Topic: Couldn't Get Clean

[samsheldon]

Will do a job this weekend, a neighbor came by and asked if we could clean her stone front porch.  We first just tried hot water with no success.  We then tried to clean it with our HW with a 10 min dwell time, with no success.  I then scrubbed the area with a brush and 10% SH and SC, again very little success.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Quick Power Wash]

I would hit it at 6% and see what that does to it.

[propressure]

It looks like somebody may have sealed it and the sealer is beginning to fail. A chemical stripper mat help. I'm not sure what to suggest, though.

Someone will come along and help you out. Be patient. I am interested to see the suggestions, myself.

[moody1]

Does it bead water like there is a sealer present?  It doesn't look like an acrylic sealer in the picture, unless it is really bad.

[samsheldon]

No, it didn't show sign of having a sealer on it.

[paverprotector.com]

I would guess it was sealed also. Even if it doesn't bead the water it still could have been sealed at one point. You could try a paint remover on a small part and that will take off some water based sealers. I have used an orange gel from the hardware store before that worked. Otherwise you can try different solvents and stripper you can get from the sealer store.

It's a nasty job to remove sealer if that is the case.

[gc]

It looks like a marble floor. If it is marble it is a soft stone so don't use any strong chemicals. it might have a pentetrating sealer walk or run from it   

[innovativewash]

This looks a stone we cleaned this summer. It looks exactly the same. even looks like it will chipp away with to much pressure right? I used Safe restore let it dwell for a long time re-applied and almost let it dry. Came out great.