Sandstone cleaning and sealing in Woollahra

In Woollahra the sandstone tends to come in small, visible pieces rather than large areas: a flight of front steps, a row of footings beneath a Victorian house, window sills, a low front wall or the gate piers of a unit block. Small as they are, these are where a street's character shows, and they are often in poor shape. Grime and mould darken the steps, salt bloom whitens the footings, and earlier cleaning with acid or high pressure has left orange stains and pale stripes. Our technicians look at each element separately before recommending anything, and explain which problems are cosmetic and which are slowly damaging the stone.

Cleaning is done with biocides and gentle detergents chosen for the deposit, left to dwell, then rinsed with low-pressure water. Iron stains from old acid cleaning or rusting fixings are treated with poultices rather than more acid. On footings with salt bloom, we brush off loose salts dry, treat the stone, and look for the moisture source, whether a garden bed piled against the wall, a blocked weep hole or a leaking downpipe. Run-off is captured before it reaches the footpath and gutter. Painted joinery, fences and front doors are masked first, because on a narrow Woollahra frontage everything sits within arm's reach of the stone being cleaned.

Front steps and entry paths are often worth sealing with a breathable penetrating product, which keeps spills and leaf stains near the surface. Footings and walls that draw moisture from the ground usually are not, because sealing the face can trap salts behind it and push the damage further in. We explain which is which on your property and show test patches before any sealer is applied, so the decision is yours. For strata buildings, we record the product and areas treated so the committee has a maintenance history to refer to, and we can set out a simple inspection routine that the building manager can follow between our visits.