If you own a property then it is necessary to clean the facade once in a while. This is not only to keep the appearance of the house beautiful, but also contributes to its regular maintenance. Do you want to enjoy a clean façade for a longer period of time? Then you can clean and impregnate the facade. A good impregnation protects your facade for an average of 10 years. Read more about the prices and options here.
What does cleaning the facade cost?
The facade of your house is exposed to algae growth, weather, wind and air pollution. Having your facade cleaned costs an average of £ 300 to £ 1,320 for a surface area of 60 m². Below you will find an overview of the different ways to clean your facade and the average price per square metre.
| Type of facade cleaning | Cost per m2, incl. labour costs and VAT | Working |
|---|---|---|
| Sandblasting | £10 – £17 | The coarse abrasive is sprayed against the facade with a high-pressure cleaner, causing the dirt to fly off the facade. |
| Moist blasting | £ 12 – £ 22 | The abrasive is mixed with water and sprayed onto the façade using a high-pressure cleaner. The dirt is sprayed off, as it were. |
| Fog blasting | £ 15 – £ 20 | The fine abrasive is sprayed dry or wet against the façade at low pressure. Whereby the dirt is removed. The pressure can be adjusted manually. |
| Steam cleaning | £ 5 – £ 15 | The water is heated to 150 degrees Celsius and, as it were, dissolves the soiling on the facade. |
| Chemical cleaning | £ 15 – £ 20 | Chemical agent is applied to the facade by means of a brush or handheld sprayer. After it has taken effect, the facade is cleaned with a high-pressure cleaner. |
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What ways of facade cleaning are there?
You can clean your facade by having it blasted. It is also possible to have your facade cleaned with a chemical cleaner or with steam. Read below what the different options entail.
Gable blasting
Gable blasting is a technique in which abrasive is sprayed onto the facade using air. In some cases, the abrasive is mixed with water. The most common methods of facade blasting are sandblasting, moisture blasting and mist blasting.
Sandblasting
Sandblasting is the most economical method of facade blasting. Sandblasting involves spraying coarse grains of abrasive onto the façade. Previously, this abrasive was quartz sand, but nowadays olivine sand is often used. The use of quartz sand has now been banned for decades because sandblasting released the harmful substance quartz. Besides olivine sand, sandblasting can also be done with aluminium silicate or garnet, for example.
Sandblasting is a fairly aggressive form of blasting and is therefore very effective in removing graffiti. The coarse grains mean that sandblasting is not suitable for every façade. For historical buildings or vulnerable materials, sandblasting is not recommended.
Moist blasting
Wet blasting involves mixing the abrasive with water. This ensures that this method is not only milder than sandblasting, but it also releases less dust. Nevertheless, this technique is not suitable for all façades. This method is strongly discouraged for façades made of natural stone and sandstone, as they can be damaged. Moisture blasting is often used for moderately to heavily soiled façades.
Fog blasting
Fog blasting is the mildest method of facade blasting. It involves spraying fine pebbles onto the facade at low pressure. You can adjust the pressure and the size of the blasting grains manually, making this method extremely suitable for historical buildings.
The addition of water is not necessary, but it is possible. In addition, you can reduce water consumption with the wet method of mist blasting. Finally, like wet blasting, dust dispersion is reduced compared to sandblasting.
Steam cleaning
You can also clean your facade by having it steam cleaned. Steam cleaning uses only water. This makes it the cheapest way of cleaning. Steam cleaning involves heating the water to a temperature of up to 150°C and spraying it onto the facade under high pressure.
Chemical cleaning
Chemical cleaning uses a biological or chemical cleaning agent. This is applied to the facade with a brush or hand sprayer after which the agent takes effect for an average of 5 to 30 minutes. A chemical reaction then occurs which dissolves the dirt. After this, the facade is rinsed with a pressure washer or steamed to remove the loose dirt.
Which method of cleaning is right for my facade?
Which cleaning method is suitable for your facade depends on a number of factors.
Soil
First of all, the surface of your facade will determine whether it can withstand a harder cleaning method such as sandblasting. Or whether it is better to choose a milder method such as steam cleaning. If the cleaning method is too aggressive for the substrate, the façade can be damaged. To prevent such damage, it may be important to leave the cleaning to a facade specialist.
Date of soiling
The degree of soiling also plays a role. For light soiling such as moss or algae, steam cleaning is often sufficient. While stubborn dirt such as soot requires a tougher approach.
Jointing
Jointing forms the transition between two equal or different materials, such as bricks and tiles. These joints must be in a good condition, otherwise they usually cannot withstand the blasting medium. If your joints are in need of renovation, you can replace the joints before having the facade blasted.
Can you clean your facade yourself?
If you own a pressure washer, it is possible to clean your facade yourself. Nevertheless, it is strongly discouraged to clean your facade yourself, because if you use it incorrectly, you can damage it considerably. In most cases, it is better to outsource the cleaning of your facade. The facade specialist has the knowledge and equipment to make the facade of your house look like new again, without damaging it.
In the overview below, you will find a comparison between doing facade cleaning yourself and outsourcing it.
| Doing your own facade cleaning | Out-sourced facade cleaning |
|---|---|
| Mostly slightly lower total cost than outsourcing. | Mostly higher cost than doing it yourself (depending on the materials you already have). |
| It costs yourself time. | It does not cost yourself time. |
| It is dangerous to work at height yourself. | Safer for yourself because work is done at height. The specialist is a professional and knows what he is doing. |
| Most of the time, you do not have all the materials to clean the facade yourself. | The specialist has all the necessary materials and resources for facade cleaning. |
The benefits of façade cleaning and impregnation
Most people think of façade cleaning as being used only to keep the appearance of the house nice and neat. This is certainly true, but facade cleaning offers other benefits besides brightening up the house:
- Facade cleaning provides protection for both the exterior and interior walls.
- Impregnating keeps plant growth, moisture and mould at bay.
- Increases the value of the house, as it is part of maintenance.
Tips for facade cleaning
To enjoy a beautiful facade for as long as possible, Renoca has a few more tips. In fact, in addition to facade cleaning, the professional offers other options to protect or repair the facade. The additional options for facade cleaning are listed below.
Impregnating the facade
Cleaning and impregnating your facade will prevent it from becoming damaged or dirty again in the short term. On average, you will benefit from an impregnated facade for 10 years. Impregnation involves applying a water-repellent liquid to your facade. Impregnation stops water from being absorbed by the wall. As a result, the bricks do not expand and the joints are less likely to crumble.
Facade renovation
Is the facade so damaged that cleaning it is pointless? Then choose façade renovation. You do this when joints have crumbled or when there are large cracks in the walls.
Replace grouting
The grouting in your facade are the connecting pieces between the bricks. Over the years, they wear out and it is advisable to replace them. If you don’t do this, moisture can enter, resulting in leaks or mould.
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