Stone · Melbourne · Since 2014
Bluestone Sealing Melbourne, done properly.
Stop the oil marks before they set.
From $22/m² inc GST $20 + GST Clean and seal. Stain removal and restoration are quoted from photos.
Quicker still: text us a photo for a ballpark.
The short answer
What to know before you seal bluestone.
Bluestone is the Melbourne stone, and the problem with it is almost never water. It is oil. Bluestone is dense enough that rain sits on top and people assume it is fine, then a barbecue drip or a car leak goes straight in and darkens permanently. Sealing bluestone is about getting ahead of oil, not water.
What goes wrong
Oil marks that will not come out.
Because bluestone is dense, water beads on unsealed stone and owners conclude it does not need sealing. Oil behaves completely differently. Cooking oil, sunscreen, and drips from a car wick into the stone and into those gas holes, and once they have set you are looking at poulticing rather than cleaning. It is the single most common bluestone job we get called to, and it is almost always preventable.
The process
How we handle bluestone.
- 1
Find out what is already in it
Existing oil staining has to come out before sealing, or you seal the stain in permanently. That means a poultice draw rather than a surface clean, and it takes time we need to price for.
- 2
Clean without burning the surface
Bluestone can be scorched by aggressive pressure washing, which leaves a lighter, rougher patch that never fully matches again. It gets cleaned with chemistry and controlled pressure.
- 3
Seal for oil, not just water
An impregnating sealer selected for oil resistance, worked into the gas holes rather than skimmed across the top.
- 4
Show you the difference
We put water and oil on the finished surface so you can see both bead, because a water test alone proves very little on bluestone.
Questions
Bluestone: what people ask.
My bluestone beads water already. Does it still need sealing?
Probably, yes. Bluestone is dense enough to shed water while still absorbing oil, so a water test tells you almost nothing. If it is anywhere near a barbecue, a kitchen door or a car, oil is the risk you are actually managing.
Can you get an old oil stain out of bluestone?
Often, but it depends on how long it has been there and what the oil was. Fresh cooking oil usually draws out with a poultice. Old engine oil that has sat in the stone a long time sometimes only lightens. We will tell you honestly what we think we can get before you commit to it.
Will sealing make my bluestone look darker?
A penetrating sealer will not. If you want the deeper, wet-look colour that bluestone gets in the rain, that is an enhancing sealer and it is a separate choice. We will do a test patch on your stone so you can see both before deciding.
Why has my bluestone gone white and powdery in patches?
That is usually efflorescence, mineral salts coming up through the stone from the bedding sand or slab below. It needs treating rather than sealing over, and if the moisture source is still active it will keep returning. We will tell you if that is what you have.
Do you seal bluestone pool coping?
Yes, and it is one of the more common bluestone jobs. Pool coping cops chlorine, sunscreen and constant wetting, which is a harder working environment than general paving and needs the product chosen accordingly.
Get a price
Get your bluestone price.
Three ways to start. Whichever suits you, you'll hear back within 24 hours.