Sandstone and travertine care in Bayview

Bayview is a hilly suburb on the southern shore of Pittwater, with streets climbing steeply from the water, and its name describes the view across it. Pittwater Road follows the shoreline past Gibson Marina and Bayview Anchorage Marina, the base of the Bayview Yacht Racing Association, and past the Second World War tetrahedron tank traps that still sit on the water side. Bayview Baths, Bayview Park and Maybanke Cove are on the foreshore, and Bayview Golf Course occupies the site of Patrick Bryan's 1821 house. Separate houses make up a little over half the dwellings, with townhouses and apartments making up the rest. Stone here means sea walls, steps to jetties, terraced garden walls and paved pool areas.

Bayview stone faces two distinct conditions. On the waterfront, sea walls and landing steps are wetted by tides and wash from passing boats, so the lower courses stay damp, grow green weed and algae, and pick up a white salt line where water evaporates. That band is where sandstone usually begins to soften and flake. Further up the hill, the problem is shade: the slopes carry tall eucalypts, and gardens beneath them collect leaves and bark that leave tannin stains on paving and steps. South-facing terraces stay damp through winter and grow black mould and lichen. Pool areas on either level take splash from chlorinated or salt water, which dries along the coping.

Bayview lies in the former Pittwater Council area, and Northern Beaches Council applies the Pittwater Local Environmental Plan 2014 to heritage matters here. No heritage conservation area for Bayview turned up in the sources we checked, and any individual listings would sit in that plan's heritage schedule, which is worth searching before restoration begins. On the waterfront, our work stays limited to cleaning and sealing existing stone from the land. Rebuilding a sea wall, jetty or boat ramp is structural work that needs the right professionals and approvals. Anything washed off a waterfront property can reach Pittwater directly, and because polluting waters is prohibited by section 120 of the state's 1997 pollution Act, every bit of run-off is captured.

Bayview takes about 50 to 60 minutes to reach from Double Bay, traffic on Pittwater Road permitting, so jobs are planned as full days. Many blocks are steep, with long flights of steps between the street, the house and the water, which means equipment is carried down in stages and hoses run a long way. On waterfront jobs, our technicians check tide times and work on the lower steps and sea wall when the water is lowest, from the garden side. Bunding goes in at each change of level, and the bottom line of defence is always above the high-water mark. Sealing is booked for a calm, dry day, because the western shore of Pittwater can stay humid well into the morning.