If your rendered property is looking a bit worse for wear and in need of a good makeover, you may be tempted to get the decorators in to paint the exterior of your property, or even get the jet washer out and start pressure washing yourself. Be warned though, this won’t be the end of your problems and you may make matters worse. Painting over dirty render means that it will only be a matter of time before the dirt shows through again and pressure washing can cause greater issues.
The dirt that you see on rendered properties is caused by a number of things but it’s usually fungae and algae – living organisms that are actually growing on the walls. Often green or black, in appearance, you would be forgiven for thinking that you could just paint over it to get rid of the unsightly dirty patches.
Instead, you are far better off cleaning the render first. In fact, once professionally cleaned, you may realise that you don’ have to paint the walls which will save you time, effort and of course, money.
There are a few ways in which you can clean the render but we would not recommend attempting this yourself with a pressure washer. Pressure washing render is an absolute no! It will cause damage to the render loosening it and causing you more problems in the long run. Tempting as it is to get the pressure washer out and giving your home and garden a good going over, it will only cost you more time and money.
Instead, a soft washing method is recommended. This involved applying chemicals to the walls and leaving them to get to work before using a low pressure steam clean to remove the dirt once the cleaning solutions have loosened it.
If you are planning on decorating anyway, it is still advisable to have your render cleaned professionally. While a fresh coat of paint will get rid of all those unsightly marks, the algae and fungal will still carry on growing underneath until it starts to show through your beautiful new paintwork.
Instead, a good clean of the render is excellent preparation for a fresh coat of paint. That is exactly what we were called upon to do for the above block of flats in Plymouth. As well as cleaning the render with our professional soft washing technique, we cleaned the windows with a low pressure steam rinse and cleaned the frames too. Better to get everything nice and clean before fresh paint is applied rather than doing it after.
If you would like help and advice with your render and are interested in a professional clean, please get in touch. You can contact us on 07946 602786.