Sandstone cleaning and sealing in Bondi Junction

A typical Bondi Junction enquiry comes from a strata committee whose entry paving and planter walls have gone patchy: grey where people walk, green where the planters drip, dotted with old gum and edged with rust from a handrail fixing. Another comes from a terrace owner off Grafton Street or Mill Hill Road whose front steps and boundary wall have darkened and lost their colour. The two jobs share little except the stone. We inspect and photograph each surface, test a small area, and send a scope that separates cleaning, stain treatment and sealing, so you can approve exactly what you need.

For podium paving we use a sandstone-safe degreaser and soft rotary brushing to lift traffic film, then a warm, gentle rinse. Gum is softened and peeled away, rust marks are drawn out with a poultice rather than attacked with acid, and planter stains are treated once the leak behind them has been found. On older terrace walls the approach is slower: biocide for lichen and mould with a long dwell, dry brushing of loose salts, and a light rinse. Concentrated jets are never used on either. Wash water is collected with mats and a wet vacuum and taken off site, not left to run toward the street drains.

In Bondi Junction, sealing does the most good on high-traffic podium paving and entry steps, where a breathable impregnator keeps spills and grime near the surface so the cleaning contractor's weekly wash keeps working. On old terrace walls and steps in the conservation areas we are more cautious, sealing only where staining is a persistent problem and only with a product that lets the stone breathe. You see test panels before any decision, and the committee receives a written record of the product and areas. On podiums, pour a cup of water on the most-walked strip once a year; if it soaks in fast, the protection has worn through.