Tags, spray paint and unwanted paint · homes, councils and commercial sites

Graffiti and paint removal in Hertfordshire

Graffiti and unwanted paint taken off brick, stone and render with trade-strength paint strippers and low-pressure steam up to 120°C. For homeowners, councils and property managers.

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Steam cleaning paint off a brick wall, the cleaned brickwork showing against the painted section
Large white painted graffiti slogan across a grey brick railway bridge parapet, before graffiti removal
What we do

Graffiti removed without damage

Graffiti removal is removing spray paint, marker and unwanted paint off a surface without damaging what is underneath it. Herts Pressure Washing has done that work across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and NW London since 2008, for homeowners and for the councils that hold us on their approved contractor list.

The paint is the straightforward part. The judgement is in picking a method the surface can survive: trade-strength paint strippers where paint has soaked into masonry, and steam at up to 120°C from our Mazzoni boilers where heat will release it. Pressure on its own, especially with cold water, usually takes the graffiti off along with a layer of the wall, and that damage does not grow back.

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Graffiti removal before and after

Cleaned up wall after graffiti removal
Large white painted graffiti slogan across a grey brick railway bridge parapet, before graffiti removal
Before After
What we remove

Somebody else’s paint, and your own in the wrong place

Two different jobs arrive under one heading. Both come down to the same question: what will this surface let us use?

Spray-paint tags

Tags and throw-ups on walls, garage doors, fencing and street furniture, taken back to the surface underneath with ease.

Brick and stone

Porous masonry where the paint has soaked into the face, worked with paint strippers and heat rather than blasted off with cold water.

Render and painted walls

Rendered and painted elevations cleaned without lifting the paintwork you want to keep.

Concrete and hard standing

Paint on paving, kerbs, walkways and car park surfaces, softened with steam and rinsed away.

Paint spills and overspray

Spilt emulsion, oil-based paint, masonry paint and overspray left behind after decorating or building work.

Sites that get hit repeatedly

Alleyways, rear elevations and walls facing open ground, cleaned on a regular schedule rather than as a one-off.

Paint lifting from brickwork under low-pressure steam during a paint removal job
Method

Paint strippers first, low-pressure steam second, rinsing last

Old brick, soft stone and anything historic get the gentle end of the range: a stripper left long enough to do the work, then steam and a low-pressure rinse. Concrete, kerbs, engineering brick and metalwork will take more heat and more pressure. Most of our pressure washing is cold water – graffiti and paint removal is one of the few jobs where the boilers come out every time.

We are trained and experienced in the chemicals this needs: biocides, acids for brickwork, paint strippers and steam. COSHH information and RAMS documents are available on request, which is the first thing a council or a managing agent asks for before anyone gets on site.

Commercial and council work
Who we work for

The same trade, two very different customers

For your home

A tagged garden wall, paint spilt on the drive after the decorators left, or a garage door someone has had a go at. Priced by the job, with the owner on site.

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For councils, schools and property managers

Repeat call-outs on public walls, business premises, housing estates, car parks and town centre furniture. Approved contractor for seven councils and organisations, with COSHH information and RAMS on request.

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Graffiti call-outs across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and NW London

Harpenden-based, trading since 2008, CSCS accredited and insured with Hiscox for £5m public and employers’ liability. Seven councils and organisations list us as an approved contractor, among them Hertfordshire County Council, Luton Borough Council and Hertford Town Council. Paint and graffiti work travels anywhere in the patch.

Areas we cover
What customers say
  • “Herts Pressure washing did a stellar job for us steam cleaning some very dirty walls. They did exactly what they said they would do: turned up on the date they said and left the site spic and span. Exemplary service, would recommend Alex and his team without hesitation. 10/10.”

    Anthony Walpole

FAQs

Graffiti and paint removal questions

Can’t see your question here? Give us a call or drop us a message on WhatsApp and we’ll give you a straight answer.

Yes, if the method matches the masonry. Paint that has soaked into porous brick is released with a trade-strength stripper and steam rather than pressure, because a lance held close takes the face off the brick along with the paint. We tell you at quote stage what we expect to lift and what may leave a shadow.

Offensive or high-visibility graffiti is treated as urgent and we work with several councils on exactly that basis. A 24-hour call-out can always be arranged when something needs to go quickly.

Yes. Spilt emulsion, oil-based paint, masonry paint, aerosol, fence stain and overspray on brick, stone, render, paving and concrete are the same job as a tag, and often a bigger one. Paint removal after building or decorating work is a large part of what we do.

It is priced by the job, on the surface, the size of the affected area and how long the paint has been there. For domestic work our minimum charge is £250 and there is no VAT to add. For councils and managing agents we price per site or per call-out – send photos and we will come back with a figure.

Rarely, and never as the first move. Heat and chemistry do the work: a stripper to release the paint, then steam at up to 120°C to flush it out of the surface. High pressure will often do more harm than good when removing paint from a surface.

Yes, used properly. We are trained in the products we carry, they are applied as pre-treatments and rinsed away, and COSHH information and RAMS documents are available on request for any site that needs them on file before work starts.

Yes. We can arrange for any type of surface to be treated with an anti-graffiti coating, which makes future removal much easier.

Yes. Older, softer masonry is cleaned at lower temperature and lower pressure, with more reliance on the stripper and more time.

We can, though a test patch is still subject to our minimum charge, so on a small job it is rarely worth it on its own. Send a photo of the area instead: we can normally tell from that whether the paint will be tricky to lift, and quote from it.

Get in touch

Get a fast, no-obligation quote

Send us a couple of photos on WhatsApp and we’ll come back with a price – usually the same day.

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Established 2008

4.9★ from 80 Google reviews

Council approved