About Us
For over 30 years I have worked with Stone and Brickwork, both cleaning and re-pointing. I learnt the art through my father who learnt from his father and now I am passing my knowledge on to my son to carry on this well established legacy within the mason field. (Fourth Generation). My team is professional and dedicated like myself and passionate in producing a beautiful and outstanding result.
Over the years working with stone has helped me gain a sound understanding of different stone and mixes to both bring out strength and durability, avoiding damage to the face of the stone.
Doff Cleaning
Doff cleaning avoids damage to stone, unlike sand blasting, cleaning with a very high pressure cleaner avoids defacing stone work, but, at the same time brings the stone colour back to it’s original state. Before cleaning any stone walls I treat the stone with an alkaline spray (not acid) to eat in to grime, moss, lime which has run out of the mortar or cement, traffic pollution which has stained the stone over many years. After leaving it for a couple of hours I then pressure wash (steam if needed) all the grime off the wall.
Pointing
There are many types of pointing such as:
Flush Pointing Finish
Recessed Pointing Finish
Weather Pointing Finish
Rustic Pointing Finish
Ribbon Pointing Finish
It is very important when pointing to take in the environment to determine what kind of sand to use, what stone it is, how the stone is patterned, how it’s been laid, and the best lasting finish you can achieve. I take enormous pride in all the work I produce and guarantee all work carried out both on longevity and quality.
“Every stone wall is a piece of canvas to me, and the stone should guide the trowel”.
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Cement
Cement is the binding element in both concrete and mortar. It is commonly made of limestone, clay, shells, and silica sand, with limestone being the most prevalent ingredient. These materials are crushed and combined with other ingredients (including iron ore), and then heated to about 2,700 F. This material, called clinker, is ground into a fine powder and packaged to use for mixing various cementitious building materials, including mortar and concrete.
You might see cement referred to as Portland cement. This is because it was first made in the 1800s in England by a mason, Joseph Aspdin of Leeds, who likened the colour to the stone from the quarries on the island of Portland, off the coast of England.
Today, Portland cement remains the most common type of cement used in building materials. It is a type of "hydraulic" cement, which simply means that it will set and harden when combined with water.
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Mortar
Mortar is yet another building material composed of cement, which in this case is mixed with fine sands and water, with lime added to improve the durability of the product. Adding water to this mix activates the cement so that it hardens, or cures, just as with concrete. Mortar is not as strong as concrete and typically is not used as a sole building material. Rather, it is the "glue" that holds together bricks, concrete block, stone, and other masonry materials.
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Finishes
When chosing your finish it’s important to take in ALL your surroundings, property, stone, moisture, heat and not forgetting any preservation orders that are in place within both the property and area. Finishes vary, but I normally let the stone and style of the property choose the finish.
The art of knowing which to use, and where, is the key to it lasting and producing the greatest result that looks stunning when completed.
Projects
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• Walls
• Out Buildings
• Cottages
• Internal and External Barn Conversions
• Church’s
