Sandstone cleaning in Phillip Bay

Phillip Bay sits on the northern shore of Botany Bay, around Yarra Bay, between Yarra Point and Bumborah Point. Yarra Bay House, built in 1903 as an addition to the cable station at La Perouse, stands on Yarra Point, and the Yarra Bay Sailing Club works from the foreshore. Bicentennial Park holds a memorial to HMS Supply, which anchored in the bay in 1788. Yarra Road carries the churches, La Perouse Public School and some of the suburb's older homes, including a Tudor Revival house and a Federation and California bungalow. Around 80 per cent of homes are detached houses, well above the Randwick average. Stone appears as front fences, garden walls, steps, paths and some terrace paving.

Phillip Bay faces south-west across Botany Bay, so its stone weathers differently from the ocean beaches. Southerly and westerly winds blow across the bay and carry salt, though usually less than on the open coast. Port Botany and the industrial land around it contribute a fine dust that collects on paving. Sandy soil makes garden run-off gritty, and it leaves brown tide-marks along low walls. On the shaded sides of houses, paths and steps stay damp and grow algae, and older fences show lichen. Rust from gates and fittings stains stone that sits close to metal (all inferred from setting).

Phillip Bay is in Randwick City Council. No conservation area on the council's list covers Phillip Bay by name, which leaves most houses free of precinct-wide heritage rules. A single building can still be scheduled, and the council's maps or planning staff will confirm that. For a scheduled building, the heritage clause of the local plan normally means consent, unless the council has agreed in writing that a small maintenance job will do no harm. The suburb also has a deep Aboriginal history connected with La Perouse, and the foreshore and reserves are public land managed by public authorities, so our work stays within private boundaries. For the minority of homes in strata, shared fences and paths are generally common property maintained by the owners corporation.

Phillip Bay is about 32 minutes from Double Bay, down Anzac Parade, past the end of our usual coastal run, so visits are usually paired with other work in the area. Parking is generally easy, with driveways and quieter streets. Gardens and lawns are covered, a low barrier is placed wherever water would naturally flow off the block, and the wash water is vacuumed up, which matters where blocks fall toward the bay. On windy days, which are common on the bay, sealing is postponed so that dust does not settle into wet sealer and spray does not drift. Most jobs here are houses, so we work with the owner directly and send photographs when the work is complete.