Sinak Brick Treatment

[inspectorwill]

Is anyone familiar with Sinak Corporations brick treatments. This homeowner was instructed to apply Sinak treatment to the 100+ year old brick in the basement to reduce efflorescence and deterioration of the chimney. This chimney is unlined and has never had a cap to prevent water intrusion. Please correct me if I'm wrong but the presence of efflorescence suggests water wicking from the ground or from water intrusion into the uncapped stack. What good would a topical treatment in the basement do to reduce potential for water damage. I am not familiar with this treatment but from researching the website (www.sinak.com), it appears it can be effective in many applications. Just not sure if the product can or is intended to salvage this chimney. Regardless, I recommended not using the chimney referred it out because it is unlined and considerably deteriorated among other things.

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[Bill Kibbel]

That's probably one of the lithium solution products intended to make powdering masonry surfaces "harder". If you don't correct the water and condensation issues, instead of powdering when the bricks disintegrate, it'll be chunks.