Exterior cleaning in Browns Bay
Browns Bay faces straight out onto the Hauraki Gulf, between Rothesay Bay and Waiake. Like the rest of the East Coast Bays, it was a quiet holiday spot until the Harbour Bridge opened, then filled up with family homes through the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Salt off the Gulf and the age of the housing decide most of what a Browns Bay house needs.
Which Browns Bay homes catch the most salt spray?
The ones on the beachfront streets and cliff tops. Under NZS 3604, the national timber framing standard, a house less than half a kilometre from the sea counts as high exposure for salt, and the cliffs of clay and Waitematā sandstone along this coast lift homes straight into the wind off the water. An easterly can coat the seaward side of a house in a single day.
Salt shows first on glass, aluminium joinery and the undersides of decks and balconies. It also wears on metal roofing and spouting where rain doesn’t reach. Homes further up the hill and inland get far less, which is why two houses in the same suburb can need very different schedules. Our exterior window cleaning covers salt film on glass and frames.
What do 1950s to 70s East Coast Bays houses need?
A gentle wash and an awareness of what they’re made of. Paint from those decades often contained lead, and WorkSafe’s advice is to assume it did on any house up to the end of the 1980s. Its asbestos guidance goes further, flagging anything built before the year 2000. Fibre-cement soffits, old sheet claddings and decramastic roofs from these decades are all worth treating with care.
That’s why the walls get a low-pressure house wash and the roof a low-pressure clean unless it’s known to be asbestos-free. The result is just as clean. It simply relies on the cleaning solution doing the work rather than the force of the water.
When is the best time for a Browns Bay house wash?
Spring, for most people. A wash in September to November clears the winter’s mould and salt before the summer crowds arrive at the beach, and the drier, calmer days help the cleaning solution work before it’s rinsed. Homes right on the waterfront often benefit from a second wash in autumn, after a summer of onshore breezes.
If you’re planning a few jobs at once, do the gutters and any roof treatment first, then the walls, windows and finally the paths. Our exterior care calendar sets out a year’s plan.
Jobs we quote in Browns Bay
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House washing in Browns Bay
Soft washing with extra attention on the seaward side and the soffits.
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Window cleaning in Browns Bay
Salt film off glass and aluminium frames facing the Gulf.
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Roof cleaning in Browns Bay
Low pressure on roofs from before 2000, including decramastic tiles.
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Deck washing in Browns Bay
Decks that face the sea pick up salt and go green in the shade underneath.
Questions from Browns Bay
Do you cover the rest of the East Coast Bays?
Yes. Browns Bay is one of a chain of beach suburbs running from Takapuna up to Long Bay, including Milford, Castor Bay, Campbells Bay, Mairangi Bay, Murrays Bay, Rothesay Bay, Torbay and Waiake, and we quote in all of them. The same salt and housing-age points apply right along this coast.
How often should windows facing the Gulf be cleaned?
More often than inland ones. The window industry’s own care advice is that coastal joinery needs frequent washing to keep salt off the frames and seals. For a Browns Bay home looking out to sea, cleaning the seaward windows every three months or so is reasonable, with the sheltered sides done less often.
Nearby suburbs
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