Coastal Collection
Protection against salt, wind and weathering, for properties that take the brunt of the North Sea.
Everything from Clacton round to Frinton and up to Walton lives in salt air. Salt is hygroscopic — it pulls moisture out of the atmosphere and holds it against whatever it has settled on, so a coastal property is damp far more of the time than an inland one. Metal corrodes faster, paint fails sooner, render stays green longer. The work is not different in kind; it is more frequent, and it targets the salt.
What it protects
Every fixing on the building
Because salt pulls water out of the air and holds it there, a seafront property is wet for far more hours of the year than the rainfall figures suggest. Corrosion starts at joints and fixings — brackets, screws, hinges, rails — and by the time it is visible on the face it has been working away underneath for years.
What is behind the render
Salt-laden water finds hairline cracks and then crystallises inside them. The crystals take up more room than the solution did, so every wetting and drying cycle opens the crack a little further. The staining you can see is the least important part of what is going on.
The glass, the frames and the seals
Wind-driven salt and sand is abrasive. It etches glass, works into gaskets and drainage slots, and retires double glazing years ahead of schedule. Rinsing it off before it dries back on is very nearly the whole defence.
What it covers
- Salt removal, not just cleaningRinsing with clean water to carry salt off the surface, rather than washing the dirt off and leaving the salt behind.
- Windward elevations firstThe seaward side takes several times the punishment of the sheltered side and is treated accordingly.
- MetalworkRailings, gates, brackets and fixings checked for corrosion where it starts, which is always at a joint or a fixing.
- Glass, frames and sealsRinsed with pure water so the salt leaves with the water instead of drying back onto the pane. Gaskets and drainage slots checked while we are at them.
- Render and paintSoft washed and inspected for the hairline cracking that lets salt-laden water into the substrate.
- Balconies and balustradesThe most exposed structure on a seafront property and the one most often left alone. Fixings, drainage and the underside as well as the face.
- Gutters and downpipesCleared more often — coastal wind fills them with sand and salt as well as leaves.
- Worked around the weatherThere is no sense cleaning a seaward elevation into an onshore gale. Exposed sides are booked against the forecast, which is why coastal properties are scheduled differently from inland ones.
- An honest exposure ratingFrontline, second row, or sheltered behind. It decides how often you genuinely need us, and for a fair number of properties the answer is less often than people assume.
Perfect for
Properties within reach of the sea, where salt air and spray age a building faster than inland weather ever does.
How often
More often than inland — typically every six to eight weeks on the exposed elevations.
Twice a year for exposed frontline properties. Annually a street or two back.
Everything we use is safe around pets, children and planting. Nothing we apply to your home should cost you your lawn or worry you about the dog.
What it costs
Priced the same way as the equivalent inland work, at a frequency that suits the exposure. We will tell you honestly which category your property is in. We measure the property from survey data before we quote, so the figure we give you is worked out from your building rather than guessed from the kerb. Every quote is confirmed on site before any work starts, and we will tell you if we think you do not need the work.
