House washing in Cremorne
Cremorne's exteriors split between the blocks and the bungalows. The brick and rendered walk-ups off Military Road and Ben Boyd Road wear a film of traffic grime on the street side and salt haze on the harbour side, with balcony soffits and stairwells that darken over the years. The Federation houses and California bungalows around Cranbrook Avenue and Murdoch Street carry roughcast render, shingled gables, timber verandahs and sandstone bases, and their shaded southern walls grow a green bloom through winter. Terracotta roofs collect lichen on the slopes that face away from the sun, and gutters under the suburb's figs and street trees fill between every clean.
A vetted tradie soft washes the render, roughcast, paintwork and old brick, low pressure and a cleaning solution doing the work, because a pressure jet cuts into roughcast and loosens shingles. Concrete paths and basement ramps take a surface cleaner at higher pressure. Sandstone walls and steps are washed gently. Gutters and roofs on two- and three-storey walk-ups are reached from a platform or with poles from the ground under NSW height-safety rules rather than from a ladder in a narrow side passage. Fibro dating from before 1990 gets treated as asbestos cement and stays dry. With the harbour at the bottom of every street, run-off is directed to lawn, garden or sewer and kept out of the kerb and stormwater pits, as NSW pollution law demands.
For a house, post photos of each elevation and say which walls sit in shade; for a block, the strata manager usually posts on the owners corporation's behalf with the building's storey count and access. Vetted exterior cleaners who know Cremorne's blocks and bungalows take it up and send written quotes covering the method for each surface, the height equipment and the wash water plan. Neither homeowners nor committees pay for the match, and neither has to hire. Houses inside the Cremorne or Cremorne Point conservation areas can be washed as normal maintenance; repainting afterwards in a new colour is a matter for council.
Exterior cleaning services you can post
Frequently asked questions
Not at high pressure. Roughcast is a thin, textured coat and pressure breaks pieces off it. Soft washing, low pressure with a suitable solution, lifts the mould and grime without damage. The same goes for timber shingles on gables and any painted weatherboard.
The owners corporation, since the facade, balconies and common stairwells are common property. What usually happens is that the strata manager collects quotes on an agreed scope and the committee decides. Send us the scope and vetted tradies will quote against it; individual owners can still book interior work directly.
Yes, from an elevated work platform or with poles from the ground, which is how NSW height-safety rules are met on a building of that size. A ladder in a narrow side passage is not an acceptable method. The tradie should state the equipment in the quote.
Drains and pits are covered or blocked first, and the water is directed onto lawn and garden or, where Sydney Water allows, to the sewer. Letting detergent or sediment reach the stormwater system is an offence in NSW, and on these slopes it would be in the harbour within minutes.
