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North Shore Exterior

Exterior cleaning in Glenfield

Glenfield is an inland suburb, and most of it went up in a hurry. Once the bridge across the harbour was finished and the coastal land filled up, small farms between Kaipātiki Creek and the Wairau Valley were sold for new family suburbs, and by the early 1970s Glenfield was one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. That building era matters more here than salt does.

What should owners of 1960s and 70s houses know before a wash?

Two things: the paint and the roof. If a house was finished before 1990, WorkSafe says to treat its paint as containing lead, and the national lead paint guidelines say some homes built between 1970 and 1980 were still painted with it. On a Glenfield house that has been repainted a few times, lead may well sit under the newer coats.

A wash doesn’t need to disturb that paint. A low-pressure soft wash cleans the surface and leaves sound paint where it is. Where paint is already peeling, the crew will point it out rather than blast it off, because lead flakes spread into gardens and lawns. That’s a job for a painter working to the lead rules, not for a wash.

Why are Glenfield roofs cleaned at low pressure?

Because of asbestos. Asbestos is likely somewhere in most pre-2000 buildings, according to WorkSafe, and a 2026 alert from the regulator describes a 1970s house whose decramastic roof tiles turned out to contain asbestos after being water blasted, leaving debris inside and outside the home. Using high-pressure water on asbestos-containing roofing or cladding is prohibited.

So unless a roof is known to be asbestos-free, it’s cleaned with a low-pressure method or treated with a spray-applied product. Our roof cleaning page explains how iron, concrete tile and decramastic roofs are each handled. If you have a test result for your roof, mention it when you ask for a quote.

Do homes near the Kaipatiki reserves get greener walls?

They tend to, as a general pattern. Volunteers have been restoring the forest along the Kaipātiki Stream since 1997, and homes that back onto those reserves and gullies get more shade and stay damp longer after rain. That’s where green algae shows up first on south-facing weatherboards, fences and paths.

A yearly house wash keeps those walls clean, and paths and driveways that turn slippery under the trees respond well to water blasting. Concrete can take the pressure that cladding can’t, but the wash water still has to be kept out of the stormwater drains, which run to the streams you’re living next to.

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Questions from Glenfield

How do I know if my roof has asbestos?

You can’t tell by looking. Only a lab test on a sample confirms it, and taking the sample should follow WorkSafe guidance. Until you know, treat any roof from before 2000, and any decramastic roof, as if it could contain asbestos. That rules out water blasting but not cleaning: a low-pressure wash or a spray treatment still works.

Is a house wash worth it before repainting?

Yes. Painters need a clean, sound surface, and a wash removes the mould and grime that stop new paint bonding. It also shows clearly which areas are flaking and need preparing. On a Glenfield home of the 60s or 70s, that preparation has to follow the lead paint guidelines.

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