Woollahra’s heritage conservation area includes many Inter-War flat buildings, typically three storeys in face brick or render, found in the Rosemont, Nelson, Queen Street, Fletcher and Grafton precincts.
Council’s development controls for these buildings are clear: original face brickwork, terracotta or decorative concrete panels must not be painted, rendered or coated. Original forms, details, materials and finishes on the main elevations are to be restored or reconstructed.
For strata committees, that changes the maintenance options.
What the rule means in practice
When face brick gets dirty, stained or patchy, the only acceptable answer is cleaning and repair. Painting over the problem is not available. Neither is rendering or applying a coating. That makes the quality of the cleaning, and of any repointing, important.
Cleaning Inter-War face brick
These bricks are often decorative: tapestry bricks with varied colours, clinker bricks, contrasting bands and patterned parapets. They have a hard fired face over a softer body.
No high pressure. It strips the fired face and exposes the body, which then erodes.
No hydrochloric acid. It attacks mortar, can stain decorative bricks, and burns sandstone and terracotta details.
Yes: test patch, low pressure, biocide for growth, dry brushing for efflorescence, specific treatments for specific stains. More: why we test patch and efflorescence on brick.
Terracotta and decorative concrete
Terracotta panels and details are porous and can be fragile. Decorative concrete panels can hide corroding steel. Clean both gently, and report cracking or rust staining.
Rust staining
Rust streaks from window heads usually mean corroding steel lintels. Rust from balcony edges can mean concrete cancer. Both are repair jobs, not cleaning. More: concrete cancer.
Repointing
If mortar is failing, repoint with a mortar matched in strength and colour to the original. Hard cement mortar in a softer wall pushes moisture through the bricks and makes them fret. It also looks wrong. More: brick fretting.
Previously painted buildings
If original face brick was painted before the controls, council encourages reinstating it, but paint stripping is specialist work that can damage the brick. Test first, and talk to council.
For strata committees
Build façade cleaning into the capital works plan every few years. Get quotes that specify method by material. Ask for a photo report of defects. External walls are common property, so this is an owners corporation decision. More: strata exterior cleaning.
A typical maintenance cycle for an Inter-War block
Twice a year: gutters and box gutters cleared, downpipes tested.
Yearly: common areas, entry paths and stairwells cleaned; balcony drains checked before summer.
Every few years: facade cleaned, particularly shaded elevations. Photo report of defects.
As needed: repointing, lintel repair and concrete repair, based on what the facade clean reveals.
Planning these into the capital works fund avoids special levies. More: Eastern Suburbs strata maintenance.
See the Woollahra maintenance calendar and our brick cleaning service.
