Stone Restoration and Render Cleaning- Dartmoor National Visitor Centre

Stone Restoration and Render Cleaning at the Dartmoor National Visitor Centre

The Dartmoor National Visitor Centre had become contaminated with organic growth. Namely single cell green algae, and black mould. This can be very problematic to remove, as the Centre had already discovered, as other contractors had attempted to clean the Centre's exterior, but without success. Softwashing UK cleaned the render and restored the stone at the centre, returning the property to optimum condition.

There were two substrates to clean and treat at the Dartmoor National Visitor Centre. The first of these is painted stone. High quality stonework with a painted veneer can look spectacular, but unfortunately the stonework was blighted with organic growth. Softwashing UK treated the stonework using the Doff Steam System. This is a low pressure cleaning system that allows strictly controlled high temperatures to be applied over even sensitive surfaces. It has a deep cleansing effect on stone, and can clean and remove organic staining from many substrates. It is recommended for restoration by many organisations, including Historic England, English Heritage, and the Victoria Cross Trust. As such the Dartmoor National Visitor Centre were more than glad to see this technology being used to clean their property. After cleaning with the Doff Steam system the building was treated with a good quality biocide to kill the growth at root system nd ensure longevity of the clean.

The second substrate in play was render. Again the Doff Steam System was used, and the substrate was also given a biocidal treatment. These measures had an immensely beneficial impact and restorative effect.

Much of the visitor centre was cleaned from the safety of the ground. As you can see from the photo below however, a Moving Elevating Work Platform was required to access all elevations safely. The MEWP was operated at all times by IPAF trained and qualified staff.

The Centre were delighted with our results, and Softwashing UK are contracted to maintain this property annually.