Limestone pool stained black and green.
This Lakeway, Texas homeowner called us in desperate need of cleaning of her limestone patio and pool surround. When we came out to inspect the area we noticed it was stained black in several spots and also had a green algae growing on the surface. The homeowner was extremely frustrated and explained to me that after paying a little over 3000 dollars to have the patio power-washed and cleaned, the black stains were still embedded in the stone. Using a high powered washer can be extremely damaging to limestone because it can actually open up holes in the surface which become havens for bacterial growth. After taking measurements and providing a price quote we lined out a step-by-step process for how we planned to attack this job for the homeowner.
Our cleaning process.
First we saturated all the stained areas with an antimicrobial mixture which reacts with the stubborn stains in the limestone. After preparing the rest of our process, the stains were already looking a bit lighter. We then used a stone-friendly alkaline solution along with our soft-bristled electric spinning brush to agitate and emulsify the surface soils and bacterial growth. The emulsified soils were extracted and the stone was rinsed with our truck-mounted hot water extraction machine. The stone was looking really good at this point and after doing some detail work the homeowner thanked us profusely and commented that it looked almost as good as the day it was installed 10 years ago. For a final step we saturated the limestone pool surround with an industrial grade penetrating stone sealer.
The clients were extremely pleased with the results and before we left, we educated them on how to properly care for the stone and maintain its beautiful natural look