Cleaning Brick

[Mike Lamb]

I inspected a large building where all of the window lintels had been replaced. The adjacent cracked mortar was repointed but the work is very sloppy.

I have read the BIA technical notes on cleaning brick but am wondering if anyone has practical experience as to how time-consuming a project this could be. There are zigzags of smeared mortar above and around most of the windows. It is a rough textured brick. Lots of cleaning needs to be done.

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[kurt]

That kind of mess is hard to clean up satisfactorily. More accurately, it's hard to find competent people that want to mess with something like that.

I've seen amazing things done with muriatic acid, and getting mortar out of nooks and crannys in rough brick, but it's a pita.

[inspector57]

I agree, PITA but the excess on the surface could likely be cleaned. The tool work on the repointed mortar joints is another story though. I don't think it will ever look right again without mucho worko!

[hausdok]

One part muriatic acid 20 parts water. Scrub down the residue, let the acid work a while and then neutralize with TSP followed by water. Wear lots of protective clothing and eye/skin protection.