[Griff]

  I have just been asked to clean mortar stain off the front of an office building, this is the first time I have done such a job, I am used to doing patios, driveways, decking etc.
Can anybody who has experience in this field, be so kind as to tell me how I would go about pricing, also any tips on the removal would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of brick acid and the use of a high pressure wall rotary washer.
Thanks
Griff

[adl]

Griff brick acid is the way we do it, however if you have not done this process before i would consider sub contracting the works out to a firm that has vast knowledge in this field, their are a lot of  problems that can happen with this process if not done correctly.

regards Dave ADL

[Griff]

Thanks Dave, was interested in having a go myself, I have used brick acid before, but not to this scale, wanted to try and gain some experience, for future jobs. what sort of problems can you get, and how do you price the job.
Thanks
Griff

[adl]

Pricing the job is like pricing any other things to way up are;

Area of cleaning to be done, height of area to be cleaned, access i.e need for cherry pickers etc. (must be ipas licenced otherwise you wont get onto most sites)
severeity of mortor to be cleaned, Potential cross contamination of acid onto windows, doors, gardens, the strret below, general public (do you have to cordon off building), and the most important the strength of the acid used, you can buy standard run of the mill for general cleaning of pure acid for getting rid of the missis in the bath tub,

It must be mentioned that to severe an acid can take off the face of the brick.

Also what type of powerwashing equipment will you be using and is there ample water on site.

I hope this helps you a little, generally it is the same for any type of job, get your homework right and you can make the job very easy.

regards Dave ADL

[Griff]

Thanks Dave for your help,
Mmmmmm get rid of the missus, now that’s a thought, the job is on an industrial park, so no public about at weekend, which is when I planned to do it.
The highest I need to go is about 11 foot, so twin scaffold towers will do the job, as its over a canopy at front of building, will put protection over this.
I also have a van mount pressure wash system with 650 litre water tank on board, but can get more if needed.
Will the normal brick acid available in the stores be good enough if not where do you get stronger from, will use the same area formula I use for patios to work out price, how much do you charge per square meter for brick work.
Many thanks
Griff

[martin19842]

hi there,

ive just been on site all day surveying a building for a clean.  have carried out test panels and now submitting full quotation.

so if you want we can have a look at if for you, on a subcontract basis. 

the one we are looking at is in surrey, we are based in cambridgeshire but work all over.

regards

martin

[Griff]

Thanks Martin,
The job realy isn't that big an area to clean, so going to do it myself,
Thanks anyway
Griff

[martin19842]

hi there,

no problem mate,

regards

martin

[adl]

martin are you not busy enough?

regards Dave ADL

[martin19842]

dave,

just sitting here counting the pennies, its  a hard life this specialist stuff.

a point to remember, it appears that hewdens are cheaper than nationwide.

regards

martin

[adl]

not to say to much but we have just landed the contract involving the hard floors that we were talking about, and i have to go and look at another high level clean at blackpool in the morning.

regards Dave ADL

[martin19842]

dave,

off to bristol again tomorrow night, (thursday) therefore working 36 hrs straight till close of business friday night.

also got another call from our builder friend, another site next week to get them out of trouble.

And i reckon Woking is a months work

anyway, its all good news

also what do you think of Ninja machines???

regards

martin