Exterior cleaning in Collaroy Plateau

1960s to 1980s brick family homes on a high plateau with ocean or lagoon views, many rebuilt with render, stone cladding, pools and frameless glass to capture the outlook. Most of what we clean here dates from 1960s to 1980s, rebuilt progressively, on sandstone plateau 100 metres above Collaroy beach with a steep eastern escarpment.

We work around Collaroy Plateau Park and the escarpment lookout, Plateau Road shops, Edgecliffe Boulevard and Narrabeen Lagoon views to the north, on streets such as Plateau Road, Edgecliffe Boulevard, Parkes Road, Veterans Parade and Hall Avenue. The defining exterior problem is wind-driven salt haze on the east-facing glass and balustrades, mould on the sheltered southern render, and lichen on paving and pool coping.

The suburbs one ridge back from the surf, such as Queenscliff, Balgowlah, Allambie Heights, Beacon Hill, Cromer, Collaroy Plateau, Elanora Heights and Bilgola Plateau, get the salt haze on ocean-facing glass without the full battering, and the mould and lichen that come with sea-level humidity.

Field note from Collaroy Plateau. The Plateau is high enough that the salt arrives as a fine mist on the wind rather than as spray; glass looks clean until you angle it to the light, which is why we clean it on a quarterly program. Nathan G, Founder

Planning and site constraints we check in Collaroy Plateau:

• Bushfire-prone land on the escarpment and the Narrabeen Lagoon side
• Steep edge blocks with cantilevered decks and glass balustrades

Run-off. Anything washed off a Collaroy Plateau property ends up in Collaroy Beach and Narrabeen Lagoon 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.