Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - painted brick home
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char71697
02-24-02, 03:32 PM
My home is brick, 100 years old and painted. Is there any way to remove all that old paint? It has several layers of different colors.
BRICK4U
02-27-02, 07:44 PM
Ok. Now we can start fresh. In the 1900's how did masons clean brick? The way they had for years. First, they did a neater job than the "bricklayers" of today. Second, they cleaned as they went along. Masons always had burlap on a jobsite to brush off their work. Third, might have used muriatic acid (*) to clean up residue, etc. Fourth, cleaned up a bit... and went and had a beer.
What type of exterior finish is on the brick... smooth common, wirecut, vertical scratch, sand finished. Paint will stick to a brick in different ways based on their finish. You'll need to determine which method would be best to remove it. Whatever way, DO NOT LET SOMEONE TALK YOU INTO USING A POWERWASHER ON YOUR BRICK. These professionals will get out the power washer, and make sure they have real fine nozzle on that thing so they can get all the details clean... finally crankin' that hummer up. Oh yeah! If 1,000 PSI is good, 2,000 PSI should make the job go twice as fast... or maybe at 3,000 PSI I could be done after lunch... and still get to go hunt/drink beer/fish/drink beer/golf/drink beer... etc.
This is not a good thing for your walls. Power washers do damage to the brick faces... changing the look of the unit in the was from sandface to wirecut... in the matter or a couple of wand passes. They also destroy joint surface also... taking off the layer of fines brought to the top by tooling (gravevine, concave, convex, rope, etc.).
The best method for an individual to attempt is the good old fashioned "BRUSH AND BUCKET". Simply wet the wall with water from a garden hose... using your thumb to simulate a nice rain on the wall... work only in small areas.... starting at the top and working down. Get a commercially available cleaner, we offer the whole line of Sure Klean products in our area. (Paint remover, lime solvent, 600 detergent.)
Finally, I am affraid your walls might end up crying to you for help once you remove the paint layers. The tears will show as EFFLORESCENCE. This usually means you have excessive water inside the wall cavity. I bet it will show on the southern or southwestern exposed wall too! The water is leeching and migrating out toward the heat of the sunshine on the outside of the wall... bringing with it all sorts of impurity found in the wall... like salt... from side walks and stairs... or even if the sand delivered to your jobsite was the load after the truck had been working for the state delivering highway sand that had salt mixed in... it could happen. Pay attention to the signs... look up... you have a leak... DON'T SEAL ANYTHING until you FIND THE WATER SOURCE! Then you plug the hole or cracks... then, by hand... srubb off the EFFLORESCENCE... don't push it back in with the powerwasher, using only clean water. Most of the times, EFFLORESCENCE will go away once you close off the source of water penetrating the cavity. You may need to repeat the process.
Good luck!
www.southsidebuilders.com
What type of exterior finish is on the brick... smooth common, wirecut, vertical scratch, sand finished. Paint will stick to a brick in different ways based on their finish. You'll need to determine which method would be best to remove it. Whatever way, DO NOT LET SOMEONE TALK YOU INTO USING A POWERWASHER ON YOUR BRICK. These professionals will get out the power washer, and make sure they have real fine nozzle on that thing so they can get all the details clean... finally crankin' that hummer up. Oh yeah! If 1,000 PSI is good, 2,000 PSI should make the job go twice as fast... or maybe at 3,000 PSI I could be done after lunch... and still get to go hunt/drink beer/fish/drink beer/golf/drink beer... etc.
This is not a good thing for your walls. Power washers do damage to the brick faces... changing the look of the unit in the was from sandface to wirecut... in the matter or a couple of wand passes. They also destroy joint surface also... taking off the layer of fines brought to the top by tooling (gravevine, concave, convex, rope, etc.).
The best method for an individual to attempt is the good old fashioned "BRUSH AND BUCKET". Simply wet the wall with water from a garden hose... using your thumb to simulate a nice rain on the wall... work only in small areas.... starting at the top and working down. Get a commercially available cleaner, we offer the whole line of Sure Klean products in our area. (Paint remover, lime solvent, 600 detergent.)
Finally, I am affraid your walls might end up crying to you for help once you remove the paint layers. The tears will show as EFFLORESCENCE. This usually means you have excessive water inside the wall cavity. I bet it will show on the southern or southwestern exposed wall too! The water is leeching and migrating out toward the heat of the sunshine on the outside of the wall... bringing with it all sorts of impurity found in the wall... like salt... from side walks and stairs... or even if the sand delivered to your jobsite was the load after the truck had been working for the state delivering highway sand that had salt mixed in... it could happen. Pay attention to the signs... look up... you have a leak... DON'T SEAL ANYTHING until you FIND THE WATER SOURCE! Then you plug the hole or cracks... then, by hand... srubb off the EFFLORESCENCE... don't push it back in with the powerwasher, using only clean water. Most of the times, EFFLORESCENCE will go away once you close off the source of water penetrating the cavity. You may need to repeat the process.
Good luck!
www.southsidebuilders.com