08 / cleaning
DOFF superheated steam, gentle abrasive cleaning, chemical, jet wash and soft wash cleaning for facades, cladding and hard surfaces, and for residential exteriors: period brick, natural stone, patios, driveways and block paving. Method chosen to the substrate. Heritage safe is the default, not an upgrade, backed by the same RAMS and insurance we supply to main contractors.
When this is the right route
Scope · included
Scope · not included
Sectors
Process
01
Substrate type confirmed (stone, brick, render, cladding), soiling type assessed (atmospheric, biological, paint, soot), test area agreed with client. Pressure or steam method confirmed before any work begins.
02
DOFF steam for heritage or sensitive substrates; gentle abrasive cleaning where carbon sulphation, ingrained staining, paint or limescale will not shift with steam alone; chemical biocide for biological growth; jet wash for hard surfaces where pressure won't damage; softwash where pressure and chemistry both need controlling. Run off pH and disposal route set out.
03
RAMS written for the project: chemical handling, PPE matrix, run off containment plan, exclusion zones during application, pedestrian and vehicle protection. COSHH for any biocide or neutraliser.
04
Containment bunded, test area cleaned and signed off by client, full application by elevation. Neutraliser applied where chemical spec calls for it. Public access protected throughout.
05
Before/after photo record, cleaning record (method, products, pH readings where relevant), condition note if coating or restoration work is to follow.
On the books
Tesco · Canton
Canton, Cardiff · Uplands Retail Ltd
Case study
Canton, Cardiff · Retail
DOFF cleaning and internal decorating package for the Tesco Canton store in Cardiff. Mobilising June 2026 under Uplands Retail. Approximately 280 m² of external facade to be DOFF cleaned with fixed scaffold access. ACM zones identified before mobilisation, with controls set out in the RAMS.
This case study supports searches for live site commercial decorating, retail refurbishment, spraying on site and aluminium frame restoration by showing the kind of programme, access and handover constraints A Star Decorators handles for national estate clients.
Read project →Built for the people who buy decorating
We are a specialist subcontractor, not a turnkey fit out outfit. We deliver decorating, spraying, restoration and coatings under main contractors and direct estate teams.
For main contractors
Variations priced ahead of the request. Per store handover record. Handover with every snag closed. We run the way you run.
For estate + FM teams
Survey to handover without closing the unit. Powder coat restoration with a 5-7 year service life. Run off, masking and reopening tracked store by store.
For retail estate leads
Brand matched paint stacks against the estate spec. KPI reporting per store. Programme that survives shopfit slippage instead of inheriting it.
Find the right route
Most visitors arrive with a sector problem before they know the coating system. These routes match the way buyers search: home and residential work, retail fit out programmes, and industrial painting or warehouse coatings.
House painting and decorating
Painting and decorating for homes across Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire, inside and out. Exterior work covers masonry, render and exterior woodwork, with weather and coastal exposed coatings chosen to suit the property. You get a fixed written quote before we start, with any extras agreed in writing first. We move and cover furniture, protect floors, and leave the house clean at the end of every day. Over twenty years on the tools, now bringing that finish to local homes.
Retail shop fitting decorators
Retail shop fitting decorating is not about paint alone. It is about working nights around store teams and other trades, matching brand colour exactly, absorbing late variation instructions without losing the handover date, and walking away with a signed snag list. Not a punch list left for someone else to close.
Industrial painting contractors
Industrial and warehouse scopes need the coating system specified by substrate condition, not by what is cheapest to apply. We survey the floor, the cladding, the steelwork and the roof before recommending a system, then plan MEWP access, exclusion zones and drying time sequencing around live operations.
How we deliver
Twenty years finishing commercial buildings across the UK. Director led, the same trusted crews, one programme and one point of contact from survey to handover.
01
Stores stay open. Surveys, masking and run off planned around foot traffic.
02
Night programmes on retail and hospitality estates. Clean before doors open.
03
Rolling 4 to 12 stores a week against a national programme.
04
Offices in Poole and London. Crews mobilised across England, Scotland and Wales.
05
Decorating, on site spraying, powder coat restoration and floor coatings under one PM.
06
Before and after record, gloss readings and written service life on every scheme.
Frequently asked
Yes. Superheated steam at low pressure removes soiling without abrading the substrate. We sample clean a test area and agree the result before proceeding.
TORC is Stonehealth's gentle rotating vortex system: low air pressure, a little water and a fine inert granulate. We use it where steam alone will not shift the soiling, such as carbon sulphation on stone, ingrained staining on concrete, and paint or limescale removal. It runs under the same Stonehealth approval as our DOFF work, inside an A Star RAMS, with a sample area agreed before the full elevation.
Contained, captured and disposed in line with the chemical spec and site drainage rules. Set out in the RAMS pack before mobilisation.
The cleaning regime is matched to the substrate. If the intention is to preserve the existing coating, we confirm that in the spec. If it's a preamble to recoating, we can strip in the same pass.
Yes. MEWP or scaffold access, chosen at survey based on elevation height and run off management requirements.
The chemistry is substrate specific. The same stone on two different buildings can behave differently due to previous treatment, weathering or salt contamination. A site visit takes 30 minutes and prevents a specification that damages the facade.
Yes. DOFF runs at high temperature but very low pressure, so it lifts paint, biological growth and carbon soiling without forcing water into the brick face or eroding the surface. Conservation officers specify it on listed and period properties precisely because it is non abrasive and avoids the saturation damage high pressure washing can cause to old brick and lime mortar.
Yes. We use rotary wash heads at controlled pressure that clean the block surface without excavating the kiln dried sand from the joints. After cleaning we inspect the joints and re sand where needed with fresh kiln dried silica sand. A joint stabiliser seal is available as an optional extra to hold the sand long term.
Start a conversation
We will review the service route, access, preparation, finish and likely next step before the job is priced properly.
Related services
05 / coatings
TOR coatings. TOR liquid coating systems for flat and profiled commercial roofs. Approved applicator status. Up to 20-year system warranty. Access and edge protection planned in RAMS before the first operative goes up.
07 / coatings
cladding coatings. TOR and spray combination systems for profile sheet, rainscreen and curtain wall cladding. DOFF cleaned substrate, RAL matched finish. 10-year service life options on sound metal cladding.
02 / restoration
powder coated frame restoration. Faded shopfronts, curtain walls and entrance frames recovered to a matched RAL or BS finish. Works carried out around live trading. Written service life expectation with every scheme.
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