Graffiti Removal Cardiff

Fresh paint comes off easiest, so ring us the same week

Aerosol paint keeps changing after it lands. For a day or two the binder is soft and the pigment still sits in the top of the surface, so a gel remover with a short dwell lifts it in one pass. A month of Cardiff sun and rain later, the binder has hardened and the carrier has dragged pigment down into the pores. The same tag then needs longer dwell, repeat applications and far more rinsing.

There is a second reason to move quickly. A wall that stays tagged gets tagged again. The repeat sites we attend are the same few surfaces: a rear service door, a gable end onto one of the back lanes behind the terraces in Roath or Canton, a shutter on a quiet street. Clearing it inside a few days breaks the pattern, and we are out 7:00 to 21:30 seven days a week so shop fronts get done before opening.

Surfaces we take graffiti off

The substrate decides the method. Before anything is applied we work out what is under the paint and test a small area, usually low down or behind a downpipe.

• Facing brick. Porous, so pigment sits below the face. Gel remover, proper dwell, controlled rinse. Never a turbo nozzle: it cuts the fired face off the brick and leaves a pale eroded patch that dirties faster than the wall around it.
• Render, including K Rend and other through-coloured systems. The colour runs through the whole coat, so a harsh solvent leaves a bleached patch you cannot touch in.
• Natural stone. Around Cardiff that usually means Pennant sandstone, with limestone on older frontages. The likeliest surface to hold a shadow, so we work with poultices that draw pigment back out instead of driving it deeper.
• Concrete, blockwork and paving. Tolerant of strong chemistry and hot water, and the most complete results of any masonry.
• Metal shutters, doors and railings. The risk is the host coating, not the tag: powder coating lifts if the wrong solvent goes on.
• Signage, fascia panels and printed vinyl. Solvents craze acrylic and polycarbonate and dull a printed wrap in seconds.
• Glass. Paint comes off easily. Acid etching and scratched tags do not, and need polishing or a new pane.
• Painted walls, uPVC and powder-coated cladding. A remover strong enough to lift the tag often lifts the paint under it, so we clean and re-coat in a matched colour.

Chemistry matched to the surface, not pressure turned up

A pressure washer on its own removes graffiti the way sandpaper does. It takes the paint off by taking the surface with it: the fired face of a brick, the top skin of render, the crust that has protected a stone wall for a century. The tag goes, a rough lighter patch replaces it, and that open patch holds dirt and takes the next tag deeper.

The remover does the work. We carry gels and poultices at several strengths, from a water-based non-caustic gel for delicate coloured surfaces up to solvent gels for cured and two-pack paint. Gel clings to a vertical wall and stays wet long enough to act, which a liquid will not. Dwell runs from a few minutes to half an hour. Pressure rinses, it does not cut.

Shadowing and ghosting, and what we say before we start

On dense surfaces, glass, metal, glazed tile, sound signage, sealed concrete, graffiti comes off completely. On porous masonry it usually does, but not always. Where pigment has soaked into old sandstone, soft brick or a lime mortar joint, a faint shadow can remain once everything liftable has been lifted. Often it fades as the wall weathers. Sometimes it stays as a slight discolouration.

You hear that from us at the quote, not after the invoice. If the test patch says ghosting is coming, you choose: accept the shadow, push further with repeat poultice treatments at extra cost, or clean and paint in a matched masonry colour.

How our graffiti removal in Cardiff works

1. Send us a photo. Text or email a picture with something in shot for scale, a door handle or a wheelie bin will do. Usually we can name the surface, the method and a price range the same day.
2. Identify the substrate and test. On site we confirm what the wall really is: painted render and bare render look identical from three metres. A discreet test patch sets the remover and flags any ghosting.
3. Mask, protect and contain. Windows, signage, seals, planting and drains get covered. Where the run-off matters, near a gully or on a forecourt, we collect and recover it rather than rinsing it away.
4. Apply, dwell, agitate. The remover goes on as a gel and is left to work. We agitate with a brush or pad, not a lance. Cured paint gets a second application, not more pressure.
5. Rinse hot, then check from the pavement. Hot water at a pressure the surface can take flushes the paint out, carried past the treated area so no edge line shows. We judge the finish from where your customers stand.

Anti-graffiti coatings: sacrificial and permanent

A wall hit twice will be hit again. A coating does not stop that, it changes what happens next.

Sacrificial coatings

A clear wax or polymer layer sits on the surface, so paint sprayed over it never reaches the masonry. Removal is hot water at around 90 degrees and low pressure: the wax lifts away carrying the tag with it, in minutes and with no chemicals. The coating leaves with the paint, so the area is re-coated after each clean. They cost less per square metre, let the wall breathe, and suit stone and older brickwork.

Permanent coatings

A cured polyurethane or fluoropolymer film that stays put through repeated cleans. Graffiti sits on the film and washes off with a mild solvent, and the coating survives. They cost more and can leave a faint sheen, so they belong on smooth non-porous substrates: shutters, doors, cladding, painted concrete, bin stores. We put down a sample area first so you see the finish before committing a whole elevation.

Landlords, managing agents and commercial premises

The typical graffiti call is not a homeowner. It is a letting agent with a tagged rear elevation and a tenant on the phone, a shop with a shutter hit every few weeks, a block manager with a bin store. Councils can serve a notice requiring an owner to clear defacement from their own property, so on commercial premises the cost lands with you whoever held the can.

That client needs more than cleaning. It is offensive content gone the same day, work done outside trading hours, and before and after photographs for the file or the insurer. On repeat sites we will price a coating so the next incident is a hot water rinse instead of a full removal.

What changes the price

Every quote is per job. These are the things that move it, and why we would rather see a photo than take a description over the phone.

• Surface and porosity. A shutter or sealed concrete is quick. Weathered sandstone with deep pigment penetration is the slow end.
• Paint type and age. Fresh aerosol is a different job from cured two-pack paint that has been up since spring.
• Size and coverage. One tag is priced differently from a whole elevation painted out.
• Access and height. Ground level from the van is straightforward. Above first floor needs a tower or a pole system.
• Containment. Work over a gully, near a watercourse or on a food premises forecourt may need the run-off collected.
• Timing. Same day and out of hours attendance costs more than a scheduled slot.

Where we work

We cover Cardiff and South Wales from our unit in Cardiff: the city centre and the Bay, Roath, Penylan, Cathays, Canton, Grangetown, Splott, Rumney, Llanrumney, Whitchurch, Rhiwbina, Llanishen, Lisvane, Cyncoed, Radyr and Llandaff, and out to Barry and Newport. We have been cleaning exteriors here since 2019 and are rated 5.0 on Google across five reviews.

Ready when you are: arrange your graffiti removal quote

Send a photo to Liamdunn2406@outlook.com or call 07576 128903 and describe the wall. You get our read on the surface, the method, whether ghosting is a risk and a price range before anyone commits to anything. Seven days a week, 7:00 to 21:30.