Returning Cotswold stone to its former glory

The Grove is a prestigious residential estate, situated on the southern edge of the Cotswolds. The building was constructed around 14 years ago and residents felt that it was starting to look a little tired. In particular, the render, stonework sills and coping stones had become badly scarred with green, red and black algae so needed to be cleaned.

The development comprises 18 privately owned apartments and 4 town houses with beautiful communal gardens and private parking. The exterior walls of the building are a mix of pale gold Cotswold stone and a soft cream render which are both visually appealing and in-keeping with local building style; residents were very keen to see their property restored to its former glory.

Winning the contract

The RTM board had investigated various options for addressing the staining on the walls before determining that cleaning was the best option. As well as wanting to achieve a successful outcome, access, height and terrain were all of concern. They had approached a number of exterior building cleaning companies to provide a quote and all were invited to carry out a test clean on the walls -  which they said was ‘enlightening’. Of the participants, one could not remove the algae and one damaged a flat’s ceiling by encroaching through vents. That left two contenders and we won the contract because of the high standard of our work, our professional approach and our competitive rates.

A 'Belt and Braces' approach

We clean a lot of algae and have a tried and tested formulae. We used a combination of steam cleaning, then a special biocide wash, followed by a second pass with steam cleaning. The results were amazing - with both the golden stone and cream render being brought back to their original colour and the building looks brilliant as can be seen in the images shown.

Here’s what one member of the board said; “OneFifty (formerly The Jet Washing Company) did a superb job. The access equipment arrived spot on time as did their operatives. They were very professional and extremely helpful with virtually no disruption to residents. The finish is amazing. I would be very happy to show you their workmanship and results at The Grove and we will certainly use them again in the future”.

If you would like to know more about removing algae - of any colour – give us a call – we would be pleased to be of help.