Braid,

The first question I have is, if you are going to work on scaffolding and
you are going up over 10 feet high is your workman comp insurance going to
cover your tech? depending upon your classification once you over a certain
height your workman's comp may become void. You may need a rider for this
work, check with your insurance carrier.

You commented that the limestone was damaged by water,and what you were
seeing was light etching? Are you sure it's etching and not water staining
within the stone?

If you had success with the twister pad then that's the process I would go
with. The 400 grit pad maybe cleaning up the staining if this is truly
staining or etching?

If you are having success with a neutral cleaner then continue with it. I
prefer the Neutral Cleaner from StoneCare Central.

If you could get close up pictures of the staining it would help to identify
the problem and make better recommendations.

Water feed hand machines generate lots of water even when the water flow is
restricted as much as possible, most water feed machines are high  RPM
machines and now you are dealing with water control. I prefer a low RPM
machine that runs around 500 to 700 RPM and use a spray water bottle. It
much easier to control the water flow.

I'm not sure what on the floor and what's on the wall that the water may
damage.

This job will take time and will require detail to protect the surrounding
areas, even though they are hiring a company to clean the glass after you
finish, if you not careful you will be cleaning the surrounding areas.

if you can send some close up pictures of the etching (staining ) etc. it
will help us to assist you with additional recommendations

Best Regards,

John E. Freitag
President/Director
The Stone and Tile School
Office 407-567-7652
Cell 407-615-0134
jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com

www.thestoneandtileschool.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Baird Standish [mailto:bairdstandish@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 7:06 PM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: [sccpartners] Limestone Entry

Hi Everyone,
We have a contract to clean and hone the limestone framing around the entry
and windows at a church.  The Limestone has been damaged by water.  What
this means and what I see is fine (and not so fine) etching from water,
ingained white efflourescence, discoloration of
the limestone itself (from iron oxide perhaps?) and general soot.
They were unhappy with a "skimcoat"  test-painted on - (probably R-97 by
Cathedral Stone Products).  Also, someone else tested Prosoco 942 and that
didn't work either.  I tested honing a portion of the wall with 400 grit
Twister/velocity pads on a hand-held and using NCL Hurricane natural stone
cleaner.  It came out looking pretty good and gave it a nice smooth surface.
My three questions are:
1. Any other cleaners that I might try?  I have some Klenztone Limestone
cleaner that might do the trick.  I think I want to stay away from acidic
solution.
2. We are going to be working up high on heavy duty scaffolding.  I want to
work out a way that chemicals and water don't spray all over the place and
that the solution can be collected in some fashion.  The windows will be
cleaned professionally after we are done.  We will put plastic, paper and
tape around.
3. I am pondering getting a variable speed angle grinder with a water feed
(maybe the Alpha variable speed polisher), but wondering if it is worth it.
We haven't spent much time working up high on walls.  So any suggestions
would be great.  Thanks, Baird

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