and brickwork cleaned of green algae, black spotting and general road grime. Soft washing lifts the growth without stripping paint or blowing out mortar joints. Treated afterwards, and if we find open joints or failed render while we are there, we can quote to put that right too.
Driveway Cleaning & Treatment
Block paving, concrete, tarmac, slabs and porcelain washed back towards their original colour, with weeds and moss taken out of the joints. Block paving is re-sanded afterwards so the blocks lock together again, and we can seal it if you want the finish to last longer.
Method
Soft washing or pressure washing: which cleaning suits render, walls and driveways?
Soft washing and pressure washing are not the same job
Soft washing suits render, painted walls and pebbledash, and a pressure clean suits block paving and hard paving. Using the wrong one is how people end up with stripped paint, blown mortar joints or a patio full of lance marks.
Soft washing
Low pressure, roughly what comes out of a garden hose, with a cleaning solution doing the work instead of force. It is what roofs, render, painted walls and older brickwork need, because the surface stays exactly where it is and only the growth comes off. It looks slower on the day. It leaves the tiles, the paint and the pointing intact, and the result holds for longer because the treatment kills the growth at the root and does not just blow the top off it.
Pressure washing
High pressure water, used on hard flat surfaces that can genuinely take it: concrete driveways, paving slabs, block paving, steps and some tarmac. It shifts ingrained dirt and lichen quickly and gets right into the joints. On a roof, on render, or on soft old brick it does more harm than good, so that is not where we use it. Pressure and nozzle are set for the surface, not left on maximum.
Why it matters
Do moss and algae on walls and roofs need cleaning off?
Yes, because moss and algae are not just an appearance problem. Green on a roof or a wall looks scruffy, but the damage it does is mostly to do with water that cannot get away.
It holds water against the surface
Moss behaves like a sponge. Instead of a tile drying out between showers, it stays wet, and in winter that trapped water freezes, expands and breaks up the face of the tile or the mortar it is sitting on.
It blocks the route water should take
Moss knocked off the roof by wind and rain ends up in the gutters, valleys and outlets. Once those block, water backs up under the tiles or runs down the wall, and you get damp inside long before the roof itself has failed.
It makes paths and patios slippery
The green film on paving is the same sort of growth as the one on the roof, and it is genuinely dangerous underfoot in wet weather. It comes off the same way, and treating it afterwards is what keeps it off through the winter.
Driveways & patios
Driveway & Patio Cleaning in Bournemouth and Poole
Cleaned, re-sanded, and left to drain properly
Block paving does not just get dirty. The kiln-dried sand in the joints washes out over the years, weeds take hold, and the blocks start to move under the car. Cleaning it is only half the job.
We wash the surface back, clear the joints out, and then re-sand block paving so it locks together again. Concrete, slabs and porcelain are washed to suit the material, and tarmac is treated more gently because the binder at the surface can be lifted by too much pressure. Drains and gullies are checked and cleared before we leave, so the slurry we have created does not end up blocking them.
If the drive turns out to be past cleaning, we will tell you that as well, and we can quote to replace it.
One thing that gets overlooked on a driveway clean is where the dirty water ends up. Washings full of silt, moss and cleaning solution should not go down a surface water drain, because those run to a watercourse, not to treatment. The pollution prevention guidance on GOV.UK is the reference for that, and it is the reason we check and protect gullies before we start, so there is nothing to clear out of them afterwards.
Salt and sea air keep block paving and render dirtier for longer near the water, so it matters most for homeowners in Poole and along the coast towards Christchurch.
How the day runs
How does a wall, render or driveway clean work?
Prepared, cleaned, treated, tidied up
An ordinary house is usually done in a day. Whole elevations and full driveways take longer, and we will tell you which yours is before we start.
Look at the job
We come and see the surface, the access, how bad the growth is and what is planted nearby, then quote in writing.
Protect and prepare
Planting wetted down or sheeted, drains and gullies checked, and the right method chosen for each surface.
Clean
Moss scraped and soft washed, or pressure washed where the surface takes it. Gutters cleared of what comes down.
