House Washing, Wall & Brick Cleaning Services in Kent & London

Gentle soft wash for cleaning brickwork, staining, algae and moss removal

Gleam Team are exterior cleaning specialists based in Maidstone, Kent and operating across the south east including London and Surrey. Our range of services includes:

We use low pressure soft wash to clean exterior brickwork and walls as this is the safest and most effective way to remove dirt and staining caused by black algae, black and white lichen spots, moss and red, green and yellow algae.

Softwashing avoids the risk of damage that may be caused by pressure washing to fragile hard surfaces. It is ideal for external house washing and building cleaning including:

Soft washing is the application of specialist cleaning products at low pressure and removes all types of algae, moss and other biological growths. When bricks and other porous surfaces like K-Rend are treated with a biocide after cleaning it prevents the re-growth of algae for 12 months or more.

Soft washing also gives a deeper, longer lasting clean than pressure washing because some of the soft wash chemical is absorbed and kills algae spores that are absorbed into the brick and lay hidden beneath the surface.

Is it OK to pressure wash a brick house or wall?

We would always advocate softwashing as the best way of gently cleaning brickwork, rather than power washing. All exterior house and building cleaning should ideally be done with the minimum amount of water and lowest possible pressure. Water saturation and high pressure can be damaging to structures, masonry, brick and rendered walls.

However, brick walls can be pressure washed with care and a low to mid range power setting, upto a maximum of approximately 1500-2000 psi.

What are the risks with pressure cleaning brick?

We would never recommend jet washing old buildings because of the risk of damaging the brick face and old mortar. But this can also apply to new homes and modern bricks can be stripped of the protective face of the brick and blasting with water can damage water joints.

Water can also penetrate through tiny cracks and lead to damp inside the building if water is trapped within the cavity.

Freeze/Thaw – water increases in volume by about 9% when it freezes. Therefore water that penetrates the brick or mortar expands when frozen causing damage to a brick wall from within.

Efflorescence – also known as lime bloom it is the white staining often seen on exterior walla and is caused by white salts found naturally in clay bricks and cement used for joints. These salts are water soluble so penetrating water activates them and as the brick dries it leaves the white salts visible on the surface.

Pressure washing only cleans away the surface and does not kill algae and other spores beneath the surface. They will rapidly re-colonise a brick wall after jet washing. Our gentle approach to brick cleaning ensures a safer and more effectice clean that looks better and is safer for your property.

Jet washing is ideally suited to more robust materials such as patio and driveway cleaning and decking.

Our brick cleaning, wall cleaning, render cleaning and house washing service is available throughout Kent, London, Surrey and East Sussex.

Please call us on 07581 681994 or complete the contact form for a free quote or more information.

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