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Surface Materials

Different materials need different treatment. From soft historic sandstone to a modern car park deck, the method is matched to the surface every time.

The surface decides the method

Most of the damage done to buildings during cleaning comes from treating every surface the same way. A pressure washer that's perfectly safe on a concrete deck will strip the face off soft sandstone, blow the top coat off render and wash the lime mortar out of a Victorian wall. Solvent that lifts a tag off a steel shutter will craze a polycarbonate panel and dissolve tarmac.

So we identify the material first, test on a discreet area, and pick the cleaning system that removes the contaminant without damaging what's underneath. These pages set out how we approach each material — including where we'd tell you a surface won't come back to new.

Brick

The North West is built from it. Brick is porous, which is why graffiti soaks in and organic growth takes hold — and why the method matters far more on brick than most people assume.

Stone

The most damage-prone surface we work on, and the one where method choice really matters. Sandstone, limestone, granite and York stone all behave differently — and most of the region's civic and heritage buildings are built from them.

Concrete

Durable, everywhere, and more porous than it looks. Car park decks, subways, bridge structures and precinct surfaces — concrete takes a robust clean, but it soaks up graffiti and oil just as readily as brick.

Render

Deceptively fragile. Render greens up faster than anything else in the North West climate — and a pressure lance held too close will take the top coat off and leave a patch worse than the dirt.

Cladding

Modern buildings are wrapped in it, and it shows every streak. Cladding cleaning is as much about protecting the coating and the sealed joints as it is about removing the dirt.

Block Paving

Precincts, forecourts and car parks are laid with it, and it collects everything — moss in the joints, gum on the surface, oil in the blocks. Cleaning it properly includes putting the jointing sand back.

Tarmac & Asphalt

Car parks, access roads and playgrounds are surfaced with it. Tarmac takes a clean, but heat and pressure both attack the bitumen binder — so this is the surface where more force genuinely makes things worse.

Metal

Shutters, railings, bollards, balustrades and street furniture. Non-porous, so graffiti usually comes off cleanly — the skill is removing it without stripping the powder coating or galvanising underneath.

Glass

Paint comes off glass easily. Scratching and acid etching do not — and knowing the difference before anyone starts work is what saves a client the cost of a replacement pane.

Timber

Soft, absorbent and easily damaged. Timber cladding, decking, benches, fencing and play equipment need the gentlest approach we have — and a realistic conversation about what a weathered finish should look like.

Plastic & uPVC

uPVC fascias, polycarbonate canopies, GRP panels and play equipment. Non-porous so paint lifts easily — but solvents craze plastic, and that damage can't be cleaned out.

Need graffiti gone — fast?

Call 0161 399 5247 or request a free quote. We respond within one working hour.

0161 399 5247 GET A QUOTE