How to spot a cowboy pressure cleaner

Short answer: the operator to avoid blasts every surface at one pressure, carries no insurance, and quotes a single number by text. The good news is they are easy to screen out in about two minutes. Here are the red flags in the order you will actually meet them, and a quick routine to run before you let anyone near your render or roof.

The red flags, in order

1. One pressure for everything

If they talk about high-pressure cleaning your whole house, including render, paint and the roof, walk away. That is the single biggest cause of stripped paint, gouged render and cracked tiles. A real operator names which surfaces get a soft wash and which can take high pressure.

2. No insurance

Cleaning needs no trade licence in Queensland, so insurance is the credential that matters. If they cannot send a current certificate of currency for public liability, the risk of any damage sits with you, not them.

3. A single number by text

A figure like a flat price for the whole house, with nothing itemised, tells you nothing about what they will actually do. A trustworthy quote lists each surface, its method and its price, so you can compare like with like.

4. No test patch, straight in

A careful cleaner proves the method on an inconspicuous spot first. Someone who unloads the gun on your front render without testing is someone who does not expect to be held to the result.

5. A gallery of driveways only

Concrete is the easy, forgiving surface. If every before-and-after is a driveway and there is no render, roof or painted-surface work shown, they may only really do the blasting half of the job.

You are not hiring a machine, you are hiring judgement. The whole skill is knowing when not to use high pressure. Hire the person who leads with that.

The two-minute verification routine

• Ask which surfaces get soft wash and which get high pressure, and why. You want a clear, surface-by-surface answer, not a brush-off.
• Ask to see the certificate of currency for public liability, and working-at-heights cover if they are going on the roof.
• Ask whether they will do a test patch before the whole surface, and whether the method goes in writing.
• Look at the reviews for mentions of damage, regrowth or surprise pricing, and look for delicate-surface work in the photos, not just concrete.

What good looks like

The operator you want explains the method before the price, carries and shows insurance, gives you a written Surface and Method Sheet, does a test patch, and guarantees the result. None of that is exotic. It is simply someone treating your home as something to protect rather than a surface to blast as fast as possible.