What you are protecting

The coating is the asset, not the colour

A shed is usually the largest single asset on a rural block after the house, and the one that gets the least attention. It is also the one most often damaged by someone deciding a good blast will fix it.

Out west of town it is agricultural dust and red Ferrosol driven onto the sheet by westerlies. Closer in it is mould and lichen on the shaded southern wall, because a shed sits in the open and collects the same fog and dew a house roof does.

A Colorbond sheet is not painted, it is coated. Steel, then a metallic coating, then a primer, then a baked-on paint system applied at the factory under conditions nobody can reproduce on site. That stack is what gives the sheet its warranty, and it is measured in microns.

High pressure takes that coating off. Not visibly, and not on the first pass. What you get is a chalky, microscopically rough surface that holds dirt faster, fades unevenly, and starts showing rust at the fixings and cut edges years before it should have.

So we soft wash sheds. Treatment at low pressure, dwell time, controlled rinse. The dust and the growth come off; the coating stays on.

What you get

What a shed clean includes

A chemical soft wash — the treatment does the work, not the pressure. Every shed clean covers all of the following. You do not need to ask for them separately and they are not extras.

Walls and sheetingColorbond, Zincalume and custom orb, soft washed with a treatment that lifts red dust, mould and lichen rather than scouring the paint system off the sheet.

Exterior gutter faceThe outside face of the gutter, washed down with the wall it sits on.

DownpipesWashed down full length, including the brackets and the wall behind them.

Exterior windowsRinsed down as part of the wash, which takes off the worst of it. For genuinely clear glass, book window cleaning at the same visit — that uses a pure water system.

Flyscreens, security screens and doorsScreens and security doors washed down rather than worked around.

Window and door framesFrames and reveals, where dirt and cobweb build up out of reach of a hose.

Window sillsThe ledges that collect dust and run marks and show it first.

Exterior ceilingsSheltered ceiling areas, where mould sits longest because rain never touches them.

Roller doorsWashed down along with the wall, both sides of the guides.

Eaves, bargeboards and flashingsThe shaded, sheltered parts where mould builds up worst, and the parts a hose from the ground never reaches.

Cobwebs and wasp nestsKnocked down and washed off rather than smeared across the sheet. On a rural shed this is most of what people actually want gone.

The concrete apron and hard stand can be pressure cleaned at the same visit, priced as an add-on rather than assumed. Shed roof sheeting is a separate job — that is roof cleaning, quoted on its own, and we will tell you at the quote whether yours is worth doing.

Why one contractor

One booking, one crew, no coordinating

Most shed jobs are booked alongside something else: the house, the roof, the driveway and the shed in one visit, with one crew and one quote.

That matters more on acreage than it does in town. Getting anyone to drive out past Westbrook or Meringandan for one job is the hard part. Getting them to do four in one visit is what makes it worth their while and yours.

We also clean water tank exteriors while we are on site, which is the other thing on a rural block nobody offers to do. If you are filling a tank off the shed roof, we disconnect it before we start and reconnect before we leave.

Pricing

What affects your shed cleaning quote

Send a couple of photos and a rough size and we'll give you a firm price for the job, not an hourly rate.

Size and wall heightA double garage and a six-bay machinery shed are different jobs. Wall height matters more than floor area, because it decides what reach equipment we need.

How long since it was doneA shed that has never been washed holds years of red dust and established lichen. The first clean is always the heaviest, and after that it drops to maintenance pricing.

Water and access on siteOn acreage there is not always a tap near the shed, and you may not want us drawing off your tank. Tell us at quote stage and we bring water rather than surprising you on the day.

Roof and gutters as wellWalls only is the cheapest version. Adding the roof sheeting, gutters and the concrete apron in the same visit costs less than bringing us back for each one.

Deciding

Worth doing, or leave it?

Not every shed is worth cleaning, and we will say so. A twenty-year-old shed with surface dust on sound sheeting is a good job. A shed that is already failing is not.

It is worth doing if the sheet is sound. Washing off accumulated dust and lichen is genuine maintenance, not cosmetics: growth holds moisture against the coating, and moisture against a coating is how rust starts at the laps and fixings.

