Bluestone comes in a rectangular or irregular pattern. It’s classic beauty and durability in many climates makes it a highly sought after stone for residential and commercial projects.
Because bluestone and the surrounding mortar joints lay flat, eventually water sits on it and creates hairline cracks in the mortar joints. Water then gets into these cracks- freezes and expands- and starts breaking the mortar joints apart. From there- water gets under the stone- freezes and expands-and starts damaging the stone. The other major cause of deterioration is shifting.
If you have bluestone on your property- many times it can be preserved by grinding out the mortar joints surrounding the stone and tuck pointing using type S mortar mixed with powdered dye and aggregate stone for proper aesthetics. This will create a water tight seal that will protect the bluestone from the necessity of costly replacement while restoring it’s aesthetic qualities.
When creating a new bluestone porch, patio or walkway- Madison Maintenance LLC will first pour concrete for it’s foundation. Then the bluestone pieces will be installed in a mortar base on top of the concrete foundation. This will drastically reduce maintenance issues that arise from the shifting which cracks mortar joints and stone.