Precast Stone Question

W

Will

New member
Have any of you had any experience with cleaning stone columns made of precast stone on a house. This house has stone around all the windows and doors and then stucco on the other side. I will have to mask off everything (wood) and be very careful. I have washed around 30 houses but never anything like this. It is a monster job the house is over 7,000 sq ft (interior) and is a two story. I am also going to be cleaning and sealing the driveway. What chems would be fairly safe. No mold or mildew just dirt, little paint etc. The house is brand new and the homeowner is getting ready to move in asap. Price is not the issue on this one. They are only interested in it looking great.

Thanks in Advance
 
Will,
IF possible could this stone be cleaned by just using the powerwasher without chemicals because there is only dirt on the stone. If it can then you shouldn't have to tape off any wood. Just powerwash the stone and spray off any kicked up dirt that might get on the wood.

Better yet put a little house wash cleaning solution to help loosen up the dirt. Just keep the wood wet and once again powerwash the stone.

As far as a litlle paint being on the stone maybe a light scraping can knock it off.

Good luck
 
Add on to previous

Also some mortar and stucco on it as well.
 
I would use a masonry cleaner on the stone. I assume you are referring to architectural open face stone. I might talk to the supplier of the stone to confirm that you should use Sure Klean 600 (that will facilitate removing the dirt and mortar). Some block is produced with dye, so adjust your concentration of acidic cleaner accordingly.
I use these types of cleaners around paint everyday. Just be sure to wet everything down before, and rinse well after cleaning.
High tip pressure will hurt the paint faster.
 
Even if money is not an issue with this customer, you still need to watch the chemical costs on any restoration job. We've tried K&E, Prosoco, Sure Kleen, but we always end up staying with Diedrich for our restoration chemicals. Check out their web site at http://www.diedrichtechnologies.com/ and call them for a local distributor. You can also call the customer service line, tell them exactly the situation you are trying to resolve and they will help you with the best Diedrich product at the appropriate ratios.

Everybody has their preferences when it comes to chemicals, but these guys have the widest assortment of products designed for specific restoration cleaning jobs on all types of stone, masonry & aggregate.

We tend to stay away from the idea of just blasting away and cleaning when it comes to aggregates, masonry, stone, etc. You've got so many different ways you can permanently scar or damage any of these materials just using pressure. Restoration chemicals should be your first choice in cleaning anything, regardless of how little cleaning you think it may need. Always try to go the route of heat, less pressure and chemicals versus high pressure as a general rule of thumb.

Also, watch the pressure around that paint. Another rule of thumb to consider is that the darker the paint the easier it is to damage, ie...flake, peel, etc. The reason for this is that the darker pigments dillute the ability for the paint to bond to the surface being painted. This is why it's easier to remove darker paints than white or off white neutral colors.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks for all the input on this, going out to do a couple of test spots this week. Will let you know how it went.
 
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