Posts Tagged friday
Sandblasting Historic Buildings FAQ Friday
Posted by LimeWorks.us in FAQ on October 14, 2011
Q: Someone wants to sandblast my house. Should I let him sandblast ?
A: Invasive cleaning methods such as sandblasting or high-pressure washing should be a questionable intervention upon historic fabric of any kind and should be considered carefully. Quartzite sand should never be the medium used on historic brick whose frail “fired skin” will be destroyed and thus expose a porous “salmon” center. Never sandblast sand upon any stone with intricate carvings or upon a terra cotta unit whose glazing would be irreversibly removed.
Other media is available such as ground up walnut shells, baking soda, diatomaceous clays, glass beads. Which media to be used is to be judged on their effectiveness using the most non-invasively method first. The non-invasive method is the one that works upon the historic substrate to lift only the undesirable contaminant. One could employ quartzite sand, (in varying gradation and at various p.s.i. pressure), when there is a sacrificial element allowance and need for aggressive cutting is desired such as in the case of removing tenaciously adhered Portland cement staining from a poor repointing job or from a cementicious whitewash when the substrate is common fieldstone that has no intricate carving.
Modern brick will lack the porous “salmon” center known to be the remaining condition of an historic brick fired in a down-draft kiln. Modern bricks are thoroughly fired in a tunnel kiln which results in more uniform densification throughout. But even modern brick will become “pitted” by the sharp sand action of a sandblaster. If any case where all the drawbacks and limitations are realized and anticipated beforehand still warrant the use of sand as the medium, this method is at your disposal if a test sample proves it is effective. However, be sure of this fact.
The surface area of masonry which is exposed to the elements is increased once sandblasted and micro-cracks may be introduced by any violently aggressive sandblasting especially by inexperienced operators. A final draw back in the use of this already unpopular method is that silica dust will be produced. At least a water mist used as a knockdown to dust must be engineered into the application. Water greatly reduces the dust when the sand comes out of the orifice and is pulverized into dust upon impact. A vacuum sandblaster is used when one must collect all of the contaminant such as paint along with the sand. Some municipalities do not allow sandblasting of any kind because of the negligence and misuse of the tool and because of the irreversible damage caused to historic structures. Not allowing sandblasting is generally a good idea since more damage is done than good over all. Should you let him sandblast? Most probably not.
Deteriorating Brownstones- FAQ Friday with Randy Ruth
Posted by LimeWorks.us in FAQ on September 23, 2011
Fall is officially here. The leaves are beginning to change and its perfect weather for a bonfire and pumpkin pie! Randy has another frequent asked question to share, this one is about deteriorating brownstones.
Q: I have an old brownstone house and some of the stone have been falling off, what can I do to prevent further damage and fix the damage that has already occurred?
A: When you have brownstone deterioration or any form of stone deterioration and want it to stop, you have to first identify the root cause. Sometimes it’s as simple as replacing downspouts or replacing roof flashing, to prevent further damage to the stone. Other times it can be a long complicated series of tests and empirical analysis. Depending on the cause of the deterioration of the brownstone, a number of solutions can be applied.
If the stone is only sugaring or sanding with light deterioration, then perhaps doing nothing for a maybe a year and watching the stone for further deterioration is sufficient. However, if the stone is in much worse shape with possibly a ¼ inch or more of stone loss, then some could be some very serious problems with the integrity of the stone.
Brownstone as with many different types of sandstone has bedding planes. These bedding planes in the stone tend to detach from one and other depending on how the stone was laid in the wall. Imagine a layered cake as the stone, with each layer on top of one and other. If the stone cake is put on its side there is a greater chance that moisture can get between the layers and cause delimitation and or exfoliation. This being a common problem associated with sandstone, a more detailed resource for classifying the type of stone loss you may have can be found here.
It is always recommended that when fixing damage to stone that a qualified professional be brought out to see what the damage is and come up with an appropriate course of action. There are many different ways to approach fixing a stone like whether consolidation is appropriate is an appropriate first step or not. In my eyes, it is always best to honor the original detail of the stone and artisan who created it by only fixing what is broken. When patching stonework an important approach is to make sure that appropriate sympathetic patching materials are used. The use of impermeable materials can cause further deterioration of the stone by trapping moisture. This will result in a faulty patch that can accelerate deterioration to the adjacent stone.
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