Interior stone wall needs cleaning and sealing

[joeberg]

Hi and a Happy New Year

I'm a P&D doing a 5 bedroomed house built on a slope. The kitchen is in the basement with three exposed walls. 2 of the walls have been whitewashed but the client wants the third left exposed. At some point it has been very badly rendered so he wants it cleaned and sealed with a Matt finish. A lot of the mortar is covering the stone but it is generally quite brittle and I should be able to chisel and wire brush a lot of it off. What would anyone recommend to clean the stone and is there a matt sealer on the market ? I was thinking of a diluted PVA but I wonder if this would leave a shine ?

Cheers

Joe

 

[misterhelpful]

I've used Everbuild Brick and Patio Cleaner as well as their Mortar Stain Remover and both have done the job I required of them. They now do Cemstrip, which is a water based product that seems to do a similar job, but I haven't tried that.

They also do various sealers (only used their patio sealer myself) which may suit your needs but, with basement walls, it may not be wise to completely seal them as they often need to breathe. I personally wouldn't use PVA as it will leave a bit of a sheen and can peel if there is any moisture in the wall that needs to escape or if it ever needs painting in the future, it could lead to adhesion problems.

Check out the products in the link below for an alternative - the Natural Stone Sealer claims to work without altering the appearance but I don't know whether that means it leaves a matt finish.

EVERBUILD SURFACE TREATMENTS

 

[Possel]

with basement walls, it may not be wise to completely seal them as they often need to breathe. I personally wouldn't use PVA as it will leave a bit of a sheen and can peel if there is any moisture in the wall that needs to escape or if it ever needs painting in the future, it could lead to adhesion problems.

joeberg - You don't say how old the house is, but if the wall is stone then I'm guessing that it's quite old? As misterhelpful says, stone walls need to breathe and sealing it will only cause problems for him in the future. Is there a sealed floor (e.g. concrete, or ceramic tiles)? Is there some good extraction in the kitchen? That moisture has to go somewhere.