Exterior cleaning in Downton

Roof cleaning on the post-war half of Downton. The post-war estates carry concrete interlocking tile that holds moss thickly on the shaded slopes. The growth is scraped off dry first, then the tile is soft washed at low pressure and treated so the spores left behind do not simply regrow over the winter.

Nothing is forced up under the lap, because water driven backwards under a tile lands on the felt, not in the gutter. All of the scrapings end up in the guttering, so clearing the gutters and checking the outlets is part of a roof clean here, not an extra line at the end.

Old brickwork and lime pointing around the Borough. A quarter of Downton predates 1919 and the largest single group of it went up before 1900. That is soft handmade brick bedded in lime mortar, and it is exactly the masonry a pressure wash ruins. It is soft washed with a weak solution, given time, and rinsed at about the pressure you would use on a car. Where the pointing has already gone we say so and tell you to get the mortar seen to first, not afterwards, because a joint that is open takes water straight into the wall whether it arrives from a hose or from the weather.

Black spot lichen and algae take the north and east elevations of painted render and pebbledash first, and they sit in the surface rather than on top of it, so a wall goes patchy long before it goes dirty. Soft washing with a biocide clears it over a few weeks without stripping the paint. A jet wash at close range takes the paint off with the growth and turns a clean into a decorating job. The stain running down a wall is often a split gutter joint, not a blockage, so the gutters are worth a look before the wall is washed.

Block paving, brick paths and slabs all lose their jointing sand when they are washed, so block paving is re-sanded afterwards or the blocks start to move. Sealing is a separate decision and only worth doing once the paving is properly dry, which in the Avon valley is not the week you asked. What we would talk you out of: cleaning a roof that has a rocking ridge or loose verge bedding before that is put right, sealing an old solid wall at all, and paying twice for a drive that was washed in the spring and never treated. Every product we use is sold for the job and used to its label, which is what the biocides regime the HSE administers expects.

The area alone tells you very little about the job. What has grown. A light green film is quick. Years of moss and lichen on a north-facing roof or wall takes several passes and a biocide left to work.

The surface. Soft old brick and painted render need low pressure. A concrete tile roof can take a little more, but not a jet wash. Each surface is priced by its method.

Access. A terraced cottage on the High Street with no side access, a post-war semi with a drive down one side and a bungalow with a conservatory across the back are different jobs before a hose is unrolled. Some roofs can be cleaned from the ground with a pole, others need a tower, and the work at height rules decide which.

Run off. Collecting and disposing of dirty water properly, away from drains and ditches, takes time and is priced.

Aftercare. A biocide treatment keeps working for weeks and slows regrowth, while a rinse alone looks good for a season.

Ask any other quote what method each surface gets, whether a biocide treatment is included or just a rinse, and where the run off goes.

We clean houses in Downton, Redlynch, Lover and the SP5 villages down the Avon valley, from our base in Boscombe, 18.4 miles away on the other side of the New Forest. Wiltshire Council is the local authority.

The firm is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, with company number 15471719. The owner, Thomas Hannen, prices every clean himself after looking at it. On Checkatrade a verified customer gave us 10 out of 10. The site visit is free, and the written quote lists each surface and method. Before you book a visit in Downton, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Downton 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.