Brick with a coating??

[mikew 14]

Hello,

Got a call to do a house wash. The house is all brick with the usual white trim. The

brick on this house looks very different. It appears to have a coating on it. The brick looks

almost white and you can see faint hints of the red brick underneath because the white

top layer is of random thickness.

What do you call this type of brick?

Will my housewash mix (PowerHouse & 12%) harm the brick exterior coating?

My thoughts were to prewet each side. Apply my house wash mix lightly on the brick

and normally on all trim and gutters. Allow the mix to dwell and rinse, rinse, rinse!

In addition I would use very light pressure for the whole wash.

There are some red clay stains and possibly a water rust stain that runs down the

wall below the faucet. Would a light acid be needed for those places? Would the acid

harm this brick/coating?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

[Russ Spence 76]

i ran into a similar problem at a church,they had put what was supposed to be a water sealer that would help prevent leaks and it turned a nasty milky white and now they want to remove it because of its unsightly appearance.i did a test spot with a rotomax nozzle and it came clean after a lot of slow washing ,i bid it out at a 75.00 per hour rate and im waiting to hear back i will let you know how it works out....the only other alternative is to put a stripper on it and let it set to see if it will break down the shell and wash then,they were trying to avoid the chemical cost so im just following orders ....but i will update you on our progress

[mikew 14]

i ran into a similar problem at a church,they had put what was supposed to be a water sealer that would help prevent leaks and it turned a nasty milky white and now they want to remove it because of its unsightly appearance.i did a test spot with a rotomax nozzle and it came clean after a lot of slow washing ,i bid it out at a 75.00 per hour rate and im waiting to hear back i will let you know how it works out....the only other alternative is to put a stripper on it and let it set to see if it will break down the shell and wash then,they were trying to avoid the chemical cost so im just following orders ....but i will update you on our progress

This isn't a water sealer in my case. The brick was made this way. It is what I would call a decorative brick. Brick itself is really not dirty but in a few places. Really want to make sure that my chems won't harm this brick.

Thanks,

Mike

[John Orr 206]

Whatever you do, DO NOT use more than a few hundred psi on this brick, or you will remove the coating - which is baked on, but usually fragile.) Your normal housewash mix is fine and oxalic on the rust is OK (rinse after washing and rinse after applying acid. If you don't rinse before applying the acid, the chlorine will neutralize the acid.) but as we don't have red clay around here, I can't advise you on that.

[Jim Carroll 14]

i ran into a similar problem at a church,they had put what was supposed to be a water sealer that would help prevent leaks and it turned a nasty milky white and now they want to remove it because of its unsightly appearance.i did a test spot with a rotomax nozzle and it came clean after a lot of slow washing ,i bid it out at a 75.00 per hour rate and im waiting to hear back i will let you know how it works out....the only other alternative is to put a stripper on it and let it set to see if it will break down the shell and wash then,they were trying to avoid the chemical cost so im just following orders ....but i will update you on our progress

SOUNDS LIKE THEY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE SEALER INSTALLER. IT SOUNDS AS IF HE COATED TWICE BUT LET THE FIRST COAT DRY. BRICK SEALERS GO ON WET ON WET. USING A CHEMICAL STRIPPER SHOULD TAKE CARE OF IT.

[mikew 14]

Whatever you do, DO NOT use more than a few hundred psi on this brick, or you will remove the coating - which is baked on, but usually fragile.) Your normal housewash mix is fine and oxalic on the rust is OK (rinse after washing and rinse after applying acid. If you don't rinse before applying the acid, the chlorine will neutralize the acid.) but as we don't have red clay around here, I can't advise you on that.

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply. Once I saw this brick up close I knew that very light pressure is going to be the only way to go. Thanks for the info about the house wash and acid use as well. That's really what I'm look for is confirmation from others that my house wash mix will not damage this surface.

Thanks,

Mike