Surface: Brick

Warehouse cleaning

We recently cleaned the exterior of a huge warehouse as part of a refurbishment project. Work included cleaning external metal clad walls, yellow metal roller doors and brickwork. The unit had been out of use for some time and the exterior surfaces were covered in black and green algae and lichen, making it look very much the worse for wear. All exterior surfaces needed to be thoroughly cleaned and made ready for painting.

Algae – a perennial problem

Algae spores are airborne; when they land on an exterior surface all they require to grow and flourish is moisture. Hard exterior surfaces, such as stone, concrete, brick or metal, located in damp, shady places are all vulnerable to contamination. Although growth tends to be more significant in autumn and winter, it can happen in any season if the surface is persistently damp and shady. As you can see from the pictures below it creates unsightly stains, moreover it can contribute to more rapid degeneration of the surface material.

A belt and braces approach gets the best results

Algae can be challenging to remove but OneFifty’s tried and tested cleaning process always achieves the best possible results.

  • First we clean the surface using steam cleaning, pressurised steam heated to 150 degrees, which delivers powerful cleaning whilst still being gentle on the surface material.
  • Next we apply our own chemical wash specifically developed to tackle algae staining which ensures the final pass with steam cleaning will remove all trace of the algae and leave the surfaces really clean.
  • We can also apply a OneFifty inhibitor developed to deter future growth and keep the building exterior looking clean and fresh for as long as possible.

Pressurised steam achieves a brilliant outcome

Our team worked really hard to make sure that the cleaning of this huge unit was completed to a high standard and on deadline. Every exterior surface was left looking really clean and fresh – without a trace of algae, lichen or any other contaminant.

The property managers were delighted with the outcome, the reburbishment has now been completed ready for the new tenants to move in.

If you would like to know more about pressurised steam cleaning or removing algae from a building exterior call Max or Andy on 0333 234 1445 or email your enquiry we would be pleased to be of help.

Bragging about Building Cleans

We have worked on a number of building cleans – where we clean up brick work and other external surfaces after building work has been completed to make sure that the finished building looks its best. We have worked on several such projects for Bristol-based construction company CTS, one of these involved removing unsightly white efflorescence from a red brick façade on a recently constructed property in Braggs Lane.

What is efflorescence?

White efflorescence is a type of white powdery surface deposit caused by water-soluble salts that leech out of bricks as they dry. It can look very unsightly, especially in this case where the white salts contrasted starkly against red brick work.

Efflorescence is a difficult problem to solve. We achieve the best possible results by using our own tried and tested blended acid solution to dissolve the salts, then flushing the surface with cold water at high pressure. We simply repeat this process until all the salts have been removed. We usually manage to achieve around 95% removal which massively improves the appearance of the surface. We do warn clients that the salts can continue to leech out of the bricks over time and we can always arrange to retreat any troublesome patches.

A clever approach to gaining access

Braggs Lane is located in Old Market in the centre of Bristol and there was very little space alongside the building for us to set up our high level access equipment. Our solution was to use a tracked 20 metre spider which we set up at the rear of the building. The extended outreach of the spider allowed us to access all of the exterior surface areas that required cleaning. On this particular project we also cleaned the mortar splashes left by the builders when they were pointing the brick work. It’s a common problem, often hard to avoid, and our cleaning soon got rid of any unsightly marks. Both CTS, and their client, were extremely pleased with the outcome.

To find out more about building cleans, or removal of white efflorescence contact Max Morris on 0333 234 1445 or email your enquiry and we will get back to you.

 

Cleaning a Grade II listed building

Being a harbourside city Bristol’s residents can enjoy the sound and sight of seagulls wheeling and diving in the sky. But have you ever thought about the flipside of having these beautiful birds share our city? Its guano (seagull poo) and a whole lot of other sticky, feathery mess that nesting birds create, and if you are managing a building in the centre of Bristol it’s a problem that you will be very familiar with.

We recently carried out cleaning on a Grade II listed residential building in the centre of the city to remove guano. The General (thus named because it used to be the Bristol General Hospital) is a prestigious residential development located on the waterfront. The building is of significant historic interest and has been beautifully restored by City and County – a company with a reputation for restoring historic buildings and creating outstanding homes.

Maintaining high standards

The apartments provide a unique blend of old and new. Elegant and stylish interiors look out over the docks or onto a pretty interior courtyard with a water fountain. Of course, the residents of The General expect their property to be maintained to the highest standards, but being right next to the waterfront, the seagulls have been doing their worst! So, we were asked to come and clean the historic stone and remove the seagull droppings.

Best for cleaning historic buildings

When it comes to cleaning historic or listed buildings, extra care needs to be taken as the stone may be vulnerable. We use steam cleaning, a cleaning system that is used throughout the world for cleaning historic buildings and monuments of note. It is an excellent option because it has a far lighter impact on the surface material than standard jet washing systems. Being able to precisely control both the pressure and the temperature of the steam jet makes it ideal for cleaning delicate stonework and enables us to achieve a far superior clean whilst mitigating the risk of damage.

