Removing burnt carbon from stone

[Anonymous]

We are renovating a part stone and part quarry tile floor in the 17th century part of our pair of cottages. The original fireplace in the one cottage was removed, we believe, about 30 years ago. At the edge of what would have been the hearth type area is Bath Stone, which is still covered in thick black deposts of what we assume is carbon - burnt on over many years.

Can anyone advise us what is the best product and/or method to remove it?

 

[Anonymous]

It's part of the history of the house and on no account should it be removed.

 

[Anonymous]

It may be part of the history, but its retention surely depends how thick the deposit is and whether it's rubbing off on anything else and causing problems.
The stone underneath is bound to be discoloured anyway, so there should be nowt wrong with gently scraping away the worst of the crusty stuff (and do be gentle, as it's soft stone) and buffing with a stiff churn brush to leave the blackened stone as a testament to the former fireplace. It's down to elbow grease because there's not much chemical that would work - carbon is tough, unreactive stuff.
And as for leaving it - you could use the same argument for dust, cobwebs, dead rats and unmentionable blockages in old plumbing!

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, Gervase - my tongue was so firmly in my cheek that I nearly choked on it. Just couldn't resist it.

 

[Anonymous]

We've been trying to remove crusty deposits this week too ... and black stones in the chimney, prior to the fitting of a new register plate.

Not much luck so far! It's well blackened.

 

[Anonymous]

The good news is - we got the new register plate back from the blacksmith! <IMG SRC="http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/discussing/smileys/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

The bad news is - it's the wrong size. <IMG SRC="http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/discussing/smileys/frown.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

One day we will have our boiler working... Hmmmm.

I wonder if Strippers of Sudbury can recommend a poultice to remove the worst of the deposits?

Ours is like tar - possibly cos it is tar! Very difficult to remove.

 

[Anonymous]

If it was sprayed bit by bit with the spray used to freeze chewing gum, would it chip off? Just a small brainstorm as I don't know what the present texture is like.

 

[Anonymous]

You can buy carbon deposit removers for ovens. Its#####though.

Removing carbon is a often done on old motorbikes and I can happily tell you that its bloody hard stuff. Most of the chemical cleaners are very aggressive and I am sure will damage the stone more effectively than they will remove the carbon. Mechanical means may be your best bet - ie a scraper...

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know about freeze spray as I haven't got any, but thanks for that suggestion.

However - Lakeland does a gel oven cleaner which is very effective and may be worth a try! I've just smeared some on some of our black deposits as an experiment.

Dunno if it will help with a de-coke though...

 

[Anonymous]

We are coming to the conclusion that we will probably have to leave it and do realise it is part of the history of the house. There is no longer a fireplace and do not want to reinstall one as the room is becoming a dining hall. Also we are going to use the chimney from the other side (in a modern extension) to install a wood burning stove for a snug.

 

[Anonymous]

I've not yet spoken to Strippers. I have though used some Home Strip ( an Eco Solutions Product) which seems to have taken a bit of it off where it is thicker. However it is not making much headway. As we have no heat in the room at present I am minded to leave it in any case until it is much warmer as the various strippers do not like cold solid floors at this time of year.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for tbis idea - I'll try it as I happen to have purchased some only a month ago.