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How to clean pebble dashed house?

dulpit

Hey all,

My parent's house has pebble dash on front and back. They have never painted it and because of proximity to the main road, the front in particular is looking quite dull now and could do with being freshened up. They don't want to paint it, but is there a spray or something that would be handy to get the house looking cleaner? They asked a guy who does windows/etc and he said it'd be in the high hundreds to clean house, I don't know what process or approach he was going to take. Any suggestions?

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GreeBo

A biocide like they use on a roof might work, but you'd ahve to confirm that it wouldnt take the paint off and tbh, you would probably end up wanting to paint afterwards anyway…

Victor

Grit blasting, washing and applying a clean sealer like they apply to stonework might be an option.

magicbastarder

it doesn't sound like there was any paint?

i know hypochlorite can be used for this purpose but you need to be very careful with overspray or runoff. it'll kill plants.

cnocbui

I have a red algae on bits of my sun facing rendered walls. I was spraying a bio-active enzyme base laundry detergent from Lidl on pavers to see if it would clean them up, as they go black with algae, so I tried spraying a test patch of the wall algae for future reference:

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192338#Comment_123192338

ah correct, I totally missed that bit!

monseiur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192374#Comment_123192374

The best product for red algae is Algae Rem. Just spray in on with a knapsack sprayer when wall is dry, no need to power wash walls after - the rain will wash it off. Two litres will do an average size house.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192338#Comment_123192338

There's no plants immediately next to walls, there's paving front and back with at least a metre or more between the wall and grass/hedges.

Victor

Oh, one thing that could be done, if it is desired, would be to fit external insulation and a new finish.

Cerco

Use diluted hypochlorite in a backpack sprayer. Wear goggles, rubber gloves and protective clothing. Follow instructions on container. Test on a small area to determine the required concentration.

You can purchase this in an agricultural co-op. It is used by farmers to clean cattle sheds etc.

You could also use commercial bleach e.g Domestos. I suggest initial testing dilution of 2 bleach to 1 water.

As above , protect yourself well.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192591#Comment_123192591

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123194004#Comment_123194004

Might as well just be spraying bleach. In case people missed it, the circle in the photo I posted is the only bit I sprayed with the laundry detergent. I wouldn't touch hypochlorite based products with a barge pole given the laundry detergent is just as effective, with a higher degree of safety and considerably reduced requirement for protective measures. I suspect it is likely cheaper, also.

monseiur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123195229#Comment_123195229

Check the active ingredients of your laundry detergent….bet it contains hypochlorite in some form or other

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123196121#Comment_123196121

Which of these do you belive to be chlorine based?

rock22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123196168#Comment_123196168

Cnocbui, can you link to the exact product. . And any instructions or dilutions etc. I need to do this myself

thehairygrape

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192981#Comment_123192981

ideal solution long term but very costly even with grants. I have the same problem as the OP so following all advice. I heard the diluted bleach solution works. My worry is damaging the walls.

Avatar in the Post

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192336#Comment_123192336

From what I’ve seen of pebble dash if you grit blast it you’d end up with a dash wall.

geographica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123192374#Comment_123192374

What’s the name of the bio-active enzyme base laundry detergent from Lidl?

also, did it work on the pavers?

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200898#Comment_123200898

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200935#Comment_123200935

I can't link to the product as Lidl's website doesn't list it. It works on pavers but so far I'd rate the cleanup at 50-60% compared to power washing with a 90% reduction in effort vs power washing just sprinkling the granules. I put the powder in a large wire sieve and shake that over the pavers, mashing larger granules through the mesh.

Best results do seem to come from dissolving in warm water, and using a garden sprayer. I did a section of concrete apron that went dark green after an earlier power wash by spraying and it cleaned up as if I had power washed again. I wouldn't have a dilution ratio, but I'd guess I try for 3-4 cups per 4-5 litres.

The main effect I'm aiming for with the pavers is trying to kill weeds and moss which were my biggest problem. I was hoping for a herbicide type of effect and didn't spray because I wanted granules to lodge in the cracks and stay there as long as possible, slowly being dissolved by the weather. For this it seems to be working a treat, there has been hardly anything growing back after 4 months.

Here's a photo of a section of the pavers I just sprinkled about 10 days ago. As you can see the greatest effect so far is neat the joints, as you might expect with wind shifting the powder a bit and then rain washing and draining. It does take some time to work so the black bits might still improve some.

Here's some I did 4 months ago. Not show home stuff, but I'm chuffed compared to what it was like.

Cerco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200912#Comment_123200912

Not a long term solution as the algae will reappear on the insulation.