Stone Mason's advice

[BlackAlys]

We're in the process of buying and getting planning permission for a 150 year old house with pennant stone on the facade. It's not in great condition and the pointing is really thick. I personally, don't like the stone at all - I think it's too narrow and I don't like the colour. Our Planning Office has told us to keep it though.

I know we can remove the thick and protruding pointing but what can we do about the stone, if anything? I'm trying to learn as much as I can about quarried stone, and as far as I know, quarried stone is 'dressed' using different techniques to give each stone a certain appearence. I really don't like the chiselled appearence of this stone and was wondering if anything could be done about it.

We also need to source more stone from somewhere to plug the gaps - changing window shape etc. I've attached a property that I've googled with a similar style stone for you to see. I really prefer natural, flatter and larger stones so I really don't know what can be done here Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Why buy it then? If you don’t like the look of a house that matches its neighbour, you should not have bought it. You should not seek to change it. You should maintain it and look after it. Someone else should own this house who respects it.

the facade of that house matches all its neighbours and I'm guessing it is a good fit to the local area. you'd be crazy to try to change it to a different look. If you don't like pointy stone facades, buy a different house.

Your planning office has told you not to change it, what more needs to be said?

Is this the house in the middle of the 3?
Your other photo hasn’t attached btw.

If it’s the middle house, I wonder if the dressed stone around the windows and door has been painted as it looks very bright. If it can be toned down by removing the paint it will look far better IMO.

The rest of the facade looks like natural rather than dressed stone to me. The colour may be prettier if you had it cleaned but then it wouldn’t fit with the neighbours. I can’t really see the pointing from this photo.

I’m not sure what you mean about changing window shape and plugging gaps. Do you mean at the back? Changing the shape of those front windows would look extremely odd and may not be allowed I’d have thought.

Maybe a professional clean of the stone would be useful. The colour would be lighter

In terms of professional stone cleaning, try your local monumental mason. They have equipment to clean years of environmental contaminants and moss etc off gravestones, statues etc.

The photo is just an example of the stone. It is a detached house with no neighbours. The pointing is so thick it takes away from the stone.

@MooseBeTimeForSummer that's really helpful - thank you.

@Mosaic123

Maybe a professional clean of the stone would be useful. The colour would be lighter

That's what I'm hopeful of. The stone is so dark and dingy looking - thank you for your advice.

The windows on the property are really tall and narrow and we've been permitted to make them squarer. We'll need to source more pennant stone to plug the gaps.

Sorry - pressed too soon. I'm hoping a thorough sandblasting of this old stone will refresh it somewhat. I have no experience of this whatsoever.

I'm thinking you might need structural beams to hold up the wider windows? It sounds very expensive. On the other hand, there might be some spare matching stone left over?

I’ve cleaned up old rough dressed stone before, it was on a wall at one of our old houses ( on top ). We removed each piece as the wall was being rebuilt.

We used paint stripper and a pressure washer to get most of the old paint off, then used a flat diamond grinding wheel on a small 4 inch grinder. They looked like new when finished.but each piece took a while .I’ll try and find a photo of them if I can .

Madness!

You have to be careful using pressure washers on stone, depending on the type of stone it is they can blow/ break bits off if there are any little cracks in the stone.

@Chumleymouse thanks! I'd be keen to see that.

That's what worries me - we can see signs of peeling and flaking already but we can't leave it as it is - it's so brown and grimy - the picture example I sent doesn't really reflect the state of the facade.

If you're in the North East I could recommend a company that could clean the stone up for you. I agree cleaning it so it becomes brighter would improve the look, as well as removing the existing pointing and redoing it too.

@Mosaic123 we aren't 100% certain, but it's something we have a back-up budget for.

@jerichospenis

If you're in the North East I could recommend a company that could clean the stone up for you. I agree cleaning it so it becomes brighter would improve the look, as well as removing the existing pointing and redoing it too.

This gives me hope! Thank you!! Sadly, I'm at opposite ends of the country to you but it gives me hope that the appearance can be improved. It's not what I wanted originally but removing the ridiculously enormous pointing will hopefully improve it.

Google “DOFF stone cleaning” and wherever you are. There might be someone nearby.

Speak to the conservation officer for advise.

You can't change the chiselled look for smooth though. Pointing- if it's cement it will do the stone good to get rid.

Windows, that's a huge amount of work. Are they the original openings? Do they have a dressed stone surround? You could devalue the house by changing them.

Is this really the house for you to buy?

Make sure you repoint in lime mortar though.

@MooseBeTimeForSummer

Google “DOFF stone cleaning” and wherever you are. There might be someone nearby.

Will do - thanks.

@NeilBuchananisBanksy

Speak to the conservation officer for advise.

You can't change the chiselled look for smooth though. Pointing- if it's cement it will do the stone good to get rid.

Windows, that's a huge amount of work. Are they the original openings? Do they have a dressed stone surround? You could devalue the house by changing them.

Is this really the house for you to buy?

Will do. Thanks for the advice. Cement pointing is everywhere on the facade - cement windowsills and cement surrounds. It's badly in need of getting rid. The windows are brown uPVC so am hoping to get rid of those. I just hope the architects plans aren't too ambitious.

DH is desperate to get into this house - it's personal. I can't persuade him otherwise 🤦‍♀️

@NeilBuchananisBanksy

Make sure you repoint in lime mortar though.

Will do. This house has been 'modernised' in the 60's, 70's, 80's and then made into something to suit someone immobile. It's pebble dash city around the other walls and I just want to bring some of the 160 year old age back to it I suppose. The original plan was to use locally quarried stone for an extension and render (and insulate) over the existing stone (which ironically, isn't from this area) but the Planning Officer says no.