Natural stone's Beauty and the need of preservation
Stone is a wonderful media to use on projects and it's our area of expertise too. Natural stone goes through a lot when brought up to the surface and one of the most common enemy of any is water. Water causes most issues, aside from man made issues, which is the main reason we suggest you protect your stone from water.
High Pressure Powerwashing? Never.
Water, now in laser form.
High Pressure Low Volume machines sound like they can solve anything using the power of water. The problem is, the rust stain is gone but so is the stone where the rust stain was. It can tear up any type of stone with ease due to the relationship between water and stone. Water breaks down stone, it feeds organic, pushes lime and calcium out to the surface and causes metallics to react and create metallic staining on the surface. Now the pressure has pushed water deep into the stone, making those issues occur even quicker. Our machines are custom made to produce high volumes/flow of water with Low pressure to help keep the moisture on the surface and general used to rinse, not clean. Be wary of others claiming they can get the job done, we've visited plenty of those sites in the past and we always recommend to never let anyone use such a harsh method on any surface. Maybe to strip paint off a ship.
Use of incorrect cleaners
All-Purpose, not really.
We've seen seen what the wrong chemistry can do to stone. If you play a guessing game, you end up with more issues when trying to throw cleaners/acids at an issue and hoping it works. If something requires an acidic cleaner, we make sure we use one that won't react with the stone and only with the mineral staining. Using muriatic acid will etch most surfaces and is a waste product that's being sold as an acidic cleaner. It doesn't know where the mineral ends and the stone starts, it attacks with zero prejudice and reacts to all stone surfaces in the same matter. We take the time to use the correct specialty cleaner that works on the specific stain and issue and is also safe for the stone being used, what works on rust might not work on copper staining, there is no All-Purpose product that can magically fix any issue we run into. It takes research and testing to ensure the stone is safe during restoration and to ensure any fixtures and landscaping won't be effected with our restoration process.
Protective Treatments
Why protect?
Stone and water don't mix, if you read any of our other writings on this site you'll notice that almost every single one references water being the main reason issues are caused. Since we know that, why not protect it? Sometimes we don't see an immediate issue but over time, the water starts to cause damage. If you landscaping is spraying your stone, there's a big chance the surface will start breaking apart, exposing more stone and allowing MORE water inside, slow destroying the stone over time. Especially during cold weather, the water inside will freeze and expand, melts when the temperature rises and then fills in the voids created to refreeze and continue destroying the stone.
How does it protect?
Our treatments are made specific to the different unique stones used on projects, some stone requires a different treatment depending on how porous it is and what type of stone. Some require a different formula but in the end the goal is to apply and bond to the stone internally rather than applying something topical that will flake off over time and blemish in the sun. By having the treatment bond with the stone, it creates a barrier that helps keep water out while still letting moisture inside find a way out into the atmosphere.
Does it help?
Yes. We've done many tests at our shop and also have real world recordings and data that proves using a protective treatment can slow down issues from reoccurring and makes it easier to address any future issues. A restoration project may take some times but once it's protected, doing a cleaning again is more of a touch up than a restoration project and helps keep the stone's integrity intact.