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RESTORATION
Restoration can involve a great deal of skill, as it covers such a wide scope of works, these can consist of any or all of the following, pointing, piecing in, rebuild, plastic repairs, etc, taking great care not to damage surrounding masonry, and trying to achieve a perfect match in colour and texture. If there is new stone being used it is very important to use the same type of stone not just something that looks the same, as different types of stone weather differently. This could lead to a piece of masonry that starts the off the same colour but after a period of time it can completly change in appearance and this would appear vry prominent as you look over the building as a whole. With all restorational requirements met, it can transform an old, run down building into a spectacular piece of architecture. Which can give you a great sense of achievement.

SINGLETON PARK, SWANSEA	This was a very enjoyable project, consisting of a full restoration program, but what made this special was the use of traditional materials and methods. Starting with the 100% repointing, for this we used a lime putty mix, and traditional hand tools to apply it.The realignment of the the granite arch and the copper slag capping stones were rebedded by eye , as the natural movement in the masonry over the years has made the use of a spirit level obsolete. Moving on to the well, for this we also used a lime putty mix, but only on open and defective joints, and the bedding of the new forest of dean pitched face and limestone copping stones, which incidently were carved on site, again using traditional tools to hand carve them into shape this includes both the pitching of the forest of dean and the limestone coppings. Next was the crazy paving in front of the well, this was taken up and relaid, this included the steps leading down to it, we also put in a safety grid. Inside the well we dug down two metre's for this we also used our hands as machinery could have disturbed this beautiful celtic well.

To zoom in 'click' on the image above

In this section you will find out how to take care of stonemasonry, how to restore buildings to there former glory, and tips on how to slow down the weathering process, by using the right methods of cleaning and restoration for that particular type of stone.
There are before and after pictures, which you can enlarge by clicking on the image, so you can see when the right process is applied, the sometimes dramatic changes in a buildings apperance.
here at the totalstone web site we feel this section is where we most specialise, as all the projects were undertaken by someone at totalstone, offering you over twenty years of experience, so you can rest assured the information has been tried and tested.
Feel free to e-mail us with any questions you may have.