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#1
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Cleaning off old motar from brick
I need to rebuild a retaining wall, I broke down most of the wall. I
need to clean off the existing mortar from the brick. I read many articles saying how dangerous muramic acid is. I saw phosphoric acid isn't as dangerous. Has anyone tried phosphroic on morter? Is there anything else to use? |
#2
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Cleaning off old motar from brick
wrote in message oups.com... I need to rebuild a retaining wall, I broke down most of the wall. I need to clean off the existing mortar from the brick. I read many articles saying how dangerous muramic acid is. I saw phosphoric acid isn't as dangerous. Has anyone tried phosphroic on morter? Is there anything else to use? Go and get a 3 or 4 inch cold chisel, a 2-lb hammer, and a masons hammer, and a pair of leather gloves. Thick mortar is best removed mechanically. I probably cleaned 30 or 40 thousand brick that way one summer as a kid. Once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast. Often, you don't even need tools- just strike the bricks together at the right angle, and the mortar falls off. Muratic acid is for after you build the new wall, to wash down the face and get off the smeared mortar. Be aware that you will need more brick than came out of the old wall, since a decent percentage will break. aem sends... |
#3
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Cleaning off old motar from brick
ameijers wrote:
wrote in message oups.com... I need to rebuild a retaining wall, I broke down most of the wall. I need to clean off the existing mortar from the brick. I read many articles saying how dangerous muramic acid is. I saw phosphoric acid isn't as dangerous. Has anyone tried phosphroic on morter? Is there anything else to use? Go and get a 3 or 4 inch cold chisel, a 2-lb hammer, and a masons hammer, and a pair of leather gloves. Thick mortar is best removed mechanically. I probably cleaned 30 or 40 thousand brick that way one summer as a kid. Once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast. Often, you don't even need tools- just strike the bricks together at the right angle, and the mortar falls off. Muratic acid is for after you build the new wall, to wash down the face and get off the smeared mortar. Be aware that you will need more brick than came out of the old wall, since a decent percentage will break. aem sends... Well said. I agree totally. I might even suggest that you can often skip the muratic acid step, depending on the look you need. -- Joseph Meehan Dia duit |
#6
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Cleaning off old motar from brick
Goedjn wrote:
On 3 May 2006 20:07:58 -0700, wrote: I need to rebuild a retaining wall, I broke down most of the wall. I need to clean off the existing mortar from the brick. I read many articles saying how dangerous muramic acid is. I saw phosphoric acid isn't as dangerous. Has anyone tried phosphroic on morter? Is there anything else to use? Just use the muriatic, and try not to swallow any of it, or pour it up your nose. You do need to treat it as if it were (duh) acid, but I'm not sure that meets my standards for "dangerous", any more than gasoline does. I was under the impression that used brick wasn't considered suitable for structural applications once you took it apart, no matter what you did to it. There are many kinds of brick, and not all of it is suitable all uses. How high is this wall? -- Joseph Meehan Dia duit |
#7
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Cleaning off old motar from brick
followup...
I found out that old mortar is loosed by rain (water). Spent two unpleasent weekends chipping away and scraping off moter. Then it rained and the remaining bricks got soaked. The bricks are clay which doesn't absorb water but the mortar absorbs soaks it up. The mortar crumbles off. Weekend 1 (2 days)-60 bricks Weekend 2 (2 days)-40 bricks Last saturday-120 bricks (after the rain) Also,a sharp wood chisel was useful to clean the brick (had to sharpen it several times), but it was useful to get under the mortar. |
#8
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Cleaning off old motar from brick
wrote in message ps.com... followup... I found out that old mortar is loosed by rain (water). Spent two unpleasent weekends chipping away and scraping off moter. Then it rained and the remaining bricks got soaked. The bricks are clay which doesn't absorb water but the mortar absorbs soaks it up. The mortar crumbles off. Weekend 1 (2 days)-60 bricks Weekend 2 (2 days)-40 bricks Last saturday-120 bricks (after the rain) Also,a sharp wood chisel was useful to clean the brick (had to sharpen it several times), but it was useful to get under the mortar. I used a cheap electric pressure washer, which worked well. It probably depends on how old the mortor is. Bob |
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