Exterior cleaning in Clontarf

Waterfront and water-view houses on Monash Crescent and Peronne Avenue, many architect-designed with off-form concrete, sandstone, timber screens and frameless glass balustrades, above 1960s brick homes on the slopes. Most of what we clean here dates from 1960s brick with waterfront rebuilds from the 1990s onwards, on Steep sandstone shoreline on Middle Harbour, north-facing and sun-trapped.

We work around Clontarf Beach and reserve, Sandy Bay, the Spit Bridge approach and Castle Rock track, on streets such as Monash Crescent, Peronne Avenue, Cutler Road, Ogilvy Road and Sandy Bay Road. The defining exterior problem is salt and algae on frameless glass balustrades, tannin streaks on off-form concrete, and lichen on sandstone walls and steps that lead down to the water.

Clontarf, Seaforth, Balgowlah Heights, North Balgowlah and Fairlight look over Middle Harbour and North Harbour. Salt is moderate, humidity is high, and the streets are a mix of 1960s brick, 1990s render and recent concrete-and-glass rebuilds on steep sandstone blocks.

Field note from Clontarf. Off-form concrete on the Monash Crescent waterfronts marks if you pressure wash it; we soft wash it with an oxalic-free chemistry and rinse at low pressure so the board-form texture is kept and nothing is etched. Nathan G, Founder

Planning and site constraints we check in Clontarf:

• Foreshore building line and harbour scenic protection
• Bushfire-prone land near Castle Rock and the Spit to Manly walk

Run-off. Anything washed off a Clontarf property ends up in Middle Harbour unless it is stopped at the kerb. Northern Beaches Council enforces the NSW EPA rule that wash water, detergent and sediment stay out of stormwater, so we bund drains, capture run-off and vacuum-recover on sealed or commercial sites. More in our stormwater guide.