I recently had a tv aerial fitted & the engineer has damaged the sandstone drilling - a small patch of one of the stones has flaked off.It is small but should we be getting it repaired/weatherproofed?

If you have natural stone you need some Lyhomix and the dye, to do accurate and professional repairs to stonework. To get this material, google for a natural lime supplier in your area, its quite expensive, but ask for a split bag or some going out of date, and a spoon full of yellow powder. Basically, mix your lythomix with water, not to wet, you will then have a white-sh grey colour, then add your yellow pigment powder, only a very small amount at a time, as you add your water the colour will change, with practice you can match the exact colour of the stone, if you get it to yellow chuck it and start again. For prep work, clean all loose stuff, damp down with small sprayer, apply your Lythomix, let it set, dependent on weather, use your spray bottle to dampen and avoid crazing/cracking, rub up with damp sponge. If done correctly, you wont see repair.

hello lisa i really think you should get back to the tv aerial supplier because i think you have a good insurance claim there. However if the product you wish to repair is sandstone great care should be taken as all repairs need to breathe any repair material needs to of a lime mix. The repair should be supported if the depth is over 20mm this done by drilling in small galvanised screws and fix with epoxy resin. Ensure area is dust free and dampen down whole area to avoid hydrostatic shock mix up a small amount of sand to ratio 1 part sand 5 parts lime and apply to dampened area. Do not apply in one application but build up if the depth is over 20mm. once you have applied first coat insert galvanised steel wire mesh to support first coat and allow to dry. You may have to apply more than one coat depending on the depth of repair but the final coat is as follows. The colour of the final coat should match the surrounding stone work and should be applied proud of the repair allowed to dry then sanded back flush with the stone work. Hope this is useful AJD STONE RESTORATION

Hi There, I guess you want to repair this yourself, I would brush out any loose material in the damaged area, then brush in a little pva/water to seal- key the damage. press into the damaged area a quite stiff mixed cement/sand mix and leave it to the point where it is almost set. Buy some cement dye from your local builders merchants and mix a little with some sand, press into the wet cement with your dry coloured mix and you should be able to leave a nice coloured filling around the damage. practice on a little mix of cement, you do not need much dye to get the right colour. regards Mark

Hi there. Sydnams the builders merchants. Do a stone-dust based pre-mixed product. Brush out well, wet area well, overfill with spatula, leave until almost set(aprox 3 hours then scrape off flush. Sponge off any mess. If it is a substantial bit of filler, wet it down a few times after its set to avoid cracking. Sorted! Kind regards Louis.