Heritage & Exterior Cleaning in Woollahra, NSW

Woollahra sits under one of the densest tree canopies in the Eastern Suburbs, and much of it falls within heritage conservation areas. Those two facts define the work: soft materials that need careful handling, and a constant load of organic debris that stains everything below it.

Heritage materials, gentle methods

Victorian and Federation housing, original face brick, lime mortar, sandstone sills, steps and garden walls, tessellated tile entries and cast-iron lacework. None of it tolerates high pressure — lime mortar blows out of joints, sandstone erodes and stripes, and original tiles crack.

Facades are soft washed. Stone is treated chemically and lifted at low pressure. Ironwork and tessellated tiling are done by hand. If a surface shouldn’t be cleaned at all, we say so rather than doing it anyway.

The canopy is the other half of the job

The mature figs and plane trees through Woollahra drop relentlessly. Practically, that means gutters that need clearing twice a year, and paving, steps and courtyards stained brown with tannin and slick with black algae in the shaded sections. Tannin doesn’t come out with pressure — it needs the right treatment or it simply gets driven further into the stone.

Narrow streets, tight access

Much of Woollahra has no off-street parking, narrow one-way streets and courtyards reachable only through the house. We work from compact setups, bring our own water where there’s no tap access, protect internal floors when we pass through, and keep noise and disruption to neighbours down.

Recommended cycle

Gutters twice yearly given the leaf load. Facade washing every 18 months to two years. Sandstone sealed after cleaning, which makes a marked difference under heavy canopy.