Painted Stone Cleaning

A data sheet on our brick cleaning services, a suitable summary for printing is available in pdf format, here

We specialise in using a low pressure sand jetting system that has been used nationwide for property restoration, including gaining approval for and subsequently working on many Listed Buildings.

The low pressure sand jet can clean bricks without injecting large quantities of water into the surface, and with minimal surface damage, at the same time, the 'wet' system also captures dirt, paint (including lead based paints) and abrasive, preventing the health and safety risks associated with dry blasting. As can be seen in the photograph below, the paint and muck from the wall is captured in the wet slurry and runs down the wall - it not is released into the atmosphere.

A section cleaned in a North Yorkshire property - June 2002

A further advantage of the system we use is that it also uses far less abrasive than traditional techniques, making expensive abrasives cost effective, but more significantly reducing waste. Abrasive does not need to be recycled, preventing cross contamination between jobs, and apart from in specialist cases, is not a major part of the running costs. Note that removing paint from a surface is a considerably more messy process than simply cleaning it. Not only do we have to use more abrasive, but the paint removed from the surface is generally a messy by product too!

Partly cleaned soft (Newbald) sandstone house in East Yorkshire - cleaned by us in July 2003

Note the protection over the windows, and that we are able and insured to work off ladders for a building such as this. This considerably reduces our costs compared to traditional sand blasting.

The sand jet will only blow out loose pointing. In general re-pointing is unnecessary after using this process. This is Ackworth Stone (in Ackworth!) - a soft sandstone from Central Yorkshire.

Paint can be effectively removed from very soft stone, the middle section of this garage was made of chalk blocks.

 

Key Benefits

• The low pressures mean that the system is gentle enough to clean delicate surfaces, yet powerful enough to strip multiple layers of paint in one pass.
• It is not a chemical process so no noxious or harmful slurries or fumes are generated.
• As it uses only minimal amounts of water and abrasive the system is regularly used indoors.
• Considerably less mess than other systems, the low pressures mean that secondary mess is also minimised.
• Cleaning to the requirements of BS 8221-1&2 :2000 the British Standard Code of Practice for Cleaning and Surface repair of buildings.
• Quick efficient Graffiti Removal. No interference with other work in area.