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Exterior Cleaning in Blandford Forum
Blandford is about eight miles down the Stour from us, and it is a town where knowing what not to do matters more than usual. Get it wrong on Georgian brickwork and the damage is permanent — so nothing here goes anywhere near a high-pressure lance.
A town rebuilt in soft brick.
Blandford’s centre is largely Georgian, rebuilt after the fire of 1731, and that gives the town a concentration of handmade brick, stone dressings and lime mortar that you simply do not find in most Dorset towns. It is beautiful, and it is fragile.
Handmade brick of that age has a soft outer skin. Blast it and you strip that skin off, exposing the porous core underneath — which then holds water, spalls in the first hard frost and cannot be put back. The same goes for lime mortar joints, which will wash straight out under pressure that modern cement would shrug off.
So on period property here we work at low pressure with the right treatment and give it time, rather than forcing the pace. If a building looks like it needs a mason rather than a cleaner, we will say so before we quote.
What we clean in Blandford.
Listed does not mean leave it alone.
Plenty of owners of period property in Blandford assume nothing can be done, having been told a pressure washer would wreck it. They are right about the pressure washer — but softwashing is a different thing entirely. It removes the organic growth chemically and gently, at a pressure closer to a garden hose than a jet. If you are unsure what your property will take, ask and we will look at it properly before anyone quotes a price.
Questions from Blandford.
Is softwashing a chemical treatment?
Yes — that is exactly why it works without pressure. A biocide is applied at very low pressure and kills the algae, lichen and moss living in the surface; nothing is blasted off, so the roof, render or stone underneath is left untouched. The dead growth then breaks down and weathers away over the days that follow. It goes on at the correct dilution, with borders, planting and drains covered first and everything washed down before we leave.
Can you clean a listed building in Blandford?
Yes, and we do it regularly. Softwashing is a very different thing from pressure washing — it removes growth chemically at a pressure closer to a garden hose. If your property is listed, check whether consent is needed for any treatment; we are happy to explain exactly what we would be applying.
Will cleaning damage Georgian brickwork?
Pressure washing absolutely will — it strips the fired outer skin off handmade brick and washes out lime mortar. Our method does neither. We work at low pressure and let the treatment do the work, which takes longer but leaves the brick exactly as it was.
Do you cover the villages around Blandford?
Yes — Blandford St Mary, Pimperne, Charlton Marshall and the surrounding villages are all within our normal area, as is the housing out towards the camp.
Blandford is around eight miles down the Stour from our base near Sturminster Newton.
Ready to see the difference?
Send a photo of the job and we will come back with a clear, fixed price within 24 hours — and an honest answer if your property would be better left alone.