We used a cherry picker to access the high window ledges and clean the sills, brick work and stone leaving the surfaces looking as good as new. Our staff are experienced at high-level cleaning and are fully IPAF trained so customers can rest assured that HSSE is fully covered off.

If you would like to know more about our process for cleaning historic buildings please give us a call. We would be happy to visit your premises and carry out a test clean to demonstrate exactly what we are able to achieve.

Quick and convenient cleaning for fast food favourite – McDonald’s

We carry out regular jet washing for McDonald’s restaurants. This usually involves cleaning the outdoor seating areas, coral patios and drive-thru areas, however recently we also cleaned the roof of their Melksham restaurant.

McDonald’s aims to give customers the best possible experience when they visit their restaurants. Recent innovations include new interior décor, touch screen ordering with table service and digital menu boards at their drive-thru’s. As experts in their field, their managers also recognise the importance of keeping their premises looking as attractive on the outside as they are on the inside – and that’s where we come in!

We work with the team that owns and manages 12 McDonald’s restaurants in Bristol and the South West. They first commissioned us to clean the car park and drive-thru area at their Chippenham branch, and were so pleased with the outcome that they commissioned us to carry out regular ongoing cleans for all their restaurants.

The reason for cleaning the roof in Melksham was that moss and lichen were starting to grow on the tiles. Spores and seeds – which are air-airborne – get blown onto roofs and, given the right conditions, can take hold and start to grow. Moss particularly likes a damp, cool environment so a north facing roof near to trees and vegetation can be particularly affected.

We used steam cleaning to clean the roof – which allows us to achieve unbeatable results without the use of harmful chemicals. Our experienced team can adjust pressure to achieve a really, effective clean without damaging the tiles. Work was carried out out-of-hours to minimise impact on customers. In fact, we completed the job and were off the premises well before staff arrived for their early morning shift.

Area Supervisor, Mark Pickering said; “I’d just like to say thank you for your work in Melksham. Your team were a credit to you, nothing was an issue with them. The roof looks great!”

If you would like to know more about roof cleaning or removing moss and lichen give us a call – we would be pleased to be of help.

Our system works its magic on wood, brick, render and cement

St George’s Heights is a modern apartment block located in Redfield, in South Bristol. The building façade is made up of four different substrates; wooden cladding, brick work, cement and K Rend render. Each of these surfaces requires a slightly different method of cleaning which was no problem for our cleaning system.

Our versatile cleaning system can be easily adapted and adjusted to suit whatever surface needs to be cleaned.

  • On the timber clad areas, we used steam cleaning on a very gentle setting to ensure that we did not damage the surface. We have used the system to clean wooden surfaces many times before so knew exactly what settings would work to get the best results. You simply could not achieve the same outcome using high pressure cold water washing because the pressure required to achieve an acceptable level of cleaning would have completely shredded the surface.
  • On the coping stones, which are made of solid cast cement, we used a powerful hot wash. The cement can easily withstand the heat and pressure and it achieves really excellent results.
  • A large percentage of the façade has been treated with K Rend, a high quality external coloured silicone render used by builders and developers to create a durable weather-proof building façade. K Rend incorporates silicone water repellents as part of its cement based system, which repels water while still allowing the substrate to breathe. This helps to preserve the look of the render by slowing down algae growth. None the less, over time algae will develop, creating ugly black stains typically under the eaves of the roof and beneath window ledges.

Steam cleaning is ideal for cleaning render. It allows us to finely adjust pressure in order to achieve a gentle but effective clean.  We also use a special render wash to enhance the cleaning process and it delivers outstanding results.

For more information about our flexible jet washing services contact Max or Andy Morris on 0333 234 1445 or email info@onefifty.co.uk

What’s a six tonne spider got to do with jet washing?

We have acquired a reputation for problem solving, especially when it comes to cleaning buildings with tricky access. In truth, we rather relish a challenge – maybe that’s why we get called in.  One Glass Wharf is a good example as it required various specialist access equipment including a six tonne spider!

One Glass Wharf is an award-winning office building located in Bristol’s business quarter. The building forms the centrepiece of a major urban regeneration scheme near Temple Meads Station. It has a prominent waterfront location and features a striking undulating terracotta, zinc and glass façade as well as two wall ‘slices’ made of white composite stone. Over time the white stone was becoming increasingly blackened by algae and, since it was critical that this iconic building be kept looking immaculate at all times, the property managers responsible for maintaining the building called us in to clean the stone.

ACCESS REQUIRES HEIGHT AND REACH

There were a number of unusual challenges associated with cleaning One Glass Wharf. Firstly, a section of the roof is recessed and required specialist access equipment to allow us to reach up to a height of 30 metres and outwards over the roof area, something that is quite tricky to achieve. In addition to this we needed to set up access equipment in an extremely restricted space – a narrow alley that runs between the two stone walls – in order to reach certain sections of the walls.

