Exterior cleaning in Ashley Heath

The concrete tile roofs. Ashley Heath filled in through the seventies and early eighties, and half the stock dates from 1945 to 1982, which means big interlocking concrete tiles on a shallow pitch. They are a good roof and a poor host for a pressure lance.

The colour is a thin cement face, and once it is stripped the tile drinks water and greens over faster than it did before, so we take moss off dry, scrape by hand where it has built up at the lap, and put an approved biocide on to kill the spore that is left. On a shallow pitch the moss holds water against the tile for longer, which is why so many roofs of that vintage here look worse than older roofs down the road. With 52.2% of the housing single storey, most of that work is done off a pole, with no platform to hire.

Mature pines drop needles into the gutters all year, so book gutter clearing with the roof and the fascia and soffit faces can be washed from the same access.

Render and dash. Dry dash and painted render on the porches, gable panels and garden walls of that era all get a soft wash: low pressure through a wide nozzle, often none at all. Force on a rendered panel finds the weak mortar first and takes the dash with it. The elevations that green first are the ones the sun never reaches, which around Ashley Heath usually means the side facing the trees, where algae films the render and lichen sits on the coping above it.

Drives and paths. Tarmac from when the houses were built, block paving added later, slabs at the back. Paving is where a pressure wash genuinely belongs, and block paving gets the black spot off and fresh kiln dried sand brushed into the joints afterwards so it keeps its interlock. Tarmac takes a lower pressure than people expect, because the binder is the first thing a lance lifts. Conservatory panels and the box gutter behind them are done by hand, and that box gutter is usually what causes the leak people blame on the conservatory.

The area is the measure people expect, and it tells you least. The surfaces. A bungalow roof you can reach with a pole from your own drive is a different job from a chalet with a dormer and a steeper pitch, or a detached house set well back behind mature pines.

How heavy the growth is. Shade from pines keeps moss thick and damp on concrete tiles. Heavy growth is scraped off by hand first, then treated with biocide, which keeps working over the following weeks as it breaks down what is left. Light algae needs only the biocide and a rinse.

Water and reach. A tap near the work is quicker than a long hose run from the back of the house. Where a pole will not reach, a tower goes up, and the work at height rules for roofs are why it is priced as its own line.

Where the run-off goes. Washings are kept out of the surface water drains and off the ground, so they are contained or sent to a foul drain, and that takes planning.

Ask any other quote whether the roof is treated or pressure washed, whether a second visit is part of the job, and where the run-off goes.

We clean roofs, walls and drives in Ashley Heath and through St Leonards, St Ives, West Moors and Three Legged Cross. That is 7.1 miles from our base in Boscombe, and Dorset Council is the authority for all of it.

Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd does the work; it is registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. It belongs to Thomas Hannen, who comes to see the roof and walls and price them. A verified customer has given us 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit is free, and you get the itemised quote in writing at no cost. Before you book a visit in Ashley Heath, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Ashley Heath need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.