Stone cleaning and sealing in Mona Vale

Mona Vale was once the administrative centre of the former Pittwater Council and remains a commercial hub for the upper Northern Beaches, where Pittwater Road and Mona Vale Road meet. Mona Vale Beach runs along the ocean side, with the Mona Vale Rock Pool between the beach and the Basin, and Bongin Bongin Bay to the north. Mona Vale Hospital serves the area. Housing includes beachfront homes, family houses on suburban streets such as Darley Street, and apartments near the centre. Stone is used for terraces, paving, pool surrounds and garden walls, in both sandstone and travertine.

For Mona Vale homes near the beach, salt is the main issue. Spray carried off the ocean settles on terraces, walls and pool areas, and as it dries in the pores, salt crystals break down the surface. UTS research identifies salt as a major threat to coastal sandstone, and the same process damages travertine coping and limestone. Pools by the beach add their own salt as splash dries on the coping. Further inland, sandstone walls and paths deal more with mould, algae and leaf staining in shaded areas, and travertine terraces collect sunscreen, food oils and dirt in their holes.

Mona Vale was the administrative centre of the former Pittwater Council, which has since been merged into Northern Beaches Council, so heritage and planning questions now go there. The sources we reviewed did not show a heritage conservation area in Mona Vale. Individual houses and structures can still be listed items, so before restoring, repointing or replacing older stone, ask council whether your property appears on the heritage schedule. In apartment buildings near the town centre, the stone on balconies and in shared spaces may belong to the strata scheme, which usually puts decisions with the owners corporation; your strata manager can tell you. On every job, our wash water is collected rather than sent into the nearest street drain.

Allow roughly 45 to 55 minutes for us to reach Mona Vale from Double Bay off-peak; that is our estimate, and Pittwater Road traffic can add to it. Jobs here are booked as full days, with parking, a tap and the route to the work area agreed beforehand. Many Mona Vale homes have a pool, so the water is covered before cleaning starts and every litre of rinse water is captured on site. On properties near the beach, we look at the wind forecast before sealing, because an onshore breeze lays salt on fresh work. Families with children and pets get a clear time for when each treated area is rinsed, dry and ready to use again. Sealing comes once the stone has dried, sometimes on a second visit.