[Rob Hall]

I have 400sqm of sandstone on a driveway that needs a seal to keep the dust to a minimum. Obviously sandstone is sedimentary and will wear when driven or walked on. Can anyone tell me if they have anything similar to deal with?

[chris scott]

What type of sandstone is it?

[Rob Hall]

It is a Yorkstone. I will try and get some pictures on later

[chris scott]

New or reclaimed york stone ?Sawn or rough ? If reclaimed were did it come from ..above or below ground?

[Rob Hall]

Wow...interesting questions.

ok

The surface is rough, not smooth, the surface was made rough by a type of water jet treatment.

I will try and find out if the stone is from under ground, but in the meantime, I am very interested to know what difference it would make to the sealer used?

Thanks so far for your contributions

[chris scott]

If its just rough reclaimed sandstone from say a cellar (underground) or reclamation yard it will require time to dry out once laid before sealing (if you would bother sealing this type of stone). Stone that is "smooth saw" slabs "brand new" will be ok (nearly)straight away although staining can result from pointing.
I ask as i was not really aware of dust or wear issues. Rough stone is usually sort after for it's weathered look..sometimes it's a little "flaky" but thats part of it's appeal.I dont know of any "sealer" that would prevent this happening.
Sealing smooth machined stone is a different job .There are plenty on the market.

[Roger Oakley]

Rob,

Just book it in for a year on year clean and forget the sealing.
Decent York really doesn't need sealing in an outdoor situation IMO
Shouldn't really be getting much dust off of York, you sure it is not Indian?
I clean loads of York year on year without sealers and clients are happy that.

[Kev Martin]

New or reclaimed york stone ?Sawn or rough ? If reclaimed were did it come from ..above or below ground?

I am not sure this is relevant it is highly unlikely that you would be able to reclaim 400M2 of Yorkstone and even if you did you would not use it on a drive having gone to that expense


Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics Ltd

[Kev Martin]

If its just rough reclaimed sandstone from say a cellar (underground) or reclamation yard it will require time to dry out once laid before sealing (if you would bother sealing this type of stone). Stone that is "smooth saw" slabs "brand new" will be ok (nearly)straight away although staining can result from pointing.
I ask as i was not really aware of dust or wear issues. Rough stone is usually sort after for it's weathered look..sometimes it's a little "flaky" but thats part of it's appeal.I dont know of any "sealer" that would prevent this happening.
Sealing smooth machined stone is a different job .There are plenty on the market.

You could seal it immediately with Aqua Mix Sealers Choice Gold provided the surface was dry

Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics Ltd

[chris scott]

New or reclaimed york stone ?Sawn or rough ? If reclaimed were did it come from ..above or below ground?

I am not sure this is relevant it is highly unlikely that you would be able to reclaim 400M2 of Yorkstone and even if you did you would not use it on a drive having gone to that expense


Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics Ltd

Reclaimed york stone is about £ 80 sqm it would be ideal for a period project. Why would you not use it on a driveway?
The Romans used it and it's still fit for purpose years on...and they did not apply Aqua mix!

[Rob Hall]

BELIEVE ME, IN THIS CASE COST REALLY ISNT AN ISSUE. The stone cost £40,000 and is not worried about ripping it up if we cant find a solution. Your eyes would water if you could see the cars parked on the drive!!

[Floor_Tony]

New or reclaimed york stone ?Sawn or rough ? If reclaimed were did it come from ..above or below ground?

I am not sure this is relevant it is highly unlikely that you would be able to reclaim 400M2 of Yorkstone and even if you did you would not use it on a drive having gone to that expense


Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics Ltd

Reclaimed york stone is about £ 80 sqm it would be ideal for a period project. Why would you not use it on a driveway?
The Romans used it and it's still fit for purpose years on...and they did not apply Aqua mix!

Probably Not Aqua Mix your right they where not that technically advanced so well done for pointing that out, not that it helped the question in hand at all, but they were technically advance to use some protection on tile such as oil.

To robs question a penetrating sealer would be needed depending on what finish they want on the stone will depend on which one is needed for the job. Then depending on conditions of use a suitable maintenance plan would need to be put in place to keep the protection of the stone or in this case dust levels down I would even perhaps look at altering the surface tension of the stone prior to sealing.

[G O Cleaning]

How long ago was this drive laid 

[Rob Hall]

It has been down a year now.
Antony, please will you educate me on surface tension??

[Floor_Tony]

Essentially at what grit the stone is left 60 120 220 400 800 etc where you will have to be careful is not to make it so tight that it start to produce a sheen or shine as obviously by altering the surface tension you alter the grip (slip resistance) in certain conditions.

[Kev Martin]

New or reclaimed york stone ?Sawn or rough ? If reclaimed were did it come from ..above or below ground?

I am not sure this is relevant it is highly unlikely that you would be able to reclaim 400M2 of Yorkstone and even if you did you would not use it on a drive having gone to that expense


Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics Ltd

Reclaimed york stone is about £ 80 sqm it would be ideal for a period project. Why would you not use it on a driveway?
The Romans used it and it's still fit for purpose years on...and they did not apply Aqua mix!

Chris
The Egyptians built the Sphinx and the Pyramids and didn't seal them either but they have sealed them now. Regarding price I suppose £16k is OK for a driveway. Regarding Aqua Mix I will re-iterate my position for you. Yes we use Aqua Mix all the time because it is the best product bar none we have ever used we used it long before we ever started selling it incidentally. In fact we liked it so much I spent a great deal of time and money persuading the manufacturers to let us import it back into the UK and Europe but the real reasons were selfish because we wanted to continue using the best products in our restoration business. Selling it to others is just an add on to our warehouse inventory. Perhaps you should try it?

Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics Ltd

[Roger Oakley]

BELIEVE ME, IN THIS CASE COST REALLY ISNT AN ISSUE. The stone cost £40,000 and is not worried about ripping it up if we cant find a solution. Your eyes would water if you could see the cars parked on the drive!!

Not really Rob, these are the sort of properties we work at day in day out down here in dirty Surrey & London, but all that aside a yearly clean and if they really want it sealing then yes Aqua-Mix would be a good choice, it's all I use on Limestone, and Sandstone if the client wants colour enhanced finish, haven't used it on York, only Lithofin, as that is what my clients have wanted but that's not to say it wouldn't work.

[Rob Hall]

Here are a couple of photos. You can see the type of surface...

[chris scott]

Sandblasted Indian?

[Rob Hall]

As far away from Indian as you can get. It is from a quarry somewhere near Whitby/Scarborough.