If your shed is genuinely past it — rusted through at the base, sheets lifting, purlins going — we will tell you that a wash is lipstick and not worth your money. We would rather say so than take the job.

Older Colorbond

Chalky sheeting, and what a wash can honestly do about it

Run your hand down an older shed wall. If it comes away with colour on it, that is oxidised paint, not dirt — the resin in the coating has broken down under UV and is letting the pigment go.

A wash takes that chalk off, because the chalk is a good part of what is making the shed look tired. What is underneath comes up cleaner and more even than what you are looking at now. It may also read slightly flatter or lighter than the sheltered strips that have not weathered the same way — under the gutter line, behind a downpipe, along the southern wall.

More on what causes it, and what a wash can and cannot fix: why Colorbond goes chalky. Tanks next to the shed can be done on the same visit with our exterior water tank cleaning.

That is not damage, and it is not something a gentler wash avoids. It is what removing a degraded surface layer looks like, and on a coating that has already broken down it cannot be fully prevented.

We point it out at the quote, test a hidden section first, and tell you plainly whether a clean gets you where you want to be or whether the shed is far enough gone that recoating is the better spend.

Common questions

Shed cleaning FAQ

Will pressure cleaning damage my Colorbond shed?

It can, and this is the main reason we do not use it on sheet metal. Colorbond is steel under a metallic coating, a primer and a baked-on paint system, and the whole stack is only microns thick. High pressure abrades it. The sheet looks fine on the day, then fades unevenly and starts rusting at the fixings and cut edges years early. We soft wash instead.

How often should a shed be cleaned in Toowoomba?

Every three to five years for most sheds. Out west towards Oakey and Westbrook, where agricultural dust and westerlies do the work, closer to every two or three. In town, the shaded southern wall is what decides it, because that is where mould and lichen establish first.

Do you clean the shed roof as well as the walls?

Yes, where it is safe to access. Shed roofs grow the same lichen a house roof does and nobody ever looks at them. It is quoted separately from the walls because the access and the risk are different, and on some older sheds the purlins are not worth trusting with weight — we will tell you if that is the case.

What about the rainwater tank I fill off the shed roof?

We disconnect or divert the downpipes before we start and reconnect before we leave. On acreage this is standard and we ask about it at quote stage rather than waiting for you to raise it. We also clean tank exteriors at the same visit if you want it done.

Can you clean a shed with machinery or hay still in it?

Usually, because most of the work is on the outside. If we are doing the inside walls as well, anything that cannot get wet needs to be moved or covered, and we will tell you what before the day rather than turning up and finding out. Machinery close to a wall is normally fine to sheet over.

Will cleaning remove rust?

No, and anyone who says otherwise is selling you something. Rust is the steel itself corroding, not a deposit sitting on top. Washing removes the growth that traps moisture against the sheet and accelerates it, which slows the problem down. Existing rust needs treating or the sheet needs replacing, and that is a job for a shed builder.

Do you go out to acreage, and is there a travel charge?

Yes, and no. We cover roughly 35km around Toowoomba — Highfields, Westbrook, Oakey, Gatton, Cambooya, Hampton, Withcott, Kingsthorpe, Meringandan, Cabarlah, Wyreema, Helidon, Murphys Creek and Gowrie Junction among others — with no travel surcharge anywhere in that area. See areas we service.

Are you insured for work on a large shed?

$20 million public liability, Working at Heights certification, White Card, police-checked crew and a signed safe work method statement on every site. On a six-metre shed wall with a reach pole, that matters. See our compliance documents.

What does shed cleaning cost in Toowoomba?

It depends on wall height, footprint, how long since it was last done, and whether you want the roof, gutters and concrete apron as well. We quote the job rather than charging by the hour, so the number you get is the number on the invoice. Call (07) 4670 9396 or send a couple of photos.

Send photos of the shed and we'll give you a firm price on (07) 4670 9396 — get a free quote →

Shed & Colorbond Cleaning in Toowoomba