Category Archives: Stone Conservation

Server and Website Contact Issues

21/02/2014Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Unfortunately we have been experiencing server issues for the last few weeks with all websites and email facilities effected. Sorry if this has made your contact with Inspire difficult. If you are still experiencing difficulty contacting us then please feel free to call on the telephone numbers below. We hope to resolve these issues as soon as we can. In the meantime you can contact Michael Sheppard on 01908 586661 for project enquires .

Christmas message for 2013 and Happy New Year to all!

12/12/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

It is now Christmas 2013 and we wish to express our thanks to everyone who has been involved in what has been a truly amazing year. Before we depart for the Christmas and New Year celebrations we wanted to reflect a little on the year past. 2013 has been Inspire Conservation’s fifth year and the best yet! It has been the busiest and includes some of the most interesting of our projects. We are .

Hertfordshire DOFF Cleaning and Monument Conservation

22/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Abbots Langley war memorial has been cleaned by Inspire Conservation with the DOFF super heated water system and repointed with lime mortar ready for the winter months and the second phase of work, which will take place in the new year. The monument was heavily colonised by algal growths and the lettering was barely legible, but since the cleaning it is clear that the names can now be read. The second phase of .

DOFF Cleaning Stone Monuments

21/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Hertford Heath is a village in Hertfordshire who at the beginning of 2013 called upon Michael Sheppard to assess their war memorial and compile a specification of work to restore it. The programme included cleaning with the DOFF super heated water system, lime mortar grouting, pointing and consolidation and general repairs to the surrounding base. The PCC managed to raise the funds necessary to complete the works and so at the latter stages of .

War Memorial Cleaning and Repair in Hertfordshire

21/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Essendon PCC contacted Inspire Conservation seeking our war memorial and stone cleaning services and we were instructed to DOFF clean their war memorial in time for the 2013 armistice day commemorations. The small memorial was cleaned with our super heated water system to gently remove the algal and lichen growths from the surface. The whole monument was then sprayed with an ammonia based biocide to actively remove any further growths for the next .

DOFF Cleaning Stone Monuments

21/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Inspire Conservation use various cleaning methods for their projects depending on the individual factors and parameters set out to each environment. In this war memorial cleaning project we used the DOFF steam cleaner which was used at approximately 100 degrees Celsius and a low pressure setting to gently remove the algal and lichen growths. There was repointing of the stone in lime mortar also with our own brand of lime mortar, Ionic lime. .

DOFF Cleaning a War Memorial in Oxfordshire

21/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

We have completed another war memorial conservation project, this time in Oxfordshire. Standlake village PCC commissioned Inspire Conservation to clean their war memorial with the DOFF steam cleaning system and further restore the lead lettering by ensuring that they were all adhered satisfactorily and repainted with enamel paints. The monument responded well and the effect speaks for itself. The local residents were all very happy with the result and we are glad to have .

War Memorial Cleaning Wiltshire

21/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Inspire Conservation have been in Wiltshire cleaning a war memorial and we have a few more to complete in the new year once the weather improves. Until then, have a look at our smallest war memorial yet which was cleaned with the DOFF steam cleaner to reveal the lettering in time for the November 11th commemoration.

Conservation services in the UK

15/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

We thought we would have a bit of fun and plot some of the projects that Michael Sheppard and Inspire Conservation have completed projects over the last eight years and it turns out that it covers quite a distance…

Winners of an Oxford Preservation Trust Award 2013!

13/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

We are proud to announce that Inspire Conservation have won an Oxford Preservation Trust award for our work at Magdalen College, Oxford last year. We were encouraged by the local authority conservation officer to submit our project which was short listed from various projects that were put forward. Out of the 16 nominated projects in the building conservation category we were one of only three projects to receive an award for our outstanding contribution .