Exterior cleaning in Hangersley

Clay, slate and concrete roofs. The older cottages around Hangersley carry plain clay tile or slate, the post-war detached houses carry concrete interlocking tile, and they do not clean the same way. Slate and clay are dense and shed growth reasonably well once lichen is lifted.

Concrete tile is porous and holds moss into the surface itself. Either way a roof clean is a controlled scrape and clear, then a biocide treatment, never a pressure washer. On a slate roof the force lifts the slate off the nail. On a concrete tile it strips the face away, and on any roof it pushes water back up the lap and past the ridge into the loft.

A lot of the housing in Hangersley is detached with mature trees over it, so gutters fill with leaf and needle litter and the valley between two roof slopes silts up quietly for years. Any slope that sits in shade and gets no direct sun stays damp most of the year, so moss and algae establish far faster than on an open south elevation. The gutters are worth clearing in the same visit as the roof, before a valley silts up far enough to mark a bedroom ceiling.

Walls are old handmade brickwork on the pre-war houses and painted render or masonry paint on most of what came after. Older soft brick with lime joints is hand washed and treated, because a lance takes the face off the brick and the mortar out of the joint. Render and painted masonry are a soft wash at low pressure, with the treatment doing the work and the water only rinsing. Black spot algae on render is the one people scrub at hardest and the one that only ever comes off chemically.

Out in Hangersley the drives and paths are more often gravel, tarmac and slabs than block paving, and each wants a different setting. Tarmac goes if you hit it too hard with a narrow nozzle, so it takes a wide fan and a light touch. Slab patios come up well and then need the joints looking at. Where there is block paving it gets a re-sand afterwards, and we will give you a straight answer about whether sealing it is worth the money on your drive rather than selling you the seal as standard.

Conservatories, porches and the glass. Small flat and pitched glazed roofs collect everything the trees drop and green over faster than anything else on the house. They are also the surface most easily damaged, so they are washed from a pole and never knelt on, and the frames and the gutter above them get done at the same time while the access is already there.

We do not price a clean by the square metre, because a heavily shaded roof under oak takes far longer than an open one of the same size.

Reach. A long roof slope on a detached house, a garage block and a boundary wall each need different kit, and trees close to a gable may stop a pole being used at all. Whether it is a lance from the ground or work on a roof slope is set by the work at height rules.

Growth. Heavy shade means thicker moss and algae, which takes longer and needs a biocide so it does not come straight back.

Protection. Ponds, beds and open Forest ground nearby mean run off has to be controlled, which adds set-up time.

Second visit. A biocide keeps working for weeks after it goes on, so the roof is often left to clear and then checked on a return visit rather than scraped bare on the day.

Surface. Old clay tiles and soft render need a gentle soft wash; block paving can take a rotary pressure clean and re-sanding.

Ask any other quote how each surface will be cleaned, whether a biocide is part of it, and where the run off goes.

We clean roofs, render and paving across Hangersley, Ringwood, Ellingham and the BH24 villages along the western edge of the Forest, about nine and a half miles out from our base in Boscombe. Being inside the National Park, planning here is the Park Authority's.

Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. The firm is owned by Thomas Hannen, who walks round every elevation and roof slope before pricing the clean himself. Checkatrade records a verified customer's score of 10 out of 10. Coming out and the itemised written quote are both free of charge. Before you book a visit in Hangersley, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Hangersley 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.