Help from any "Brickmasters"

Please...need some advice on dealing with a brick house. A friend has asked me to clean up their new home which is brick. We have not done a brick home "yet". She said it has grit etc. on the brick and would like it cleaned up before putting the shutters etc up. Need some advice ASAP....thanks friends.
Dennis and Gloria

Originally posted by spraymasters:
Please...need some advice on dealing with a brick house. A friend has asked me to clean up their new home which is brick. We have not done a brick home "yet". She said it has grit etc. on the brick and would like it cleaned up before putting the shutters etc up. Need some advice ASAP....thanks friends.
Dennis and Gloria

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Dennis, Gloria
I would try to call a brick manufacter and tell em what kind of brick,(there a lot of different types out there, if has "grit" all over the house it may be a sandy-faced type) how old it is ect. ect. I'm sure they would be glad to help
just my 2 cents hope it helps
Richard

Originally posted by Richard:
Dennis, Gloria
I would try to call a brick manufacter and tell em what kind of brick,(there a lot of different types out there, if has "grit" all over the house it may be a sandy-faced type) how old it is ect. ect. I'm sure they would be glad to help
just my 2 cents hope it helps
Richard

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Hey I've got some info for ya its long so here we go
first I'm assumimg the brick is more that 45 days old
1.Remove all large mortar particles with hand tools before applying cleaning solutions
2. Mask and otherwise protect adjacent non-masonary materials.
3. saturate wall with clean water
4. use cleaning brush to apply solution (SURE KLEAN LIME AND PUTTY REMOVER TYPE 724) mixed 4 to 6 parts water to 1 part vanitrol
5. allow solution to remain on wall for 3 to 5 min. while brushing
6. thoughly rinse clean
Use a pressure washer to rinse using no more than 80 PSI WITH A 40 DEGREE TIP (I would also call a brick manufacter before using higher pressure)

NOW HERE ARE SOME TYPES OF BRICK see which applies to you
RED BRICK - TEXTURED
RED BRICK- HEAVY SAND FINISH
WHITE, BUFF, GRAY, CHOCOLATE BRICK

SPECIALTY CLEANING
WHITE EFFLORESCENCE
GREEN STAINS
BROWN STAINS
WHITE SCUM-INSOLUBLE
MUD STAINS
PAINT STAINS
MASONARY LAID WITH COLORED MORTOR

If any of this applies to your situation please e-mail me and I can fax you some more detailed info.
hope this helps
Richard

Richard...thank you so very much.....will take your advice. Will get the info first then procede. Dennis and Gloria

Way to go Rich Great detailed information.

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Dan Flynn
Flynn Service Pro
www.powerwash.net
708/715-4206

i must be behind the times or maybe a lil slow.Dennis i did a huge brick job over the summer for a downtown business , this is how i got the job..and you can take it for what it's worth.......i used a turbo nozzel and did the whole building.. didnt have to mask any windows or mess around w /chems. and let me tell you it turned out great it was like sandblasting without the mess.. sure i still had some brick off of the surface thet came off but .. it was worth it as a matter of fact i have 3 more big jobs like that lined up for this summer.the only down fall is i didnt take any before pics. another guy did a building in town and used acid and they had to replace 6 windows.. guess they didnt have it taped good enough...

Hey Dan,

How do you price large brick cleaning job?

i have done brick houses and used a turbo nozzle which i really like it. this also allowed me to do the job without any chemicals, just cold water. the turbo nozzle are a great investment and can do a number of thing with it.

WOW, everything that I have read so far contains the use of all these elaborate chems and procedures for cleaning brick. This includes low low pressure! Now I hear that I can blast away with a turbo? Hmmmmm.
That would be wonderful. How about heat? How about pricing? If all you did was blast with the turbo did you charge the same as a vinyl siding home? What kind of brick did ya blast with the turbo?
Thanks for everyones input!
Dennis

Prices:::::::::::::::::
thats always the biggie!!!!!!this is how i price brick buildings but first let me explain something......the fact that you wont use any acid, tape, presoaking,worried about the adjacent buildings .will sell it's self you can almost set a your own price because the business owner dont have to worry about acid falling on the cars.which is there customers.. lets face it you cant stop the wind. with that all aside this is how i do it .. first if i have to rent a boom to get up high then that is figured in the price.i did a 2 and a half story building and nevered touched a ladder.
now for your question:::
#1 i figure the use of 2 turbo's = 150.00
#2 lift ( boom ) rental cost and a lil.bit=200.00 ( depends on how many days you need it)
#3 how long do you think it would take to do this job brick by brick .. and cleaning up afterwards..times your rate.......
example i work alone no employies so the only one i need to worry about is ME.
it took me a total of 18 hours to do this huge building==============TOTAL JOB 2500.00
you do the math. if this dont make since im sorry if it does then pat me on the back..

Makes perfectly good sense to me......
Thanks for all your time on this Dan...owe ya!

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Dennis A. Cormier and Gloria A. Wagner
North Georgia Spray Masters, Inc.
spraymasters@hotmail.com

Dan,

Thanks for your informative posts, I think in the long run, if we all help each other in this manner, this board will be even more valuable than it is already.

Keep up the good work my friend. One more question. What has been the longest the mortar has sat before you started the job and had successful results with your process?

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Dan Flynn
Flynn Service Pro
www.powerwash.net
708/715-4206

Hey Dan Flynn ;;;;;; here i thought you were an old FART ''' untill i saw your pic. but hay who knows that might be your son or brother......ha ha ha
mortar question?????????? my brother -in -law is a mason and i do alot of cleaning for him ,and i did a small job cleaning brick with the turbo the next day, he laid the brick .you just have to really watch on those joints.. i nevered blew out a joint ( sounds a lil like BILL CLINTON huh )..and the results were the same. but took a lil longer to do new brick than a 100 year old one because of carefullness....in some cases i turn down the pressure!!!!!! it's starting to snow here that s***********..stinks.

Hey all, I read through the posts and all were very informative and had very good information. I feel though that I should inform you of one small detail that you left out or maybe are nor aware of with the use of a turbo nozzle.
When brick is layed the mortar joint is then tooled. The tooling is done to bring the "CREAM" or moisture to the top of the mortar joint, thus
making a weather tight seal. Though a turbo nozzle nozzle may do the job visually and it may seem you got the job done you have actually just ruined the tooling. If you take off the "CREAM", the joint is no longer weather tight and now is subseptable to weather and will break down easily. If you talk to the pro's (bricklayers) they suggest chemicals and lower pressure. Closer to what was discribed by Richard. I dont want to make those that say different feel like they are doing it wrong, I just feel that an explanation of why it isn't the correct method was appropriate. We went to the World of Concrete this year and there they had a lesson on proper cleaning of mortar tags and never once was a rotating or turbo nozzle ever mentioned. In fact you can actually destroy the mortor joint and the face of the brick causing interior seepage of water during horizontal rain.
Now there is a lot of sceptisism also on the use of certain acid because of there etching affect on the "CREAM" The best people to talk to on this subject is the manufacturers of the brick and the manufacturers of the mortar. As with everything, going to school on someone elses property is a costly test. By using that turbo nozzle you could actually cause efflorescence one of the very things you want to eliminate. Belive me or not but you owe it to yourself to ask the pros before you do this again. Just my 2 cents

Rob