Soft Wash in Topsham

The Moore & Franks approach in Topsham

Topsham's character is in its old painted cottages, the Dutch-gabled merchant houses along the Strand and that constant estuary damp rolling up off the Exe. Lovely to look at, hard on the walls. Lime render and period paintwork can't take aggressive pressure washing, and the riverside humidity means algae returns fast if it's only scrubbed off the surface. Soft washing suits these buildings perfectly: low pressure, the right biocide for the substrate, and a finish that lasts. We're practically on Topsham's doorstep at Ferryman Way, so we know these streets and these buildings. Sympathetic work on period property, clear quotes, fully insured throughout.

Out along the Exeter Road and the Riverside estates, Topsham's newer houses tell a different story to the old town. Modern silicone and monocouche render picks up estuary grime and green film far sooner than owners expect, and pressure washing a coated system is the quickest way to ruin it. We clean these walls with a low-pressure biocide that lifts the growth out of the texture and leaves the render sound, then keep an eye on how fast the aspect brings it back.

The tidal setting is what makes this a year-round job. River mist drifting off Bowling Green Marsh and the Goat Walk keeps north-facing walls damp for long stretches, and that steady humidity is what feeds the black algae and red gloeocapsa staining you see on so many EX3 elevations. Scrubbing only shifts the top layer, so we treat the growth where it sits in the surface and let the biocide do the killing rather than the pressure.

The old town asks for a different level of care again. The period terraces off Fore Street have cramped rear elevations and fragile old paintwork that a pressure washer would take straight back to bare timber, and the listed merchant houses on The Strand are more delicate still. Soft washing lets us work in close around original detail and lime render, cleaning right up to fine joinery with no risk to the fabric underneath.

Our Topsham customers are typically within 10 minutes of our Exeter base. We cover the wider EX3 postcode area and the surrounding villages (The Strand & the Quay, Goat Walk riverside path, Bowling Green Marsh, Fore Street, Darts Farm, Topsham Lock).