What Are Your Credentials?!
- Stone Clean Scotland
- Oct 28
- 2 min read
What knowledge or accreditation do we have to back up what we do? Does it matter?
This article explores some of the steps we take so that we are increasing our knowledge and application every step of the way. Also how that improves relations with architects and stonemasons.
It is true that there is little in the way of a formal apprenticeship or course that can be taken to learn about cleaning or restoring stone. Yet we often find ourselves in a niche that stone masons do not want to become involved in, or perhaps would take a more impactful course of action, such as a straight replacement of stone. Yet in conservation, there are sometimes other less drastic options, usually chemical based, that can restore stonework. This is where we can help.
Yet for Stone Clean Scotland it is very important that we can converse with both Stone masons and architects in a meaningful way. Offering our opinion in a way that can be measured up to other options on the table. This means learning about conservation and the properties of stonework and traditional mortars beyond where cleaning & surface
restoration would normally require.
To this end, we have been engaging with the Scottish Lime Centre, based in Fife, Scotland to enrol in some of their exceptional courses to help us broaden our knowledge, and also communicate our appraisals to related trades.
The first of our courses in October 2025 was entitled " Repairing Traditional Masonry Structures" and explained in great detail about methods used to appraise structures for repair and also how to accurate calculate lime mortar mixes.
This helped us better understand issues we come across on a daily basis, such as desalination, fractured stone and patchwork repairs. Before, during and after any cleaning or restoring process, we can not only communicate the issue, but also the factors which may be causing the problem.
This knowledge greatly increases our effectiveness and sets us apart from competition who may have little to no knowledge or training about the surface they are working upon.
The course had fantastic practical elements, such as calculating and mixing a batch of traditional lime mortar and pointing stonework with it. It also featured practical elements such as building an arch to understand how stone can be locked together in the most basic way.
Why not take advantage of this on your next project. Stone Clean Scotland brings far more than just equipment and labour. We invest time and money in ensuring that we fully understand the surfaces and mechanisms we are being asked to work with.
