Vaucluse is not one environment. A house on the Parsley Bay side sits in relatively sheltered harbour air with tree cover. A house on the Old South Head Road ridge takes unbroken ocean weather. The same service costs differently and is performed differently across those two positions, which is why a single quote figure for the suburb means very little.
This is a service-by-service account of what the work actually involves here. The narrative background on the microclimates is in our piece on Vaucluse and Watsons Bay.
Sandstone, which is most of the job
Sandstone defines Vaucluse: retaining walls, terracing, steps, garden walls and the original fabric of the older houses. It is also the material most often damaged by contractors.
Weathered Sydney sandstone develops a hardened outer skin that protects the softer stone beneath. High pressure removes it, and the stone then decays faster than it did before it was cleaned. Our sandstone cleaning in Vaucluse runs at low pressure with treatment doing the work.
Sandstone sealing is worth considering here in a way it is not further inland, because salt loading is the main decay driver. It is only worth doing on clean, dry stone, and a penetrating product rather than a topical one.
Walls: render, paint and growth
Rendered and painted walls on the sheltered side grow algae and mould readily under tree cover. On the exposed side the problem is salt film holding moisture against the surface, which produces the same green result by a different route.
Both are treated by soft washing rather than pressure. Render cleaning and mould removal are the same visit in practice. Face brickwork on the older houses needs the same restraint as the stone.
Paving, pool surrounds and driveways
Vaucluse has more imported stone per block than almost anywhere in Sydney. Travertine and limestone around pools are soft, porous and intolerant of both acid and pressure. Salt from chlorinated water wicks into them and crystallises inside the stone, which is what causes the pitting and flaking seen on so many pool surrounds here.
The rest of the hard surfaces run through driveway cleaning, paver cleaning, patio cleaning and concrete cleaning. Where sealing is wanted afterwards, paver sealing, driveway sealing and concrete sealing follow once the surface is properly dry.
The white bloom on new stonework
Recently built walls and paving frequently develop a white crust as salts migrate out during curing. That is efflorescence, not dirt, and treating it too early usually means treating it repeatedly.
Roofs and solar
Roof moss treatment is a treatment-and-wait process, never a pressure clean. The general reasoning is under roof cleaning and gutter cleaning.
Solar panel cleaning matters more here than most suburbs, because salt film and bird droppings both reduce output and neither washes off in rain. Where a roof needs recoating rather than cleaning, that is roof painting.
Timber, fences and everything else
Salt-exposed timber decks grey faster here than inland. Fence cleaning, outdoor tile and grout and graffiti removal complete the residential list. Apartment blocks and commercial sites run through strata pressure cleaning and commercial pressure cleaning, and the combined package is exterior cleaning.
Access is a real cost here
Steep driveways, terraced gardens, long hose runs from the street and harbour-side blocks that fall away sharply all add time. Two houses of identical size can differ by hundreds purely on access, which is why we quote on site rather than by floor area.
Written by the team at The Prestige Standard, exterior cleaning contractors working across Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. Fixed written quotes within 24 hours with every surface itemised, $20 million public liability. See our service areas or call 0494 810 609.
