Articles

Scientific Advances

Cathedral Stone has taken an approach to developing masonry restoration products unlike anyone in the industry. We are revolutionizing modern masonry materials to ensure compatibility, safe use, and prevent damage. In our laboratory we test effects and develop products with the aforementioned characteristics.

In alignment with our philosophy, we have removed harsh acids from our products (will not damage stone and safe for applicator) and we manufacture mortars for compatibility based on substrate. Not only do we test mortar composition, we match it based on tensile strength to prevent failure.

Why The Scientific Approach?

Founder, Dennis Rude, began his career as a mason with an apprenticeship for The Stonecutters and Carvers Association of North America in 1961. After serving four years in The Navy, he returned and was soon hired as a stonecutter for the Washington National Cathedral. By 1977 had become superintendent of The National Cathedral’s Cathedral Stone Works, and one year later, became the owner. He renamed it Cathedral Stone Company and began working for local contractors, gaining valuable experience with extensive masonry restoration projects. During this time, Dennis witnessed many failures and problems on projects and began to pursue investigating the causes to find ways to prevent them in the future.

These endeavors lead him to Europe to study failures in some of the most restoration intensive areas of the world. He found that failures were studied in laboratories. Eventually, he made his way to the laboratories of Heinz Jahn in Holland. Jahn was internationally known for investigating problem areas of buildings, identifying causes of failure, and adjusting mortars to correct those failures. Dennis had found a mentor.

In 1982, Dennis began importing Jahn’s mortars to the United States through Cathedral Stone Products, and their friendship and shared goal of developing the longest-lasting mortars has continued for more than 25 years. Cathedral Stone Products now manufactures Jahn Mortars in The United States and is the only manufacturer and distributor of Jahn Mortars in the country. Dennis perpetuates this approach with all of his product lines and strives to develop and improve the quality of masonry materials.