Exterior cleaning in Minstead

Roof cleaning, and why not with a jet wash. The roofs in Minstead are clay tile, concrete tile and natural slate, all of them overhung by oak, holly and beech that were there long before the house. Moss packs into the laps, holds water against the tile and pushes it out of line.

We scrape it out of the laps and off the ridge by hand, clear the valley properly, then treat what is left with a biocide so the spores die back instead of regrowing by spring. What we will not do is put a pressure washer on it. The force strips the fired face off a clay tile and washes the mortar out from under the ridge, and you end up buying a roof to fix something cosmetic.

Shaded elevations in Minstead go black and streaked years before an open one does. Painted render and pebbledash both come up with a low pressure soft wash and a treatment left to work, which is slower to look impressive and far safer than a lance held close. On pebbledash in particular, pressure knocks the stones out and there is no putting them back. A good number of the older cottages around the green are soft brick in lime mortar, and those want the gentlest thing that works, tested on a small panel out of sight first, because the risk is not the dirt coming off, it is the face of the brick coming off with it. If a wall is better left alone, we will say so.

Gutters, drives and what we leave alone. Leaf litter, needles and blown moss fill the gutters under these trees, and an overflow soaks the wall below all winter, so get the gutters in Minstead cleared first, then wash the wall. Gravel, block paving and stone paving all go green and slippery in shade: block paving comes up under controlled pressure and then wants a re-sand, because the wash takes the jointing sand out with the weed. We will tell you honestly whether a seal is worth it on your drive or whether it will just trap what is underneath. Thatch does not get cleaned, by us or by anyone, and nor do we take a lance to solar panels, lead flashing or a flat roof that is already patched.

The price is not set per square metre. The same area can be quick or slow depending on what it is made of and what is growing on it.

Reach. A low cottage on a lane, a two storey rendered house and a long run of garage and outbuilding roofs are three different reaches. Water-fed reach poles do much of it, and the work at height rules decide the rest.

The surface. Soft old brick, lime render, clay tiles and a resin drive each need their own method. Too much pressure strips the face off soft brick and takes the surface with the lichen, so the method is chosen surface by surface.

The growth. Shade and damp under trees mean thick moss and green algae. A biocide treatment kills the roots and slows regrowth, and it has to be a product used within HSE's rules on biocides. A rinse on its own looks good for a season.

Water and run off. Where the dirty water goes matters here, where ditches run out into the open Forest, so collecting or directing it is part of the job.

When you compare prices, ask what method each surface gets, whether a biocide is included or it is just a rinse, and where the run off goes.

We clean walls, roofs and paths across the Forest villages, from Minstead and Lyndhurst over to Cadnam and Bartley. Minstead is 15.6 miles from our Boscombe base, and the National Park Authority is who you would ask about planning.

The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales with company number 15471719. Thomas Hannen owns it, looks at the surfaces himself and prices the clean. On Checkatrade, a customer whose job was verified gave us 10 out of 10. The visit and the written quote, itemised, are free. Before you book a visit in Minstead, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Minstead 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.