Thursday 1 March 2012

What you should consider before cleaning?

Seeking advice and Survey
Before carrying out stone cleaning on any natural stone it is advised to seek professional advice and to have a survey conducted by an experienced person.  This will then allow you to obtain the right method of cleaning for the type of stonework that is to be cleaned. It is also a good idea to carry out cleaning samples to help identify the best method of cleaning for you’re building.
There are many different methods of cleaning that can used and we will be considering the advantage and disadvantages of each method in this blog. If an inappropriate method of cleaning is used then the results may be disappointing and at worse cause irreversible damage to the stonework and even harm the structural integrity of the building.
You should also be aware that the cleaning process may well highlight defects in the stone that will need to be repaired and once the cleaning has been carried out a further survey should be conducted to ascertain the extent of these repairs.
Seeking permission
You may require permission to clean the building and depending on location will help you decide who you seek permission from, it could be local authority or, Wales - CADW, England – English Heritage and Scotland – Historic Scotland.  If it is a rental property you may need to seek permission from the owner.
Health and Safety
Health and safety is crucial to any stone cleaning project.  The company employed to carry out the works must provide you with;
·         A method statement,
·         A risk assessment,
·         COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) sheets, as it is a legal requirement to control the use of chemicals, fumes, dusts and biological agents.
Environmental
The effects on the environment must also be considered while carrying out cleaning.  It may not always be effective to use an environmentally, friendly cleaning material.  So great care must be taken to control the use, dispose of waste and control the use of water.
Examples of other works
When employing a contractor to carry out stone cleaning to your building, I would advise using a reputable stonemasonry company as they would have the required knowledge and experience.  I would seek references or examples of previous similar works to allow you to make a more informed decision.

6 comments:

  1. Nice post, all we want is to keep ourselves to be clean even our surroundings and his blog is perfect for it. I'm pretty much sure.-woodbridge cleaning-

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would like to propose some ideas about how to arrange cleaning process around the house: Cleaning as you dream.
    By the way, I followed you up with GFC, it'd be great if you follow me back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi there. Nice blog. You have shared useful information. Keep up the good work! This blog is really interesting and gives good details. tile cleaning san clemente

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for posting this! I'm thinking about redoing my floors in natural stone in Toronto, so this will be useful! Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love this blog so much as well as the blog of Construction Clean-up Little Rock AR. Thanks a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This information is very useful for us. this blog is very good and helpful.

    Bathroom Marble

    ReplyDelete