Maintenance on a Stone Facade Home

Washing

• Just like any house covering, a stone facade can become dirty as it stands up against the weather. Unlike some more robust covering options, however, you should never wash your stone facade with a power washer. The high-pressure water that shoots out of a power washer can prove too much for stone facades, causing cracking and crumbling. Instead, wash your facade down with a simple garden hose, wetting the surface and rinsing away dust and dirt.

Gentle Scrub

• Give dirt that will not rinse away a little extra attention by scrubbing these problem areas. Using a soft-bristled brush, scrub any particularly dirty spots, rinsing the spots with a garden hose as you do. If the stain still doesn't give way, try a gentle detergent, such as a bleach-free dish soap, for a little more stain-cutting power.

Sealing

• One of the major concerns with any stone facade is water finding its way into the cracks in the facade and ultimately freezing, causing these natural-looking crevasses to turn into very unnatural, and structurally unsound, fissures. To prevent this, sealing your facade is a must. Purchase a sealant intended for use on stone facades, and apply it to your facade annually. Depending on the brand of sealant you select, this application may require brushing the sealant into place or, instead, spraying the surface with a liquid sealant.

Repair

• Regardless of how tenderly you treat your stone facade, after time it may age and wear. If your facade starts to look a bit haggard, repairing it quickly can prevent it from deteriorating even more. The facade-repair process is a relatively complex one that most homeowners hire out. Depending on how worn your facade has become, it may include simply adding some mortar to fill new cracks. or if the facade is quite worn, may require the use of masonry anchors to hold your facade pieces in place and keep your home front looking beautiful.