House washing in Freshwater

In Freshwater the question is rarely whether a house needs washing, only how often. East-facing render and painted weatherboard carry a grey salt film and sand grit; the south side grows mould under the eaves; brick walk-ups show white salt bloom on the mortar and grime on balcony soffits. Gutters fill with leaves from street trees and sand blown off the beach. Tiled roofs on the hill carry lichen, and metal roofs collect salt that eats the coating where it pools. Solar panels film over with salt spray and lose output. Owners ask for the whole exterior: walls, eaves, gutters, a roof treatment, paths and the driveway. Strata committees ask for the same thing across a whole building.

A vetted tradie matches the method to the surface. Soft washing at low pressure with a biodegradable detergent handles render, paint, timber and face brick; pressure is reserved for concrete and pavers. On an inter-war or post-war house, fibro eaves and garage linings are checked first and left untouched if asbestos is possible. Three-storey walk-ups are washed from the ground with poles where they can be, and from a boom lift or roof anchors where they cannot, in line with the heights rules. Because the street drains here run to the beach, wash water is diverted to garden beds, bunded or collected rather than allowed into the gutter, which is what NSW pollution law requires.

For a house, send through photos of the worst walls and the roof and tell us about side access and parking. For an apartment building, the strata manager or a committee member usually posts, and the quote goes back to the owners corporation. Either way, vetted tradies who wash homes around Freshwater and Curl Curl receive the job and send you their own written price. The quote should itemise the surfaces, the technique for each, how the roof and gutters are treated, how run-off is contained, and the access equipment needed for upper levels. You decide who, if anyone, gets the job; homeowners pay nothing to be matched.