Limestone Cleaning

Is your limestone cladding looking jaded? Are your limestone architectural features in need of cleaning? Here at APT we can help you bring your limestone back to life.

Our trained technicians will first assess your needs across the whole project. They will put together a cleaning plan to ensure that limestone façade is cleaned with minimum disruption to your daily routine. All cleaning at both high and low level is carried out to stringent Health and Safety standards.

Now you can benefit from one of the most advanced methods of revitalising any exterior stone including limestone via soda blasting. Our soda blasting method uses specially graded sodium bicarbonate crystals which are fired against the surface using low pressure compressed air. The crystals are much softer than limestone so when they come in contact with it, there is no scratching.

• Organic and lime based paints
• Lime scale
• Carbon soiling
• Bitumen
• Bird droppings
• Algal blooms

Soda blasting works from the outside in. As the crystals impact the surface to be cleaned, they shatter. The energy from this shattering disrupts the surface of the contamination which is simply blown away in the stream of air and crystals. This removes successive layers of the contamination until the surface of the limestone is reached. Traditional methods rip the entire layer of contamination off in one fell swoop and cause damage to the limestone surface.

During the 1990s, low pressure steam cleaning systems were developed for cleaning limestone and other stone cleaning tasks. Here at APT, our operatives, working with engineers, took this method to the next level, developing our proprietary ‘Hot Box’ low pressure high steam system. As well as being highly controllable, it is significantly labour-saving so you can benefit from quicker and lower cleaning costs. The Hot Box method of limestone cleaning has other advantages too:

• Quick drying as the steam is super heated and the low volumes of water needed to produce that steam mean that very little water remains on the surface of the limestone after cleaning
• Can be used in all seasons as no water droplets enter any pores or flaws in the limestone surface reducing the chances of freeze-thaw damage
• Low surface pressure prevents damage to your limestone
• High temperatures kill the spores of mosses and algae meaning that no chemical inhibitors need to be used either before or after cleaning to retard re-growth

For very delicate sections or in locations that are sensitive to dust or steam, effective cleaning of limestone can be carried out using our a latex stone and poultice cleaner product, call us for details.

Contact APT now on 0800 0723 773 for a no-obligation chat about limestone cleaning and to find out how we can benefit your project.