iceberg70

We bought our house in southwest Ohio in October '07, and have since had a couple of conversations with neighbors in which they mention that they're preparing to treat the parts of their home exteriors that are stone. To avoid the risk of looking ignorant, I pretended that I knew what they were talking about, and just sort of nodded in agreement. (I know, I know.)

What were they talking about? My home's exterior is entirely covered with stone (see pic); if should be treated or cleaned regularly, I'd like to know. The house was one-owner, built in '58.

Could someone please let me know if I should be performing some sort of routine maintenance on the house?

Thank you!

glennjanie

Hello Iceburg:
In my opinion, brick and stone are the only maintenance free products to use on a house.

If you have some Mossy places (green), you could use a power sprayer to clean it off and some folks like to spray the surface with clear silicone liquid to prevent water from collecting in cracks and freezing to pop off the surface. I have been around the business for almost 50 years now and, I must admit, I don't know any more than you do in this case.

Glenn

yesitsconcrete

if you maintain the mortar jnts, there's not much else to do as glenn posts,,, good pressure wash (under 2,000psi & 15degree nozzle) to remove dirt, mold, moss, etc should be part of the annual program because 1, it removes the aforementioned; 2, it requires you to inspect all the work; & 3, its easy work & gets you out of other stuff that's more tiring/boring/depressing on the bride's 'honey-do' list.

we use prosoco altho there're MANY other products avail - sika, sonneborn, etc,,, apply w/3gal pump can per directions on the label.

iceberg70

Mortar joints...got it. This is great news! I feel even better about our purchase now. Thank you both.

See you around.
Brad