TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – A downtown Tyler historic landmark got a bath today…from a drone.
The old Blackstone Building, which houses the Tyler Chamber of Commerce, experienced some fairly new technology to help it shed decades of grime and gunk on its exterior.
Poseidon Power Washing showed off its soft washing drone today. The drone is capable of cleaning buildings at an elevation of 10 stories or less. Company employees say it can be less expensive and safer than using lifts to suspend employees that high, and the tech is good for the building too.
”We’ll fly the drone up; it’s gonna take care of a lot of the limestone casting, all that dark algae that’s grown at the top of the building,” said Jeremy Nelson, with Poseidon Power Washing. “And then, we’ll work our way down in layers until the building’s completely clean.”
He said the process is considered a soft wash, which is important for a historic building like this.
“What we don’t want to do is apply high levels of pressure to the sides of buildings. I know there’s a lot of pressure washing companies out there that just go at it if it’s brick or stone. However, when you apply high pressure to the sides of buildings, it causes damage and can chaffe the brick. You can damage the siding, and so soft washing’s a safer alternative. It uses very low pressure, and then we let the chemical do all the work.”
The Blackstone was built in 1938 and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic places. Today, it’s a little bit cleaner.
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