STRAIGHT ANSWERS
What does laser cleaning cost?
The honest answer is that it depends, and this page tells you on what, so you can see where your job sits before you ask. The short version: you pay for time on the tool, the time depends on the surface and what’s on it, and a photo gets you a real number within one business day.
What makes a job cost more
- Layers: six resprays take longer than one coat of primer
- Heavy rust and pitting, which the beam has to work into
- Area: a floor is priced per square metre, a bracket per item
- Complex shapes: a cast balustrade has more surface than a flat plate the same size
- Access: working at height, in a tight space, or around things that have to be masked
- Site work: travel, set-up, screens and exclusion zones take time a workshop job doesn’t
- Hazardous coatings: lead paint means extra protection and disposal
What makes a job cost less
- Bringing it to us, so there’s no travel or set-up on site
- Clear access to the work area, with anything in the way already moved
- Batching: ten brackets in one visit cost less each than ten visits
- Telling us what’s going on afterwards, so we stop at the right point rather than over-cleaning
- A clear photo, so the quote is right first time and nobody drives out to look
Minimum charges apply to every job, one level for work done at our premises and a higher one for on-site work, because a site day has fixed costs whatever the job. They’re on the quote.
Why there’s no price list
Because every one we’ve seen is wrong. A rate per square metre means nothing until you know whether it’s one coat of paint or fifty years of it, flat or cast, on the bench or up a ladder. A number on a website either scares off the small jobs or under-quotes the big ones, and either way you’d be ringing to ask what it really costs.
So we skip that step. You send a photo and a rough size; we send back what we’d do, which tool and why, and a price or an estimate. If the photos can’t tell us what we need to know, we say so and arrange to look.
What’s included in the price
Set-up, screens and exclusion zones where the job needs them. The test area before we do the rest. The removal itself, with the fume captured and filtered rather than left in the room. Before and after photos. A safe-work method statement for site work. The surface handed back clean and dry.
Not included unless it’s on the quote: transport of your item (we quote a courier if you want one), hire of gear a specific job needs, disposal of hazardous waste from lead-based coatings, and any priming or coating you’d like us to do afterwards. Nothing is added later without a conversation first.
CONTEXT
How it compares
Against sandblasting
Per hour the laser usually costs more. Per job it often costs less, because there’s nothing to mask around, no grit to clean out of every seam afterwards and no warped panel to fix. On alloy, castings and stone it isn’t a comparison; blasting isn’t an option.
Against doing it yourself
A weekend with a wire wheel and stripper gets a gate done, badly, and the rust comes back through the paint within a season because it was never fully out of the pits. We charge for the hours; you get the metal back the way it was made.
Against replacing it
A cast iron balustrade, an alloy wheel, a set of heritage gates: the laser costs a fraction of replacement, and you keep the original. That’s usually the comparison that matters.
Want a number?
A photo, a rough size, and whether it’s coming to us or we’re coming to you. You’ll have a price or an estimate within one business day. Send us a photo →
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
The money questions
Can you give me a ballpark over the phone?
Not a useful one, and we’d rather not guess and then surprise you. Send the photo while you’re on the phone and you’ll have a real number the same day or the next.
Is there a call-out fee?
Quotes and estimates from photos are free. If a job needs a site visit before we can quote it, we’ll tell you whether there’s a charge for the visit before we come; for most commercial and council work there isn’t.
Do you need a deposit?
Yes, 50% to book the job, and the balance on completion. Bank transfer is preferred; card is available with a surcharge.
What if it turns out to be more work than quoted?
We stop and call you. Hidden rust, extra layers, a repair somebody filled over: you get the options before we go any further. Nothing beyond the quote happens without your say-so.
Do you charge more for small jobs?
There’s a minimum charge, because setting up for one bracket takes the same time as setting up for ten. If you’ve got a few small items, bring them together; it’s the single easiest way to bring the cost per piece down.
How long is the quote good for?
30 days.
JOBS
What people usually want priced
Each page says what the job involves and what moves its price.
Rust removal
Rust, mill scale and oxide off steel, iron and castings, back to bare metal that’s ready for primer.
Car paint stripping
Paint, powder coat, underseal and rust off panels, chassis, wheels and castings, with no heat and no grit.
Engine bay cleaning
Paint, grease, rust and old underseal off the bay, the firewall and the block, without pulling the engine.
Antifoul and hull prep
Antifoul, paint, oxide and growth off hulls, keels, shafts, props and fittings, captured rather than left on the hardstand.
Graffiti and masonry cleaning
Paint, soot and biological growth off sandstone, brick, render and concrete, including listed buildings, without chemicals or abrasion.
Pressure washing
Mould, algae, dirt and loose paint off large areas of render, concrete, pavements and cladding.
Concrete grinding
Failed coatings, adhesives and high spots off floors, walls and overhead, with the dust captured at the machine.
THE PROCESS
How a job runs
- 01
Send a photo
A photo and a rough size is enough. We’ll tell you what we’d do and what it involves before anyone drives out.
- 02
Method chosen
Laser, blasting, washing or grinding, depending on the surface and what’s on it.
- 03
Removal
Only the layer that has to go. With the laser, nothing is driven into the surface and nothing is left behind on it.
- 04
Inspection
We check it with you. If a spot isn’t right, we fix it before we leave.
- 05
Handover
The surface ready for the next step, with photos of what came off.