[Tom-01]

Hello everyone

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can clean this stain off of the brickwork please?

It's a wart stain from an overflow pipe.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Tom

Picture not uploading please click this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0zubqm7fbe7gg61/2013-11-20%2011.33.50.jpg

[BDCS]

Phosphoric or brick acid will remove that - any descaler, dwell and a good wash off. PPE

[Roger Oakley]

Plus the rest of the wall will need cleaning? door & window will need masking if using either of the above.

[Smudger]

Not as experienced as others but done a few of these now, personally find that the pressure washer normally deals with this without added chems

Darran

[BDCS]

if you look at the top photo there is an overflow pipe which would indicate water has run down the wall, evaporating and hence leaving water scale. I doubt if you would do it without a descaler but its always worth a try

[Smudger]

I bow to your experience, as I say I've only done a couple myself but I shall store the brick acid and phos in my memory banks  

Darran

[Tom-01]

Thanks guys.

I did wonder about the rest of the facade if I used acid to clean the white mark. Pressure washer sounds like a task on that though.

I meant to type 'water stain' not 'wart stain'

You know when there's some jobs you wish you never looked at...?

Thanks
Tom

[Tom-01]

Plus the rest of the wall will need cleaning? door & window will need masking if using either of the above.

Thanks Roger. How would you tackle it? The guy said he's had other people look at it but they are "quoting a fortune"... Problem is by the time you've bought all the gear needed and paid a worker to do it you've got to earn out of it.

Thanks
Tom

[Griffus]

Keep the pressure relatively low and use a wide fan jet.

Soak the wall, spray on brick acid to affected area (dilute 3 parts water with 1 part acid, adding acid to water, not the other way around), dwell for a couple of minutes and rinse away, low pressure.

Using low pressure should negate the need to clean the entire wall.

You will most likely have to repeat a few times. You may also have to increase the acid content.

Masking windows and doors is an option, especially if steel handles / hinges.

We have recently been carrying out a major job where acid isn't permitted. There are alternatives out there, the best is Safety Klean from Tensid, this is less likely to cause unwanted damage but does come at a cost.

[Roger Oakley]

Plus the rest of the wall will need cleaning? door & window will need masking if using either of the above.

Thanks Roger. How would you tackle it? The guy said he's had other people look at it but they are "quoting a fortune"... Problem is by the time you've bought all the gear needed and paid a worker to do it you've got to earn out of it.

Thanks
Tom

Pretty much how Griffus has stated really, I would factor in the cost of a tower as, what is that height 4 metres roughly? so working off a ladder is a no-go for me if you are using a pressure washer. The only reason I say the rest of the wall may need cleaning is you will have a very clean patch/area where you are removing the stain so cleaning all the wall will balance it up, but from the photo the wall doesn't look in to bad a shape, your choice. The tensid product is good but as Griffus says "comes at a cost". I'd also work from the bottom upwards.

[Smudger]

That's interesting Roger,

Why would you work that way?

Darran

[BDCS]

working bottom up makes very clean "runs" less likely - bottom up stands for most jobs not just scale marks

[Matt Gibson]

I always found having a bronze/brass bristled bush handy when doing these too. For a little bit of agitation on thicker scaled parts. The bronze bristles wont mark the brick or be affected by the acid and are softer and more subtle.

[Roger Oakley]

That's interesting Roger,

Why would you work that way?

Darran

Because as Carl stated makes "clean" runs less likely, when working with any chemical on verticals it is usually best to work from the bottom/lower to the top.

[Smudger]

Cool - will bear that in mind. Thanks Roger

Darran

[Tom-01]

Thanks everyone, very helpful advice. Will see what happens.

Thanks
Tom

[drive surgeon]

Good luck

[johnashton]

Efflorescence is a white powder that results when mineral salts in mortar are dissolved by water. These deposits usually disappear after a few years.

[BDCS]

Efflorescence is a white powder that results when mineral salts in mortar are dissolved by water. These deposits usually disappear after a few years.

Is that what you think it is ?

[Tom-01]

Its not efflorescence. Its water stains from the outlet you can see at the top of the pic. It was pouring out constantly for about 2 months.

[Griffus]

Efflorescence is a white powder that results when mineral salts in mortar are dissolved by water. These deposits usually disappear after a few years.

nasty stuff   

[Kev Martin]

That is not really efflorescence per say it is Limescale caused by the overflow. It can be cleaned with Phosphoric acid you don't need brick acid. There is also a product made by Aqua Mix called Ex treme clean which is designed for this problem. It has an acid in a strong cleaner that is buffered but as a few have said already it will be so good when it's finished it will make the rest of it stand out like a sore thumb. My approach would therefore be to try and clean it dry with a rotary knotted wire brush on an angle grinder first.

Kev Martin
Tiling Logistics Ltd