Render is quite a traditional method of protecting or beautifying walls. Traditional Render was done with cement and lime, today we have a wide variety of materials as well as ready to apply cement render in the market. While renders are used to protect the walls from damage due to pollution, organic dirt, and weather conditions, the render itself needs to be protected.
That is not to say that it requires another protective layer over it, just that it should be maintained regularly so that it does not disintegrate too soon. It is quite a common assumption that dirt is harmless to these surfaces, but this cannot be any farther from the truth. Dirt can be highly damaging to renders, claddings and walls, if they are not cleaned regularly using appropriate methods, it is not long before they start to disintegrate.
Speaking of appropriate methods, every property owner should take the time out to find out what kind of external walls they have on their property and find out how they should be cleaned. Using the appropriate methods can extend the life of these surfaces. The original supplier of the cladding or render will be able to best guide on the right methods of cleaning each surface. They will know more about their products than anyone else. This way property owners can find out and maintain the external walls as they should be maintained. In this article, we have compiled some of the more common methods to clean renders. While these are just methods for general render cleaning, it is best to find out the type of render used in your building so that you can clean them using the most appropriate methods.
Water-Fed Poles
Telescopic poles, often known as water-fed poles or pure water cleaning are a great way to access claddings on tall buildings. The poles can be as tall as 70 feet and can be used to clean buildings that are up to six storeys at least. They are a safe way to clean high-rise buildings with reduced risks as these water-fed poles can be controlled remotely.
These poles have water jets and brushes, the water jets are supplied with clean de-ionized water from either water tanks equipped on vehicles or other water outlets. The water is usually filtered using carbon filters, de-ionization filters and sometimes also an osmosis membrane filter when it is used on windows. This may not be necessary when it comes to cleaning render and other external walls.
This method is sometimes known as soft washing and is used to clean windows as it is very gentle. This method can be highly useful for cleaning render.
Scaffolding
In this method, scaffolding, similar to the ones used in construction is installed to that the building can be cleaned from top to bottom floor by floor. This can be a highly secure way to clean tall buildings.
But installing the scaffolding and setting it up is not only time-consuming but also requires various risk assessments and is a drawn-out process. It is labour intensive and can also be expensive. This can make it difficult to clean the renders as often as needed. Having scaffolding up around buildings can also cause disturbances and have the building looking less than pleasant for the duration it is up.
Mobile Elevated Working Platforms
Mobile Elevated Working Platforms, MEWPs in short, is used when the render cannot be accessed through the poles. Property owners often use this method instead of scaffoldings as it can reduce the hassle involved with scaffoldings when cleaning rendered walls.
MEWP such as the Cherry Picker, often reaching up to 200 feet, are often used for cleaning renders in buildings. They are mounted on trucks and are controlled using an operator. This can be a difficult method in cities where the large truck may not have access to narrow streets. It can also create congestion in busy streets due to its large size. This method is used in many buildings in city living as it can help finish the job quicker and relatively less hassle than scaffolds.
Rope Access
Rope access is more commonly used for large buildings with glass walls all around. This is a method that is fashioned after the method that rock climbers and cavers use. The cleaners use traditional methods to clean glass windows and walls while suspended on a rope, working their way down. This method is less common when it comes to cleaning render, but it is a safe and hassle-free method and is worth considering.
What Is The Best Way To Clean Rendered Walls?
Power washing or pressure washing is a commonly observed method for cleaning external walls of buildings. This is very common today though it needs a lot of precaution and care. Pressure washing sees the use of high-pressure water to knock off the dirt from walls and clean them. The high pressure of the water can be damaging to windows, because of which often the walls and windows are cleaned separately. This is not a recommended method for cleaning render, especially traditional cement renders.
The better method for cleaning render would be soft washing. In this method, instead of high-pressure water, cleaning solutions and lower pressure water is used. We recommend soft washing as the solutions and cleaning detergents used in soft washing are usually specific according to the dirt and the material that is to be cleaned. For instance, the solution used to clean a beachside building with exposure to salt air will be different from that of a city building exposed to pollution, carbon emissions and the like.
This can protect the renders and claddings in the long run as they are treated gently and are also kept clean. Soft washing can also extend the life of renders as it can clean the renders gently without causing any damage to the renders. Moreover, this method can be used as often as needed as it is the least intrusive method for cleaning render and ultimately its gentleness on the surface is what matters most.
What Is Our Access Solution For Cleaning Rendered Walls?
We use soft washing methods to clean rendered walls. Our methods are highly specific to each project we take on and come after a thorough assessment of the walls. This helps us understand the safest methods for cleaning each render cleaning. We aim to perform the least intrusive render cleaning service possible whether the building is commercial or residential.
