Exterior cleaning in Branksome
Render and roughcast soft washed, block paving cleaned and re-sanded, and moss taken off roofs by hand, never by jet.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Exterior cleaning in Branksome is mostly render, paving and roofs that have gone green or black with growth. We match the method to the surface: a low pressure soft wash and a biocide for render, painted walls and roof tiles, and a controlled pressure wash for block paving and patios, with the joints re-sanded afterwards.
The reasons for a clean in Branksome are usually practical. A rendered block or a painted house on a main road that has streaked black under every sill. A block paved drive that has turned slippery and green in the joints. A flat going on the market, or a letting inspection, with a date already fixed.
We come out, look at what the surface is and what is growing on it, check the drains and gullies the run off will go to, and give you an itemised written quote with the method for each surface on its own line.
The work
Render, paving, roofs and blocks
Render and painted walls. Algae, black spot and lichen on render come back if they are only blasted off, and a pressure washer can cut into a thin coat render or lift paint. So we soft wash: a biocide applied at low pressure, left to work, then rinsed gently. The growth dies back to the spore, which is why regrowth takes far longer. Pebbledash and roughcast get the same treatment, because a lance held close will knock the stones out.
Brickwork. Old soft brick and lime mortar in Branksome do not take pressure well, and washing out the pointing is a real risk. Brick is cleaned gently and treated, not blasted, and where the mortar is already loose we point that out before we start rather than after.
Driveways and patios. On a Branksome drive, block paving, concrete and slabs are pressure washed with a rotary surface cleaner that keeps the spray under a hood, so the dirt and water go where we want them. Block paving then needs its joints re-sanded with kiln dried sand, and a seal is an option if you want it to stay clean longer. Porcelain and sandstone patios get a gentler clean and a treatment for the algae.
Roofs. Moss on a concrete or clay tile roof holds water and, left long enough, lifts tiles at the lap and blocks gutters. We scrape the thick moss off by hand from safe access, then treat the roof so what is left dies back. A roof is never jet washed, because it strips the surface from concrete tiles and forces water up under the laps. The ridge and any valley are checked while we are up there.
Gutters and downpipes. Cleaning a roof or a wall pushes debris into the rainwater system, so clearing the gutters, outlets and downpipes is part of the job, not an extra.
Blocks of flats. A rendered block in Branksome is a large area, several storeys high, and usually needs a tower or reach poles on the upper floors. The work is ordered by the freeholder or managing agent, and we quote them directly.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
One person to ring from the first visit to the last. The quote is itemised, not a figure on the back of a card: the method for each surface, protection, access, and where the water and residue go on separate lines, so you can compare it properly against anyone else's.
Nothing is left open or unusable overnight. The site is swept at the end of each day rather than the end of the job, and what comes out leaves with us. If something turns up once we start that nobody could have seen, you get a photograph and a price before we carry on.
Cleaning in Branksome needs no planning permission. The chemicals are the regulated part: biocides and moss killers must be products authorised for that use, applied as the label says, under the biocides regime the HSE administers. Run off must go to a foul drain or be kept out of surface water drains and gullies, as the pollution prevention guidance sets out.
Cost
What decides the price of a clean
No rate per square metre, because the same square metre can be twenty minutes or two, depending what is growing on it.
Getting to it. A two storey rendered house on Poole Road with the pavement right under it, an Edwardian house near Brunstead Road with a tiled roof and a narrow side path, and a four storey rendered block with a car park are three quite different set-ups. Ground level off a lance is one thing, a second storey or a roof slope is another. Reach poles do a lot of it, some of it wants a tower, and the work at height rules decide which.
The surface decides the method. Render, painted masonry, old brick, block paving and a tiled roof all want different pressure, and some want no pressure at all. Getting that wrong takes the surface off with the dirt, which is the expensive kind of clean.
How bad it has actually got. A light film comes off quickly. Years of organic growth needs treating, and often needs a second visit rather than more pressure.
Comparing quotes? Ask what method is being used on each surface, whether any treatment is included or just a rinse, whether a second visit is part of it, and where the run off is going. The answers show what each figure actually buys.
If there is a date
A viewing, a visit or a deadline
Ring rather than use the form. This is not emergency work, but it is often work with a date on it: a property going on the market, a letting inspection, a visit, or scaffolding coming down.
Tell us the date when you ring and we will tell you honestly whether it can be done properly by then, rather than book it and rush it. If you are selling or letting in Branksome, tell us the date of the photographs or the inspection, because a biocide treatment needs time to work before it looks its best. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. For anything urgent, ring rather than use the form, and if we cannot pick up we ring you back as soon as we can.
The one local thing
Arts and Crafts houses near Brunstead Road
The streets around Brunstead Road are a conservation area, an Edwardian suburb the council designated for its Arts and Crafts houses; see the council keeps the list.
Houses of that style typically carry roughcast render, clay tiles, tile hanging on the upper floor and plenty of painted timber, and those are exactly the surfaces that suffer most from the wrong kind of clean. Roughcast loses its stones, old clay tiles and hanging tiles can crack or have their surface stripped, and paint lifts off timber under a jet.
So on these houses the method matters more than on any modern one. We soft wash the roughcast and hand clean the tiles, keep pressure off the timber, and test a small patch in a corner first so you can see the result before we do the rest. Keeping the original materials is what the conservation area is there to protect, and a clean that damages them can leave you facing a repair that has to match, which is slow and costly. Done gently, cleaning is ordinary maintenance and needs no consent.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We clean across Branksome, BH12, from Poole Road and Brunstead Road up to Alder Road and the Bourne Valley, and into Westbourne and Parkstone next door. BCP Council is the local authority.
You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free. Before you book a visit in Branksome, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Branksome?
Most repairs in Branksome 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.
| Question | In Branksome |
|---|---|
| Who decides | BCP Council is the planning authority for Branksome. BCP Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Brunstead Road Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Branksome. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Branksome. |
Questions
Questions about exterior cleaning in Branksome
Will you pressure wash my render?
We do not pressure wash render. It is soft washed with a biocide at low pressure, because a jet can cut into the finish and does not kill the growth at the root.
How long does it take to look clean?
Paving looks clean the same day. On render and roofs, the biocide keeps working for a few weeks after we leave, and the last of the staining fades over that time.
Do you re-sand block paving after cleaning it?
Yes. Washing takes sand out of the joints, so they are refilled with kiln dried sand, and a seal is available if you want it.
Can you clean the outside of our block of flats?
Yes. We quote the freeholder or managing agent directly, with the access, the method for each surface and where the run off goes itemised.
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Exterior cleaning near Branksome
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Get your exterior clean priced properly
Thomas comes out, checks each surface and what is growing on it, and prices it in writing. The visit and the quote are free.