Treat and tidy
Biocide applied where it is wanted, everything rinsed off, and the site left clean. The treatment carries on working afterwards.
What it costs
What decides the cost of wall, render and driveway cleaning?
Exterior cleaning is priced on access, and on how much growth has to come off by hand before anything is washed. Area matters less than people expect. A small, steep, heavily mossed roof with nowhere to stand a tower costs more than a large open one you can reach easily.
A single surface is usually a day. Whole elevations and full driveways take longer, and we will tell you which yours is before we start. These are the things behind the figure.
What moves the number
- Access. A bungalow reached off a tower, a two-storey semi, and a roof with nowhere safe to stand on one side are three different prices for the same square metres. This is work at height, and the HSE rules on work at height are why a safe working position is priced in, never improvised.
- How much moss is actually up there. A light green film is a wash and a treatment. Moss sitting proud in the laps has to be scraped out by hand first, and that is the slow part of a roof clean, not the washing.
- What the surface is. Concrete tile, clay, natural slate, render, pebbledash, painted masonry, block paving, porcelain and tarmac each want a different method and a different amount of care. Using one machine on all of them is quicker, and it is how surfaces get wrecked.
- Protection and preparation. Planting wetted down or sheeted, gullies and drains protected, windows and doors checked. It is unglamorous, it takes time, and leaving it out is how a clean turns into a claim.
- Gutter clearance. On a roof clean this is part of the job and not an extra, because cleaning a roof brings a great deal of debris down into the gutters. As a stand-alone visit it is priced on its own.
- Whether a treatment goes on afterwards. A scrape and a wash is cheaper than a scrape, a wash and a biocide. The treatment is what changes how long the result lasts, which usually makes it the better value of the two.
- Re-sanding and sealing on block paving. Cleaning washes the kiln-dried sand out of the joints, so re-sanding is part of doing the job properly, not an upsell. Sealing is genuinely optional and priced separately.
- How often it needs doing. A shaded, tree-covered roof on the forest edge wants looking at more often than an open south-facing one. Keeping on top of it is cheaper than letting it go, and that is a maintenance conversation more than a one-off price.
| Method | Soft washing | Pressure washing |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure used | Roughly what comes out of a garden hose | High pressure, with the nozzle set for the surface |
| What does the work | A cleaning solution, then a biocide treatment | Force and water volume |
| Right for | Roofs, render, painted masonry, older and softer brickwork | Concrete drives, paving slabs, block paving, steps, some tarmac |
| Wrong for | Nothing. It is simply slower on hard surfaces | Roofs, render, soft old brick, lime pointing |
| Cost of using it in the wrong place | Time only | The surface off the tiles, blown mortar joints, water driven under the laps, lance marks across a patio |
| How long the result holds | Longer, because the treatment kills growth at the root and keeps working | Shorter on porous surfaces, because only the top is taken off |
| How it looks on the day | Slower and less dramatic | Instant, which is exactly why it gets used where it should not be |
What we will ask you
Which surfaces, and roughly how big. How many storeys, and whether there is space around the building for a tower. Which way the roof faces, and whether trees overhang it. How long since it was last done, and whether it has ever been pressure washed. Whether there is a pond, a vegetable bed, fish or anything else sensitive nearby. A photograph from the garden usually answers half of that.
Why two cleaning quotes differ
Most often because one is soft washing and the other is pressure washing, and the cheaper of the two is the one that will cost you a roof. After that it is whether a biocide treatment is included, whether the gutters are being cleared, whether block paving is being re-sanded, and whether the planting and the drains are being protected before anyone starts.
Ask what pressure is going on your roof, and ask what the treatment is. We use biocides approved for the purpose and apply them to the label, which is a legal requirement under the biocides regime the HSE administers rather than a preference. A contractor who cannot tell you what they are spraying is not the right contractor.
Reviews
What customers said
We have no published review for this trade yet, so these two are from other jobs. What they describe is how the job was run rather than the trade itself.
