DOFF Chemical Cleaning in Totnes

The Moore & Franks approach in Totnes

Totnes is wall-to-wall heritage — Tudor frontages, painted render, old stone and lime pointing climbing up from the Dart. It's precisely the kind of historic fabric a pressure wash would wreck. DOFF chemical cleaning is the conservation-minded route: gentle superheated steam at low pressure that clears algae and lichen while leaving period surfaces untouched. The river-valley damp keeps shaded walls greening, so the heat kills growth at the root — and old fabric dries within minutes. Moore & Franks are a family-run Devon firm with twenty-five years and a real respect for old buildings, fully insured to £5m. We'll tell you plainly whether DOFF or a soft wash suits your particular frontage.

Across Follaton and the western fringes, the newer rendered homes streak and spot with lichen in the same low river-valley light that greens the old town, only on modern coatings. Silicone and monocouche render like this frequently cleans up better with a soft wash than with full DOFF heat, and we'll recommend whichever fits the wall. Where steam suits, the temperature clears the growth without forcing moisture behind a sealed render system.

Over the river in Bridgetown, the terraces green over quickly on their north-facing render, and on the steep runs a blocked downpipe empties itself down the frontage below, feeding yet more growth. Soft old render and lime-pointed stone both call for a light touch. Low-pressure steam lifts the moss and algae off the wall by heat, so brittle, weathered surfaces come up clean without the scouring or saturation a pressure wash leaves behind.

Out toward Dartington, Ashprington and Stoke Gabriel the oaks and beeches lining the Dart keep roofs and walls shaded and damp for much of the year, and leaf-fall clogs gutters faster than on open ground. The listed and conservation-area buildings here need heritage-safe methods, not force. Steam cleans by temperature alone, lifting lichen and algae off old stone and lime pointing while leaving the historic fabric sound and touch-dry soon after.

Our Totnes customers are typically within 30 minutes of our Exeter base. We cover the wider TQ9 postcode area and the surrounding villages (Bridgetown, Follaton, Dartington, Berry Pomeroy, Ashprington, Stoke Gabriel).