Oh No!

T

timhays

Member
I am ashamed to admit it,but after two years of cleaning brick i go to clean a new contract house,full brick 3000 sq. ft.

The builder told me they used regular mortar and it was light gray in color,nothing different than usual.

I cleaned the back of the house using muriatic and joy solution full strength.

After i sprayed chemical on the entire right side of the house,i start noticing on the back of the house some of the mortar was turning back to the color of the sand, OOOOOHH ****!

I quickly washed down the right side of the house and decided to let it dry overnight to see what extent of damage has been done,before continuing to the front and left side of the house.

I went back over the mortar joints and washed the excess sand
off and while wet didnt look noticeable.

tomorrow i am not looking forward to.

what do i do to fix this problem if indeed its noticeable?
anyone have any suggestions on what caused it?

I am going to seriously start looking into surekleen 600 from now on.
 
brick

Dont use muratic unless you want to remove top layer of grout or concrete. It should be ok just lighter, if you want to get a darker color to the grout , seal it .
 
Don't be ashamed. Things happen. There is a leason here, it is test before you doing any kind of job. This applies to knew commeres and old timeers.


Charlie
 
I always use detergent 600 Sureklean from Prosoco. It will not harm or darken joints and is less damaging to the brick surface. It's main ingredient is Hydrochloric acid. You can dilute up to 12 - 1 depending on the mess and porosity of the brick. I agree with testing in an inconspicuous area. Some brick are very very soft and any pressure at all is to much. In this case I apply cleaner allow to dwell proper time while knocking off heavy tags then apply cleaner a second time as per directions on container. Then rinse with soap tip or garden hose . Good luck and God bless.


Mike
 
to my knowledge muriatic and hypochloric acid are the one of the same,i was told the prosoco products has some type of buffer added,i wonder what the buffer is?
also hypochloric is $1.28 gal the cheapest i can find surekleen 600 is $7 gal that is from a buddy of mine who does 25k month in purchases from a local masonry supply company,when i called they wanted $13 gal. plus $60 shipping from prosoco.
ps on a 3000 sq ft all brick home i use about 8 to 10 gallons of acid.
 
85% of my business is brick cleaning (trying to reduce that percentage). You are correct, muratic and hydrochloric are the same. I frankly believe the D600 deal is a scam - rarely can I get a job clean by simply using a little D600 and rinsing down. Works when the brick layers clean as they lay brick, but very few do. Therefore, I usually need to use more aggressive chemical/mechanical approach to get clean. For colored (esp chocolate and black) mortar rely on mechanical almost totally. Will used buffered cleaner (Vanitrol even) for white brick.
 
I just read this , you still around tim?
timhays said:
I am ashamed to admit it,but after two years of cleaning brick i go to clean a new contract house,full brick 3000 sq. ft.

The builder told me they used regular mortar and it was light gray in color,nothing different than usual.

I cleaned the back of the house using muriatic and joy solution full strength.

After i sprayed chemical on the entire right side of the house,i start noticing on the back of the house some of the mortar was turning back to the color of the sand, OOOOOHH ****!

I quickly washed down the right side of the house and decided to let it dry overnight to see what extent of damage has been done,before continuing to the front and left side of the house.

I went back over the mortar joints and washed the excess sand
off and while wet didnt look noticeable.

tomorrow i am not looking forward to.

what do i do to fix this problem if indeed its noticeable?
anyone have any suggestions on what caused it?

I am going to seriously start looking into surekleen 600 from now on.
Click to expand...
 
How long does it take to do a 3000 sq ft house? My guess is 2 or 3 hours. Apply chem with x-jet or fatboy type pump? Pre-wet the surface or not? I just got a call to do a couple for a builder.
 
It's going to take you some time on your first brick house, but you might finish it in 2-3 hours once you've got your system down. Bring a hard chisel and a soft one. Use them liberally! Chems are great, but a scrapper on a stick will save you a lot of time!
 
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