…The team were professional, friendly and kept me informed throughout the whole job. The workmanship was excellent, everything was completed to a high standard, and they left the site clean and tidy afterwards…
Really happy with our new patio from Bournemouth Roofing & Building. It looks beautiful and we couldn't be more pleased with how it's turned out. Tom and Lloyd were both lovely, really knowledgeable and kept us updated throughout, which was reassuring…
Straight answers
Cleaning questions, answered in short
Is soft washing or pressure washing better for render?
Soft washing is better, every time. Render, pebbledash and painted masonry are soft surfaces, and a pressure washer strips the paint, scours the face of the render and drives water into any crack or open joint, which then freezes in winter.
Soft washing uses low pressure, about what comes out of a garden hose, with a cleaning solution doing the work instead of force. It lifts the algae and black spotting and leaves the surface as it was. A biocide treatment afterwards keeps working in the surface for months and slows the regrowth, which a pressure wash alone does not do, because it only takes off the top of the growth. Silicone thin coat renders are cleaned the same way and come up well. Before we start, windows and planting are protected and drains checked. If a patch sounds hollow when tapped, or there are cracks letting water in, cleaning will not fix it, and we will say so. Repairs are on our rendering page.
Can block paving be cleaned without damaging it?
Yes, if the pressure is set for the surface and the joints are refilled afterwards. Block paving takes a pressure wash well, but the wash blows the kiln-dried sand out of the joints along with the dirt, weeds and moss. Leave the joints empty and the blocks lose their grip on each other and start to move under a car. So cleaning is only half the job. Once the surface is dry, fresh kiln-dried sand is brushed back in until the joints are full, so the blocks lock together again. Sealing is optional and priced separately. It helps keep the joint sand in place and makes the surface easier to keep clean. Tarmac is treated more gently, because too much pressure lifts the binder at the surface. Gullies are checked and protected before we start. If a drive has sunk or the blocks are broken, cleaning will not fix it, and our driveways page covers relaying and replacement.
Does moss damage a roof?
Yes, mainly by holding water where it should not be. Moss acts like a sponge in the tile laps, so instead of drying out between showers, the tile stays wet. In winter that water freezes and breaks up the face of the tile and the mortar at the ridge. Moss also lifts the tail of tiles, letting wind driven rain get underneath. The bigger risk is what happens when it falls. Wind and rain wash it into gutters, valleys and outlets, and once those block, water backs up under the bottom courses or runs down the wall, so you get damp inside long before the roof itself has failed. The answer is scraping the moss out of the laps by hand, soft washing, and a biocide treatment. Never pressure washing, which strips concrete tiles and forces water under the laps. Because we are roofers too, we will tell you about any cracked tiles we find. The full roof method is on our roof cleaning page, and gutters are on our gutter cleaning page.
Can driveway washing water go down the drain?
Not down a surface water drain, and that is the drain most driveways run into. The water that comes off a driveway clean is full of silt, moss and cleaning solution. Surface water drains, the road gullies and the grates on most drives, usually run straight to a stream or river, not to a treatment works, so whatever goes down them ends up in a watercourse. The pollution prevention guidance on GOV.UK sets out how that should be handled. In practice it means checking where each gully goes before starting, protecting the ones that lead to surface water, and collecting or directing the washings so they soak into a soft area inside the boundary instead. Biocide goes on to the label, and it is kept away from ponds and open water. A permeable drive helps here too, because rain passes through into the ground rather than running off. Permeable surfaces are explained on our driveways page.
Questions
Questions about exterior cleaning
Will pressure washing damage my render or walls?
Pressure washing can damage render and walls, which is why render, pebbledash and painted masonry are soft washed instead. High pressure strips paint, scours the face of the render and drives water into any crack or open joint, where it freezes in winter.
Soft old brick and lime pointing suffer the same way. Soft washing uses low pressure and a cleaning solution to lift the algae, and a biocide afterwards slows the regrowth. Hard, flat surfaces such as concrete driveways and paving slabs are a different matter and do take pressure washing well, with the pressure and nozzle matched to the surface.
How often should render and paving be cleaned?
