Scope
What's included
Render, precast and painted concrete washed top to bottom, including the faces a pole cannot reach.
Metal cladding and composite panels cleaned with pure water, or pressure washed at a setting tested on the panel first, so the coating is not stripped.
Full balcony cleans on request, booked and paid for by individual residents, with nothing for the building manager to administer.
Awnings, entry canopies and signage faces cleaned on the same drop.
External glass cleaned as part of the wash and finished with pure water so it dries clear.
Gutters, box gutters and roof sheeting cleared and flushed where access allows.
Rope rigging, rescue plan and IRATA certified technicians for every drop.
Free photo inspection with any defects noted after completion.
Process
How a wash runs
01
Site visit and quote
We walk the roof, identify every substrate on the building and check anchor certification. You get a fixed price, a day count and a chemical plan, usually within two business days.
02
Test patch and notify
We wash a small test area first so you can see the result before the whole building is committed. Residents get a notice two weeks out.
03
Rig and wash
Two to four technicians on site, one elevation at a time from the top down. A 15 storey tower is typically five to ten days depending on how much render there is.
04
Report and derig
Ropes off the roof the afternoon we finish. Your photo inspection and invoice arrive within the week.
Options
Three cleans, three price points
Each clean includes everything in the one before it. Most buildings only need the first two on a regular cycle, with the third every two to three years to reset the facade.
Window Clean (Glass & Frames)
External glass cleaned by hand with applicator and squeegee.
Frames, mullions, seals and sills cleaned with the glass.
Render, paint and cladding are left as they are.
Best at the six month mark between facade cleans.
Pure Water Window and Facade Clean
Recommended for most buildings on a regular cleaning cycle.
Glass, frames, render, paint and cladding cleaned in one pass with pure deionised water.
Dries spot free with no detergent, so nothing runs into the gardens below.
Usually the most cost effective option on a mixed facade, because one system cleans every surface.
Pressure Wash and Squeegee Clean
The first clean for buildings that have not been cleaned in a few years.
Facade and ledges pressure washed, mould and organic staining treated, glass squeegeed by hand.
Suits buildings near busy roads, construction sites, the inner city, the river or the beach.
More detail and more care, with pressure tested and set for each surface. Recommended every two to three years.
Photos
On site
Why us
Why building managers call us back
Abseil Pro has been working Brisbane buildings since 2017. This is what that actually buys you.
Certified and insured
IRATA certified technicians on every job, supervised by a Level 3.
$20 million public liability and $10 million professional indemnity.
Work carried out to the Australian Standards for rope access and height safety.
SWMS, JSA and a job specific rescue plan in your hands before anyone arrives.
One crew, many trades
Rope access plus real trade tickets: arborist, painter and height safety installer.
Cleaning, gardening, painting, repairs and inspections from the same crew on the same ropes.
One mobilisation instead of four, which is where most of the saving actually comes from.
The same faces each visit, so nobody has to relearn your building.
It all gets documented
A free photo inspection with any defects noted at the end of every job, not just the big ones.
Anything we notice on the facade, flagged with a photo and a location.
Fixed prices, with variations quoted before the work rather than after it.
A fixed price with the assumptions written down, and a free on-site consult if you would rather we looked first.
FAQ
Questions building managers ask
How often should a building be washed?
Most Brisbane towers suit a Pure Water Window and Facade Clean once a year, with a window clean of the glass and frames at the six month mark, and a Pressure Wash and Squeegee Clean every two to three years to reset the facade. Buildings near busy roads, construction, the river or the bay pick up grime and salt faster and usually need the deeper clean sooner. Setting the whole cycle under one agreement is the cheapest way to keep a building on top of it.
What happens if we just leave it?
Mould and lichen hold moisture against the coating and shorten its life, and salt and traffic film bake on until they need abrasive work rather than washing. Sealant joints and flashings stay hidden behind the growth until they start leaking, so the problem is found late and costs more to put right. The first wash after years of nothing is always the expensive one, which is why staying on a cycle works out cheaper than catching up.
What does a building wash cost in Brisbane?
For a 10 to 20 storey residential tower a full external wash usually costs between $15,000 and $30,000. Surface area, substrate, how much detail there is on the facade and how long it has been since the last wash all move the number. We can often price it from photos and satellite imagery, and where a building needs a closer look that is what the free on-site consult is for.
Can you pressure wash the ledges while you are doing the pure water clean?
We can, but it usually costs more than it saves. Pure water and pressure washing are two separate setups: different equipment, different hoses, different rigging. Running both on the same building means paying for the setup twice, and on most jobs that outweighs whatever the second method adds.
We would rather pick the right method and run it across the whole facade. That is why the clean is priced in tiers, a window clean, a pure water window and facade clean, or a pressure wash and squeegee clean, rather than one flat rate. If the ledges genuinely need pressure, we price the building as a pressure wash. If they do not, pure water through a brush head cleans them along with the glass and everything else on the same pass.
Where one part of a building really does have to be done differently, tell us at quote stage. We will price it as its own visit instead of trying to run two systems in one day.
Do you clean balcony soffits and the inside of balconies?
Not as part of the building wash. Anything inside a resident balcony is theirs, so we leave it alone unless they ask us in. While we are on the ropes, individual residents can book and pay for a full clean of their own balcony: glass, walls, soffit and floor. They book and pay online, we SMS them the day before their drop and nobody needs to be home. There is nothing for the building manager to administer.
Will the chemicals damage plants or cars?
We wash with pure water on most surfaces, so usually there is no chemical involved at all. Where mould or lichen needs a soft wash chemical it is diluted and rinsed, and the planting below the drop is not affected. Where we are working above a car park we set an exclusion zone and put a spotter on the ground.
Do you need scaffolding or a swing stage?
No. Everything is done on rope from the roof anchors, so there is nothing on the footpath, no council permit and no crane booking. That is most of the reason a rope access wash comes in well under the alternatives.
What about asbestos cladding?
If the building has an asbestos register we work to it. If there is no register we assume the sheeting is asbestos and do not water blast it. Those surfaces get a low pressure wash or are left alone and reported instead.
Does the building need roof anchors?
How do we get a price?
Start with the free quote, or book an on-site consult if you would rather we looked at the building first. Most jobs can be quoted without a site meeting. Either way you get a fixed price with the assumptions written down, usually within two business days, with no charge and no obligation.
What areas do you cover?
Brisbane and south east Queensland, from the Sunshine Coast down to the Gold Coast, which is where the great majority of our work is. We travel further for portfolio clients and for buildings that are hard to get anyone else onto, including interstate. If you are not sure whether your building is in range, ask.
Do you offer ongoing facade maintenance agreements?
Yes. A three to five year agreement can cover the facade wash, the roof and gutter clean and the height safety inspection on one calendar, priced for the whole term. You choose which services go in and each is priced on its own, so the agreement covers exactly what you want and nothing else. After every visit you get a free photo inspection of the facade, covering anything we found. See how our maintenance agreements work.
