What We Cover, Drench and Move Before Softwashing a Wall

Most of what we do on a wall job is not the treatment. It is the half hour before it, walking the elevation and dealing with everything that is not the wall. This is the part customers rarely see described anywhere, so it is worth setting out, because it is also the part that decides whether the job goes well.

Planting: drenched before, drenched after

Beds, shrubs, hedging and anything growing against the base of the wall get soaked with clean water before we start. A plant that is already saturated cannot take much else up, so anything that does reach it arrives heavily diluted rather than concentrated.

When the treatment is done, the same planting is drenched again. That is the part people sometimes skip, and it is the part that matters most.

Where we can, we also move what is movable. Pots, tubs, hanging baskets, a garden table and anything else that lifts gets shifted clear rather than covered in place, because moving something is more reliable than sheeting it.

Windows, doors and vents

Windows and doors get closed, and we check rather than assume, because a fanlight or a bathroom window left on the vent is easy to miss from the ground.

Trickle vents, air vents, extractor outlets and letterboxes all get attention for the same reason. Anything with an opening into the house is somewhere we would rather nothing went.

Where frames or sills need it, they are covered. Some do not: a wall with deep reveals and good sills often needs less than a flush modern elevation where the glass sits almost level with the render.

Cars, and the neighbour’s car

Cars move. That includes yours, which is straightforward, and the neighbour’s, which occasionally is not.

On a semi-detached or a terrace, or anywhere a driveway runs tight to a boundary, we would rather knock next door and ask than work around a car parked a metre from the wall we are treating. Most people are happy to be asked. Almost nobody is happy to be told afterwards.

If a car genuinely cannot be moved, that changes how we approach that section, and in some cases it changes the day. We would rather come back than take the risk.

The 24-hour rule on flat surfaces

After treatment, children and pets stay off all flat surfaces for 24 hours. Paths, patios, decking, driveways, a flat roof anyone can reach, and the ground below the wall we have been working on.

This is our own working rule rather than a minimum. It is a straightforward thing to ask and it removes the question entirely, which is why we use a fixed period instead of asking people to judge when something looks dry.

The products we use are biodegradable, pH neutral, do not bio-accumulate, and are approved for use in Ireland and the UK. We still keep the area clear for the full day.

What we ask you to do

Very little, and all of it before we arrive rather than while we are there.

• Move cars off the drive, or tell us if one cannot be moved.
• Close windows and roof lights, including anything on a vent setting.
• Bring in washing, and anything on the line or draped over a rail.
• Tell us about the pond, the water butt, the hens, or the bit of the garden you care about most.
• Keep pets in until we are finished and the 24 hours is up.

That last point about telling us is the useful one. We would much rather be told there is a pond behind the hedge than find it.

Why we would rather move the day

Preparation only holds if the conditions hold. If the wind picks up to the point where we cannot keep overspray where it belongs, or rain arrives sooner than forecast, no amount of sheeting fixes it.

Rescheduling a wall costs us a day. Getting treatment onto a neighbour’s car costs considerably more than that, and it is entirely avoidable by not starting. We set out what we will and will not work in separately.

Common questions

Related services

• Softwashing for render and walls
• Roof cleaning
• Gutter cleaning