It depends on the wall, not on a fixed schedule. A north-facing elevation shaded by trees will green up several times faster than an open south-facing one, and paving under trees stains and goes slippery faster than paving in the open. As a rough guide, most surfaces around here want looking at every few years, and a biocide treatment after a clean stretches that interval out. The practical test is to look once a year: if the render is streaked green or the patio is slippery after rain, it is time.
Can you clean the roof at the same time?
Yes, if it needs it, and it goes on the same written quote. A roof is its own job, though, with its own method: moss scraped out of the tile laps by hand, a soft wash at low pressure, a biocide, and the gutters cleared of everything that comes down. It is set out in full on our roof cleaning page. If we find a cracked tile, a lifted flashing or a gutter that has dropped out of level while we are there, we will tell you and quote for the repair separately.
Is the treatment safe for plants and pets?
We use biocides approved for this purpose and apply them according to the label, which is a legal requirement rather than a preference. In practice that means planting near the wall is wetted down or sheeted before we start, we keep spray away from ponds and open water, and we ask that pets and children stay off treated surfaces until they are dry. Once dry, treated paths and patios are fine to walk on. Tell us about ponds, vegetable beds, fish or anything else sensitive before the day so we can plan around it.
How long before the green comes back?
It will come back eventually. The spores are in the air everywhere and Dorset is damp, so nothing stops it permanently. What changes is how fast. A wall or patio that is only washed will green up again fairly quickly. One that is cleaned and then treated stays clear noticeably longer, because the biocide carries on working in the surface for months after we have packed up and the rain gradually washes the dead growth away. We will not put a number of years on it, because shade, overhanging trees and which way the wall faces make more difference than anything we do on the day.
Where we work
Wall, Render and Driveway Cleaning Across Dorset
We serve these areas for wall, render and driveway cleaning, and for roofs through our roof cleaning page. We will tell you honestly if a surface is better treated than washed.
Exterior cleaning by location
Exterior cleaning in every town and village we cover
Each page is written from the ground, the housing stock and the planning position of that settlement, using Environment Agency, British Geological Survey, Valuation Office Agency and Census records. A page for every place we cover, grouped by area.
Within 8 miles
8 to 14 miles
- Stone (also Sturminster Marshall)
- Furzehill
- Ashley Heath
- Beacon Hill
- Swanage
- Holt (also Chalbury Common, Gaunt's Common and more)
- Holton Heath
- Thorney Hill
- Three Legged Cross
- Lytchett Matravers
- Langton Matravers (also Worth Matravers, Harman's Cross)
- Barton on Sea
- Corfe Castle (also Studland)
- Sandford
- Ridge (also Stoborough)
- Ringwood
- New Milton
- Wareham
- Bashley
- Burley (also Burley Street)
- Verwood
- Hangersley (also Hightown)
- Ashley
- Milford on Sea
- Everton (also Hordle)
- Spetisbury (also Charlton Marshall)
- Alderholt
- Cranborne (also Whitmore)
14 to 20 miles
- Tarrant Monkton (also Pimperne)
- Hyde (also Frogham, North Gorley and more)
- Winterborne Kingston
- Lymington
- Brockenhurst
- Boldre (also Sandy Down, Tiptoe and more)
- Sandleheath
- Bere Regis
- Fordingbridge
- Blandford Forum
- Walhampton and Portmore (also Pilley)
- Wool
- Bryanston
- Rockbourne (also Martin)
- Lyndhurst
- Sixpenny Handley
- West Lulworth (also Burngate)
- Breamore (also Woodgreen)
- Minstead
- Winterborne Stickland
- Winfrith Newburgh (also Briantspuddle)
- Milborne St Andrew (also Winterborne Whitechurch)
- Stourpaine (also Durweston, Ash)
- Tolpuddle
- East Boldre
- Cadnam and Bartley
- Lover
- Redlynch
- Downton
- Ashmore
- Woodlands
- Crossways
- Iwerne Minster (also Shroton)
- Owermoigne
Free quote
Get a price for your clean. No obligation
Send a photo of the roof, wall or drive and we will come and look at it, then put a clear written quote in front of you.