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Balconies are sold as outdoor space and maintained as though they were self-cleaning. In the riverside blocks and post-war flats of W6 they are usually the dirtiest part of the home: a horizontal surface open to the weather, catching grit off the road, moss between the tiles, leaf litter blown in and, on the upper floors, a steady deposit from the birds that use the parapet.

What accumulates out there

The mix is different from anything indoors. Fine road grit binds with rain into a gritty paste in the corners; moss and algae colonise the shaded joints between slabs and the north-facing face of a wall; planters leave rust rings and a tide of compost around their bases; and everything that lands stays until someone removes it, because there is no footfall to disturb it. The result is slippery in winter and dusty in summer.

The outlet that decides whether it floods

Every balcony has a drainage point, and it is almost always the first thing to block. Moss, leaf fragments and compost wash into it and form a plug, after which heavy rain ponds on the deck and finds the threshold of the door. Clearing that outlet, and the channel leading to it, is the single most useful thing done during an exterior clean. Where a deck sits over another flat, a blocked outlet becomes somebody else's ceiling.

Bird fouling, handled properly

Droppings on a parapet or a sill are never dry-brushed. Dried material breaks into dust that should not be breathed, so it is wetted first, left to soften, then lifted and bagged with gloves on and the waste tied off rather than swept over the edge. Surfaces are then washed with detergent. The parapet coping and the outer face of a balustrade collect the worst of it and are the parts most often skipped.

Glass, and what can safely be reached

Inside a block of any height, the outer face of a window is not a job that can be improvised from a flat. Restrictors limit how far a sash opens for good reason, and nothing is cleaned by leaning out. What can be done from inside is the internal glass, the frames, the rubbers and the track at the bottom of a sliding door, which fills with grit and stops the door running. External glazing on the upper floors is a managed arrangement through the block rather than an individual one.

Streaks near the water

Humidity close to the river keeps glass from drying evenly, which is why a pane cleaned on a damp still morning streaks and the same pane cleaned on a breezy afternoon does not. Washing with a detergent solution and finishing with a blade and a dry cloth beats a spray-and-wipe every time. Frames and sills come first, since the dirt on them runs down on to finished glass otherwise. Flats a short way north are handled on the same principles through experienced fortnightly cleaning in Kensington.

Outside space at the end of a tenancy

Balconies, terraces and the storage cupboards opening on to them appear on inventories and are regularly forgotten until the check-out appointment. A deck left with moss between the slabs and a planter ring on the tiles will be marked, and it is one of the slower items to put right in a hurry. That is why end of tenancy cleaning services in Hammersmith includes the outside space in the schedule rather than treating it as optional.

Arranging exterior work alongside the rest

Charging is by time, and balcony work is weather-dependent in a way indoor cleaning is not, so it is usually placed as a seasonal item — spring and autumn — rather than in a routine visit. Access to water and a power point on the balcony itself makes a considerable difference to how long it takes. Indoors, the ongoing pattern that keeps the rest of the flat steady is described under a local pro near you, and the wider list of tasks sits on the full service page.