Façade cleaning & soft washing
Render, timber cladding, stone and plinths cleaned by soft wash, which doesn't drive water into the structure or damage the finish.
About this service
Commercial · Narva
ESPAK Narva — facade wash before repainting
The full height of the wall washed from a boom lift, so the paint would bond to the building instead of to what was sitting on it.
At a glance
- Client
- ESPAK Narva
- Location
- Narva, Ida-Virumaa
- Building
- Retail and warehouse building, large-format concrete panels
- Service
- Facade wash and pressure washing
- Access
- Boom lift, full height of the elevation
- Goal
- Surface preparation for repainting
What the wall looked like
From the street the wall just looked grey. Up close the dirt was not sitting on the surface — it was in it.
- Dark streaking and moss under the parapet, where rainwater stands longest.
- Traffic film and exhaust residue across the white panels, heaviest along the top.
- The painted blue banding dull and patchy, with dirt held in the texture of the paint.
- Nothing reachable from the ground — the whole elevation had to be worked from a lift.
How we did it
Six steps, in the order they happened on site.
- 01
Walked the wall first
Panels, joints and painted bands checked, and the pressure for each surface decided there and then. That call gets made before the lance comes out, not with it already in your hand.
- 02
A lift, not a ladder
A boom lift keeps the lance square to the wall and the operator in one stable position, harnessed inside the basket.
- 03
Chemical first, pressure second
Cleaning solution applied with a low-pressure sprayer and left to dwell so the algae and exhaust film let go. Respirator and eye protection on while spraying.
- 04
Rinsed top down
Parapet and coping first, then the panels, so nothing that has been cleaned gets dirtied again from above.
- 05
Pressure matched to the surface
Sound concrete takes full pressure. Painted bands, sealed joints and cracked areas do not — there the solution does the work, not the nozzle.
- 06
Handed over paint-ready
Algae, film and loose chalking gone, and the wall dried out before the first coat went on.
What changed
Washing a facade is not the cosmetic part of a repaint. It is the part that decides how long the new paint stays on the wall.
- An even surface, with no layer of dirt left for the paint to bond to instead of the building.
- Moss and algae off the coping, so regrowth starts from nothing rather than from a living layer.
- The real tone of the painted banding visible again, which showed the painters where coverage was actually needed.
- All of it from the lift — no scaffolding put up, hired or taken down.
Photos from the job
Taken while the work was happening.
The services this job involved
What each one covers and what sets the price.
Pressure washing
Block paving, concrete, asphalt and terraces cleared of ground-in dirt — at the right pressure for each material, so joint sand and timber stay intact.
About this serviceCommon questions
Why wash a facade before painting it?
Paint bonds to the surface, not to what is lying on it. Algae, exhaust film and loose chalking come back through the new coat or lift off with it within a couple of seasons. Washing is the cheapest part of a repaint and the part that decides how long the result lasts.
Does pressure washing damage concrete panels or old paint?
At the wrong pressure it does. Sound concrete takes full pressure; painted bands, sealed joints and rendered areas do not. So the pressure is set per surface, and on anything delicate the cleaning solution does the work.
Can the building stay open while you wash it?
Usually yes. Work at height goes above the entrance rather than through it, and we agree the sequence and any short closures with the site manager before we start.
How long before painting can start?
The surface has to dry. In summer that is usually a day or two depending on the panel and the weather. We agree the handover with the painting crew separately.
Need the same on your building?
We will come out, look at the wall and tell you straight what is realistic and what is not. The visit is free.
Narva · Narva-Jõesuu · Sillamäe · Jõhvi · Kohtla-Järve
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