Exterior cleaning in North Narrabeen

Surf-side homes and small blocks along Ocean Street and the headland, lagoon-front houses on Narrabeen Park Parade, and 1960s brick homes on the slopes toward Warriewood. Most of what we clean here dates from 1950s to 1970s with headland rebuilds, on sand spit at the lagoon entrance rising to the Narrabeen Head sandstone.

We work around North Narrabeen rock pool and the lagoon entrance, Narrabeen Head and Turimetta Beach, the lagoon entrance bridge on Ocean Street and Jamieson Park, on streets such as Ocean Street, Narrabeen Park Parade, Malcolm Street, Peal Place and Namona Street. The defining exterior problem is salt and sand on the Ocean Street fronts, mould under the deep eaves of the lagoon-front homes, and green film on timber decks over the water.

Homes around Narrabeen Lagoon, Dee Why Lagoon, Curl Curl Lagoon and Manly Lagoon sit in still, humid air with less salt than the ocean front but far more biological growth. Walls stay damp long after dawn, so algae and mould rather than salt are the enemy, and run-off control matters more than anywhere because the lagoons are the receiving water.

Field note from North Narrabeen. The lagoon-front decks on Narrabeen Park Parade grow a green film on the shaded boards within a season; we clean them with an oxygenated timber cleaner and a soft brush, never a pressure wand that would fur the hardwood. Nathan G, Founder

Planning and site constraints we check in North Narrabeen:

• Narrabeen Lagoon entrance and flood-planning area
• Coastal hazard mapping on Narrabeen Head and Turimetta

Run-off. Anything washed off a North Narrabeen property ends up in Narrabeen Lagoon entrance and North Narrabeen Beach 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.