Exterior stone lintels and door surrounds

[matchmade]

I've bought a battered Victorian house where the last owner covered the stone steps, door surrounds and window lintels with white exterior paint.

How do I remove this without damaging the stone?

What's a good external transparent sealant suitable for stone? I want to protect it from frost, water damage and general flakiness and without covering it in paint.

[richfo]

 

As far as I know professional stone cleaners use a sandblaster to clean stone. You can hire these quite cheaply and the stone should be lovely once finished. Thompsons do a brick sealer which although not eco friendly is very good. Be aware though that as you remove the paint you may find old repairs which could be why they painted. Our neighbour called in a stone restorer for the front of her gothic house and the bill was �11k !!!!