I am thinking that brick, stone, masonry cleaning in my part of the country is the thing to do. I have a friend that owns a 100-year old opera house in town here that is on the historic register. She says I can practice all I want on the sides of the building as long as it doesn't fall down, and when I get my method down, I will do the front. It is just grimy- I used plain hot water and washed the dirt off and stripped the paint from her window frames (on purpose) last week, but I am not sure how to proceed chemically to brighten the brick and mortar. It's in amazingly good shape, considering it's age and exposure, but it could look better. This is a 'freebie' for me- call it my civic responsibility. In our little town, this theater is a major source of pride and community involvement, and it runs at a loss every year. They don't have money to pay me, and they're letting me get in some needed practice, so I can't be spending a fortune on chemicals. I just bought an X-Jet to apply cleaners, but I don't know what to spray with it yet. Help?
Also, anybody with any information on how to get hard water (calcium and lime) sprinkler stains off of vinyl, steel, and brick siding-all help would be gratly appreciated!