Founding Streets open in Woollahra 2025
Sandstone cleaning for Woollahra's heritage terraces around Queen St. The lichen and salt lift off, and the hundred-year-old block stays exactly as it was cut.
Get an instant quoteNow booking on Queen St · Holdsworth St
Sandstone cleaning in Woollahra is careful work, because the stone is old and there is no more of it. The Victorian terraces around Queen St carry their sandstone where the weather gets at it: front steps, plinths, low garden walls, the flagging down the side passage. A hundred years of Sydney rain leaves it black with lichen and pale with salt bloom.
We soft wash it and never blast it. A hire-shop pressure gun let loose on hundred-year-old block strips the face and leaves it pitted for good, so we lift the lichen and draw the salt out at a pressure the stone can take. The iron lace and the painted facade beside the work stay out of it, and every finished surface is photographed against the checklist.
The side passages are the stubborn part. They never see the sun, so the damp sits and the growth comes back thicker than anything on the street front. Put your address into the instant quote and a firm, bookable price comes back in about 60 seconds. It holds unless your place is materially different.
Every block gets read before it gets touched. Here is the finish it is done to, surface by surface.
Soft washed at low pressure. Black lichen and salt lifted, the natural honey colour back, no blast scarring.
Treated at the root and drawn out over days, not scrubbed off the top. It does not grow straight back.
The white efflorescence eased off the face and the stone left open to breathe, never sealed shut over damp.
Worked gently around, old lime pointing left intact. Loose or failing joints flagged in the condition report, not force washed.
Trafficked sandstone cleaned back to grip and colour, edges and nosings done by hand where the machine cannot reach.
Copings, balusters and any carved faces cleaned by hand at close range so the crisp lines stay crisp.
A breathable seal only, applied once the stone is fully dry. It sheds salt and water and still lets the block breathe.
Job-close photos against the checklist. Anything past maintenance is named, marked, and referred to a specialist partner.
Meet Jake. He runs Schmick jobs in Woollahra, and the same person comes back each visit — no rotating crew, no call-centre between you and the work.
Booking a one-off? A couple of cleans a year adds up. The Schmick Plan folds the whole exterior into one monthly price and keeps it handled, so you never think about it again.
See the Plan
“Couldn’t fault them”
Had the windows and the driveway done. Turned up right on 8, finished before lunch, and the driveway honestly looks brand new. Same guy came back for the gutters last month and remembered our dog’s name. Couldn’t fault them.
“Should’ve done it years ago”
They sent me photos of what came out of our gutters. Revolting. Glad it’s gone. Lovely guys too.
“Came out after the storm”
We’re on their monthly plan. After that big blow in June they were out two days later and sorted everything without us having to chase. Worth it for that alone.
“Honest, which is rare”
Our sandstone wall had gone black and I’d assumed it was ruined. It’s come up beautifully. There was one damp patch he said needed a stone specialist rather than pretending he could fix it, which I appreciated. On time, tidy, very fair on price.
“Neighbours all asked who did it”
Windows are unreal. Two of the neighbours came over to ask who did them before the van had even left the street. Booking was easy and they text you when they’re on the way.
“10/10”
Got the whole outside done before we hosted Christmas. Mum asked if we’d had the place repainted. Showed up when they said, price was exactly what they quoted.
Yes. We work the heritage terraces around Queen St and Holdsworth St regularly, and their sandstone steps, plinths and garden walls are exactly what this service is for.
Put your address into the instant online quote and a firm, bookable price comes back in about 60 seconds. Nobody needs to come out and look first, and the price holds unless the place is materially different to what you told us.
It is the side passage. It never sees the sun, so the stone stays damp and the lichen re-establishes faster there than on the sunlit front. A soft wash roughly every couple of years keeps ahead of it without touching the face of the stone.
One crew, one visit. Book a single job or hand us the whole exterior.
Inside and out, tracks and screens. The squeegee line you can see from the street.
Render, brick and weatherboard brought back without blasting a thing. Ten years of grey, gone by lunch.
Cleared, flushed and photographed. The before you never wanted to see, and the after you will.
Pressure cleaned back to the day they were poured. Sealing available.
A film of grime is a tax on every panel. We take it off, quarterly, and your yield thanks you.
Moss, lichen and mould lifted off tiles and Colorbond. Soft washed, never blasted.
Timber, Colorbond and rendered fences washed back. The street side done first.
Tell us the address and what the street sees. The same person who would do the job gets back to you, not a call-centre.