As we begin to move out of the cold season, you may be looking at your fireplace with a bit of dismay. How do you clean off that stubborn sooty residue?

It’s kind of funny what people who should know better will say about common stone failures or issues. Over the past several years, we have heard many stories about the reasons stone will fail, turn color, fade, and so on. Many are funny and most are just plain false. Here’s a sampling you may enjoy.

Many people use stone-safe cleaning products but still mysteriously end up with chemical stone damage anyhow. How does this happen?