Exterior cleaning in Lover

Gutters and rainwater first. With oaks and beeches overhead this is the work that earns its money here. We clear the gutter, the outlet and the downpipe, flush it through, and check the water gets to a drain or a gully rather than soaking in beside a wall. A valley packed with leaf mould will push water sideways under the tiles long before it ever overflows at the front, so the valleys get cleared too. On most properties here this is a morning, and doing it twice a year heads off the repair.

Plain clay tile on the older cottages, concrete interlocking on the post-war houses and bungalows. The local aspect is north east, so the slope that gets no direct sun stays damp most of the year and moss establishes far faster than on an open south elevation. The moss comes out of the laps and off the ridge by hand, dry, and then the slope gets a biocide. We do not use a pressure washer on a roof: it forces water up under the laps, takes the surface off the tile and makes the next growth arrive faster. Where a branch is sitting on the covering we will say so, because trimming it back does more for the roof than the clean does.

Better than a quarter of the housing here predates 1919, and those older walls have lime in the joints where a lance would empty them. Brickwork, render and painted masonry on the newer houses, timber outbuildings, stables and garden walls all get a low pressure soft wash and a treatment rather than force. A stained north wall is nearly always algae rather than damp coming through.

Gravel, shingle, concrete, block paving and stone patios all want a different setting. Block paving is jet washed and re-sanded, because the joint sand is what holds it together. A patio under trees collects tannin staining from leaves as well as green growth, and those are two different problems needing two different treatments.

Where the water goes. Planting is watered and sheeted, drains and the gully are covered, and vents and fittings are protected before anything runs. A biocide is used at the dilution on the label, only on surfaces it is approved for, and never into a drain. That matters more out here, because where a property is on a septic tank and a soakaway rather than mains drainage there is nowhere for it to go. See the biocides regime the HSE administers and pollution prevention guidance.

No rate per square metre: the same square metre can be twenty minutes or two, depending what is growing on it. A low cottage under trees we can reach off a pole, a chalet bungalow with a dormer cut into the shaded slope, and a stable block at the end of a gravel track are three different half days. Ground level off a lance is one thing, a roof slope another, and work at height rules decide which.

Comparing quotes. Ask what method each surface gets, whether treatment is included or only a rinse, and where the run off goes.

We cover Lover, Redlynch, Morgan's Vale and Woodfalls, up to Downton and across the SP5 postcodes. 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.