DJ Cooper Building Conservation for Salisbury, Wiltshire

Most people come to Salisbury to see the fabulous 12th-century cathedral, blessed with the tallest spire in England. Indeed, the approach to Salisbury Cathedral has been voted "Britains favourite view" in a national poll. But there is much more to this historic city than the wonderful cathedral. The Romans settled north of here, and the Normans built a castle and cathedral on the site of an Iron Age fort at Old Sarum. But it was not until Bishop Herbert Poore moved the first Salisbury Cathedral to open ground south of Old Sarum that the city had space to grow.<br /><br />With historic buildings in and around the town, some national monuments, some still in use, owned privately or by the local council, we often find ourselves called on in the Salisbury area to ensure that when the grime from traffic, bird fouling, general day to day soiling or even graffiti is removed from a treasured building, there is no damage to the often delicate stonework beneath.<br /><br />From removal of old paint for a domestic redecoration project, or the intricate cleaning of stone work in a cathedral using the poultice method, you will find that wherever you are in Salisbury or Wiltshire, you will get a quick response, highly competitive quotation and thorough cleaning from DJ Cooper. Our number is shown above, or if you prefer to send us an email, simply click in the header of any page.

Photo from Featured Project near Salisbury, Wiltshire
Torc Cleaning of Stone Capitals - Before Cleaning
This sequence of three images shows these weathered stone capitals before (showing carbon tarnish), during Torc cleaning, and after Torc cleaning.<br /><br />They arrived in fairly poor condition, being heavily tarnished with carbon from airborne pollution over many years. The surfaces were also fairly fragile, so any aggressive cleaning techniques were out of the question. <br /><br />The Torc system was chosen for this job as it cleans thoroughly yet gently, using a combination of air pressure, a little water and some granulate abrasives. The key to success is in choosing the right abrasive medium for the type of stone in question, from the options of calcite, dolomite and util. <br /><br />As shown in the final (after image) the carbon has been effectively removed while retaining the patina of the stone.<br /><br />If you face similar cleaning challenges and need to preserve the material to be cleaned, give our specialist team a call, or click in the header of any page to send us an email. We will be happy to quote for any or all of your building conservation needs.