Exterior cleaning in North Balgowlah

1950s and 1960s brick and weatherboard family homes on large, sloping blocks that back onto Bantry Bay bushland, with a steady run of two-storey rebuilds in render, stone and Colorbond. Most of what we clean here dates from 1950s to 1960s with 2010s rebuilds, on sandstone slopes falling west to Bantry Bay and north to Manly Dam.

We work around Bantry Bay and Garigal National Park, Manly Dam reserve, Tunks Park and the Wakehurst Parkway corridor, on streets such as Frenchs Forest Road East, Wanganella Street, Sunnyside Crescent, Woodland Street and Eurobin Avenue. The defining exterior problem is gutters and valleys full of leaf and bark from the surrounding gums, moss on shaded driveways and paths, and mould on the render where the canopy keeps the walls damp.

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 North Balgowlah. On the Wanganella and Sunnyside blocks that touch the bush, the roof valleys collect enough bark in a year to lift the tiles' water line; gutter clears here are a safety job as much as a cosmetic one. Nathan G, Founder

Planning and site constraints we check in North Balgowlah:

• Bushfire-prone land along the Garigal National Park and Manly Dam edges
• Manly Dam catchment on the northern side

Run-off. Anything washed off a North Balgowlah property ends up in Bantry Bay and Manly Dam 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.