PROBLEM SOLVING IS WHAT WE ARE GOOD AT

We use a lot of different types of access equipment to reach the places other jet washing companies can’t (or don’t want to!). This includes various mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs); scissor lifts, cherry pickers, spider lifts and boom lifts including articulated knuckle booms and telescopic (straight) booms. We have both the knowledge and the experience to assess a project and select the most appropriate access equipment to allow us to get the job done efficiently and safely. Plus we are accredited IPAF operators and our team is fully trained in the safe use of mobile access towers (PASMA).

ONE GLASS WHARF

For One Glass Wharf we used a truck mounted platform with an articulated boom to access the front of the building, while a compact six tonne spider crane was neatly located in a narrow alley way to allow us to reach the required height on the side of the wall ‘slices’. Our steam cleaning system is ideal in these circumstances; it does not lose power, even at 32 metres, whereas most other cold water jet washing systems certainly would. It also allows us the power and control required to achieve the highest standards of cleaning.

Even though we knew that steam cleaning would be perfect for this type of substrate, we still carried out a test clean on a small area of the white stone slice to demonstrate what we could achieve prior to undertaking the job. After cleaning we applied an approved biocide prohibitor to the surfaces to protect the stone and help slow down algae regrowth.

One Glass Wharf looked brilliant once we had completed the clean. Will Mellor of Capital Properties was delighted with the outcome. He said, “ I was amazed by the brilliant work that Max and his team did on One Glass Wharf. They overcame some tricky access challenges to complete the task and the building now looks as good as new. We will certainly be using OneFifty again.”

For more information about our jetwashing services contact Max or Andy Morris on 0333 234 1445 or email info@onefifty.co.uk

The Environment Agency

We were asked to undertake some graffiti removal at ‘Kings Meadow House’ an Environment Agency site in Reading.

They had been the victims of graffiti and now had a number of walls with unwanted images and tags. We were selected to undertake the clean up because of our environmentally friendly steam cleaning system. Using pressurised steam at 150 C we are able to remove graffiti without the use of harmful chemicals.

Under agreement with the Environment Agency we also sealed off the nearby storm drains as an additional precaution so that the water and paint residues from the clean-up could be directed in the main foul water system thereby helping to minimise any potential polluting of the storm drains.

Once all the drains had been protected our steam cleaning system made short work of cleaning up the brick work and the offending graffiti.

The Environment Agency was delighted with the outcome of our cleaning which left the brick walls graffiti free and good as new.

Grosvenor Court

We were requested by BNS Property Management to clean the front walls and pathways of Grosvenor Court, Bristol.

We were selected to undertake the works because of our steam cleaning system and the cleaning ability it provides. Our steam cleaning system made light work of the black lichen, algae and moss that had covered the bath stone on the front walls.

The fact that there was no water source on site did not stop us completing the works. As we are fully authorised water standpipe users, we were able to locate and set up our own water supply. Alongside this, our vehicle mounted equipment didn’t require any access to electricity. This meant we could complete the works with the minimum of disruption.

BNS Property Management and ourselves were delighted with the results we achieved. The photos speak for themselves!

Willow Bank Shopping Centre

We were called by Colliers International Property Management at short notice to clean the pedestrian area of the Willow Bank Shopping Centre in preparation for a war memorial service they were organising within the precinct.

We were very happy to provide a service  for this particular event as HM Forces play a part in one of our directors lives as Andy Morris is himself a British Army reservist. As we are a 24hr service we can work at night to minimise any disruption in high traffic areas. For the Willow Bank Shopping Centre requirements we started at 5am and were able to complete the clean within the 4 hours requested, ready for the 9 am precinct opening  time. As a self contained unit we didn’t require access to a power or water supply and with our Steam PLUS system we were able to clean without the use of chemicals, thus minimising the environmental impact.

The client (and Maj Andy Morris) were delighted with the outcome ahead of, what went on to become, a televised War Memorial Service.

Fairfield High School

We were contacted by the caretaker of Fairfield High School, Bristol. The school had very large quantity of organised, but now tired looking, graffiti art covering a very prominent wall. The caretaker required the wall to be stripped of paint and brought back to its original condition. Doing this helped him avoid a costly long term maintenance plan which involved painting over the graffiti regularly in order to keep up the building standard.

Utilizing our steam cleaning system we were able to make light work of stripping the paint. All traces of the paint were removed safely and delicately without the use for any harmful chemicals.

As our steam cleaning system is vehicle mounted and fully self-contained we were able to work independently without the need for electricity or water. This meant that the caretaker to carry on with his busy schedule of maintenance.

The wall was completely restored and both the Head teacher and Caretaker were very impressed and relieved not to have to consider over painting with all the additional costs associated.