How to get soot and tar off stone in inglenook

[adamfausset]

Any thoughts as to best way of removing it and to expose the original colours of the stone? I have had a quote to sand blast it but it will damage the lime pointing and will make a hideous mess. I imagine that much of the stone will be stained given the age of the fireplace 17thC but would like to get as much off as possible. Is there some sort of gel, like you use on the glass of a wood burner that might do this?
Thanks

 

[tobydog]

We also have considerable soot / tar in our inglenook, however, we have decided to leave it there. It's all part of the history along with everything else in the house that is sound but showing 400 years of wear and tear. I like the contrast between the parts that are clean and the soot. If it was all clean I'm not sure it would look right. I should add that out inglenook is huge for a relatively small house so it would stick out like a sore thumb if it all looked like new.

 

[adamfausset]

The school of SPAB eh? I kind of agree, but there needs to be a balance between ruining the pattina of the building and leaving a horrible dark, dusty mess! I want to find that middle ground. :mrgreen:

 

[tobydog]

I'm sure that's what SPAB recommends but we followed that line of thought for our own personal preference. The inglenook has some great original parts but it's been repaired many times over its life. A few of the repairs weren't that sympathetic including (brace yourself) - a chemical damp proof course :shock: .

We have a number of bricks where the faces have gone and we were concerned that any further chemical or physical intervention might make others just as bad. Thankfully we like how it looked aged. We had to remove cement from 50% of it (it's a central feature of the house) and found considerable damp, no wet, bricks!! This has now been re-rendered in lime now that it's significantly dried out.

Just be careful if you do remove anything because if the bricks underneath aren't stable and you open up the faces, you'll probably wish you hadn't started.

 

[MdB]

I used a wire brush on our soot stained stone. They stayed black but now it doesn't rub off. I was a bit worried that the new lime pointing would be a bit bright next to it but it looks fine.

 

[adamfausset]

Yes, it's a tricky one, the central stones are probably 5mm deep with soot and surprisingly hard set. I've used a wire brush plus drill with wire and it takes a bit off but no real aesthetic difference. The lime joints come up a bit more but like you I'm worried about repointing and the contrast between black stone and lime making it look a little twee. Hence, if I could get some of the black of the stones then the contrast wouldn't be so great. I'm going to try this gel and see what happens. Just glad I've not fallen for the sand blast option!

 

[MdB]

A warning for you, if you repoint without getting the worst off, the black will leach into the lime leaving orangey / red stains. It appears as if the lime has gone rusty.

This occurred where I hadn't cleaned the rock at all high inside of the chimney where fortunately only the very keen will see.

 

[tobydog]

Maybe I should read the posts better next time. There I am ranting on about bricks when the issue is stone.

I'll just crawl off and play with my bricks!

 

[dinglem]

I started a thread on this about 8 weeks ago and the use of bathroom cleaner foam was suggested by several people.

I tried this on the brickwork of my inglenook and it has worked a treat. Like you i wanted to preserve some of the 'patina' but clean up the worse of the soot/mess. I think i have achieved a reasonable compromise and the bathroom foam idea worked well. As suggested i worked with small amounts of foam and one brick at a time to avoid splashing black fluids everywhere and this worked a treat. Much of the black soot is gone, but the inglenook still looks like it has seen centuries of use. I did use a wire brush in places but the overall effect is pleasing. I'll update my thread with some 'after' pictures as soon as i can get to take some (am away working at present).

 

[adamfausset]

ah, very interesting re bathroom foam, i guess if its works on brick, it should work on stone, what sort of foam are we talking about Cif sort of thing - sorry I'm not well versed in bathroom foam, someone else suggested 'Vanish'. I did search for this type of thread before I posted it but didn't see it. Would love to see your before and after and thanks for correcting my spelling on the word 'patina'!
A

 

[88v8]

Plastic blasting won't destroy anything
http://www.blast-cleaning.co.uk/index.php?menuid=50&component=content&task=article&articleid=39&categoryid=9

Other companies are available. Your CO may be able to recommend.

Ivor

 

[Moo]

What a fascinating website.
I don't like some of the 'after' pictures, but it was certainly very informative and entertaining.

 

[88v8]

What a fascinating website.
I don't like some of the 'after' pictures, but it was certainly very informative and entertaining.

No, I don't like some of the end results. 'Over-restored' comes to mind. It can be very hard to restore without destroying wonkiness & charm. A builder was proudly showing me some pics of a building he'd been working on... the end result was no doubt more liveable and waterproof, but it might as well have been new for all the patina that remained.

Ivor

 

[rebeccac]

We have used watered down cow manuare (no good) and a solution of shellac in meths to cover sooty stains prior to lime plaster.If you dont then the rusty stains do come through as has been said in a previous post.
my abruzzo home rennovation now at http://www.myabruzzohome.blogspot.com