When it comes to natural stone—limestone, marble, and granite—I’ve seen too many beautiful surfaces ruined by the wrong cleaning methods. People mean well, but a quick spray of a harsh cleaner or an aggressive scrub pad can etch, stain, or dull the stone permanently. Over the years, I’ve learned that preserving natural stone isn’t about scrubbing harder—it’s about cleaning smarter. Let me walk you through what I’ve learned and what I recommend, so you can keep your stone looking as stunning as the day it was installed. Limestone: The Gentle Giant Limestone is beautiful but soft. It’s porous, which means…

As a third-generation Petrillo, growing up around the historic buildings in the tri-state area and playing a part in preserving such structures has been an honor. Not many people have been able to touch the architecture or stonework in any one specific building, but our team has had the opportunity to work on many of the interior and exterior stone that makes the beauty of this history stand out. Recently, one such project captured the sentiment. The Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew Brownstone is typically used in many historic buildings, especially in the eastern United States. If you…

As a stonemason, it is a true honor to get to work with materials that have truly exhibited the beauty and the timelessness of historical architecture. One such material is a natural stone known as Roman Classic Travertine. This Italian stone enhanced the look of many cathedrals and Roman buildings nearly 2,000 years ago – and we get to use it as an addition to modern statement pieces in homes and businesses. Creating the Beautiful Fireplace Facade To create this gorgeous fireplace surround, we used a template after getting the original measurements and speaking with the homeowner about their design…

The team at Petrillo Stone is excited to have obtained a robotic carving machine to use in our shop! I have always been completely enthralled and taken by the beauty that Romans and Etruscans were able to produce. While their carvings took them decades, our new robotic machine will allow us to create beautiful works of art in a very short amount of time. Honest Abe in Marble Marble busts and statues have been a traditional and beautiful element of art for centuries, and so we thought it was the right choice for the first project of our new robotic…

The team at Petrillo Stone was recently contacted by Fordham University to return to a building we have worked on many times before. In addition to the two beautiful Limestone carvings we have added over the last two years, the university wanted a special project completed to honor Father Joseph McShane, the former president of Fordham University. Using a denser form of Limestone -Portuguese limestone – our team used 24-karat gold leaf to date the side of the McShane Building. While this took several weeks from start to finish, the contrast of the gold with the natural dark veining of…