Facade finishing: how to care for it to extend its service life

Cleaning the wall covering is an important task not only from the point of view of maintaining the appearance of the building. With the right approach to this set of measures, the facade will serve as long as possible without losing its operational properties. Whether the surface needs high-quality cleaning can be said for sure after a preventive inspection.

House facade care: what to wash with correctly

The substances used for washing are available to users in the form of chemicals of a certain composition. Usually they need to be diluted with water in the required proportions. In case of minor contamination, you can deal with the problem yourself without using these substances. To do this, you need a hose and access to a tap with high-pressure water. A strong stream of water will easily wash away soot, mold, and fungal deposits.

In case of significant contamination, more serious equipment and substances will be needed. To cope with cleaning the decorative coating, the following are usually used:

• high-pressure hardware washers - their advantage is the ability to obtain excellent water pressure with a small water consumption;
• sandblasting devices - they are used with a working mixture, which includes water, fine abrasive and detergent, they work under the force of compressed air from a compressor;
• jet cleaning devices - instead of water, they use dry ice in the form of CO2 granules with a diameter of 0.5–3 mm.

The last two methods are ideal for high-rise buildings. In such situations, professional craftsmen usually start working, who have specialized lifts and climbing equipment at their disposal. It should be noted that such methods are also used when washing windows at great heights.

How do you know when it's time to clean your facade?

Even if expensive and high-quality materials were used to arrange the facade, the wall surface still needs regular inspection and routine cleaning.

Regular inspection of the facade allows you to promptly identify contamination that leads to a violation of its integrity. The inspection itself is carried out in three stages:

• visual - you should carefully inspect the surface for cracks, chips, dents, depressions, you also need to focus on the appearance of mold;
• diagnostics of the heat-insulating layer - its integrity and ability to effectively store heat are examined;
• checking the level of moisture protection - it is indicated how reliably the facade protects the interior of the walls from moisture penetration.

If the facade is painted, it is recommended to carefully inspect the paint layer - are there any chips or cracks on them?

Useful tips from facade cleaning experts

The type of contamination and the properties of the coating material are the main accents taken into account when choosing substances and cleaning methods. As a rule, experienced craftsmen pay attention to the following accents:

• ordinary water with detergents is excellent for cleaning siding;
• brick or stone walls are also quite easy to wash with water, but if there is efflorescence, special chemicals must be used;
• hydrochloric acid in a 24% composition has proven itself well on ceramic coatings, it is applied with a brush, and then washed off with a stream of clean water;
• traces of paint or old paint and varnish materials can be removed using special "washes".

If you ignore the care of the facade coating, it will gradually deteriorate its decorative properties and become unusable, causing the need for restoration and expensive repairs in the future.