Soft Washing in Drummoyne

Council describes Victoria Road as one of Sydney's busiest and most congested transport corridors, and its own fact sheet puts traffic through Drummoyne at more than 87,000 vehicles a day. Exhaust and brake dust from that volume drift into the streets either side and settle as a fine, slightly oily layer. Walls facing the road collect the most, and because the film is greasy, rain spreads it into streaks instead of rinsing it off.

The walls underneath vary. Between Formosa and College Streets, builder Thomas Henley put up semi-detached and detached Federation houses with finely detailed gables and verandahs, and the suburb's Federation heritage houses typically pair face brick with half-timbering. Mortar of that era is soft, and the paint on half-timbered gables lifts readily once water is driven behind it. Along Wolseley Street and St Georges Crescent, two- to four-storey flat buildings stand among the old houses, many on the sites of former waterfront mansions, with facades owned in common by the whole strata.

Closer to the water the problem turns biological. Salt in the air holds moisture against a wall, and shaded elevations, side passages and walls under brush box canopy stay damp long enough for mould, algae and mildew to take hold. Soft washing uses specialised cleaning solutions at low pressure to lift both the soot film and the growth, without damaging paint, render or mortar.

More than half of Drummoyne's homes are apartments, and in a strata building the facade is a single asset owned by everyone. Washing a whole elevation at once gives an even finish, rather than the patchwork left when one owner hoses a balcony and the neighbours do not.

Owners corporations also get a record. Before-and-after photos are supplied with every job, which makes it straightforward to report the work to the committee and to note when the building was last cleaned. Clearing mould and algae off painted surfaces keeps the growth from staining and breaking down the coating, which helps a paint job go the distance before the next repaint is due.

More than a third of the suburb's dwellings are rented, so plenty of local owners are landlords too. A clean facade is the first thing a prospective tenant notices, in the listing photos and from the footpath.

On the Federation houses the benefit is preservation. Face brick and half-timbering cleaned gently keep their mortar and paint intact, and the house keeps the character that defines these streets. Repairing a heritage wall damaged by pressure is slow, specialist work; avoiding it is largely a question of method.

Our products are biodegradable and safe around gardens, pets and children, which counts on small courtyard blocks and on strata sites with shared garden beds.