Some grafitti has been spayed on a nearby wall overnight and I'd like
to hasten its removal.

It's constructed of "blue brick" which it fairly smooth and I'm told is
extremely hard.

I believe that a problem with applying paint stripper to brickwork is
that it can be absorbed (together with the paint) into the bricks and
makes matters worse.

Is blue brick porous in this way or can I apply whatever I like with
confidence?

This happened a couple of years ago and it took about 6 months for the
grafitti to disppear through natural weathering.

It's actually a railway wall and so not strictly my responsability
though it does reflect badly on my property. The road is faily busy and
I don't really want the humiliation of scrubbing away at it for ages
while watched by passers by. So if there is something I can slap on or
spay on in a couple of minutes that would be great. I don't expect
instant removal, but something that would get rid of it in weeks
instead of months would be a great help.

Any suggestions?

wrote:
Some grafitti has been spayed on a nearby wall overnight and I'd like
to hasten its removal.

It's constructed of "blue brick" which it fairly smooth and I'm told is
extremely hard.

I believe that a problem with applying paint stripper to brickwork is
that it can be absorbed (together with the paint) into the bricks and
makes matters worse.

Is blue brick porous in this way or can I apply whatever I like with
confidence?

Conventional paint stripper is unlikely to be effective anyway for this
type of paint

I would have thought that blue brick is less porous than common brick -
ie, less of a problem here; but someone else may know better?

For a simple spray, try http://tinyurl.com/9rvcf (or
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/sea/searchresults.jsp;jsessionid=4HPLX5TOBPMJXCJO2C4CI IQ?_dyncharset=UTF-8&q=13888&n=&pn=1&pd=1&pi=1&cn=1&cd=1&x=11&y=15 )
(have never used it myself so can't comment on efficacy).

If you're really desperate and are feeling flush, hire this kit!:
http://tinyurl.com/23se9 or
http://www.hss.com/Fae.asp?sysPage=w...sysLanguag e=[BASE]&resetToGroup=YES

David

wrote:

It's constructed of "blue brick" which it fairly smooth and I'm told is
extremely hard.

Are you talking of engineering bricks?

A pressure washer should shift it. I think specialist grafitti removal
Co.s use them with some means of entraining an abrasive in the water
jet. Just blast it with water. The paint probably won't have adhered
very well.

Aidan wrote:

wrote:


It's constructed of "blue brick" which it fairly smooth and I'm told is
extremely hard.


Are you talking of engineering bricks?

A pressure washer should shift it. I think specialist grafitti removal
Co.s use them with some means of entraining an abrasive in the water
jet. Just blast it with water. The paint probably won't have adhered
very well.

I think you'd be very lucky if this worked, but worth a go if you've got
a washer to hand. Paint is still fresh, which will help.

BTW, sorry the deeplink to the HSS site in my last post didn't work: put
"graffiti" in the HSS search box and it comes up with three possible
(non-cheap!) methods.

David

wrote in message
oups.com...
Some grafitti has been spayed on a nearby wall overnight and I'd like
to hasten its removal.

It's constructed of "blue brick" which it fairly smooth and I'm told is
extremely hard.

I believe that a problem with applying paint stripper to brickwork is
that it can be absorbed (together with the paint) into the bricks and
makes matters worse.

Is blue brick porous in this way or can I apply whatever I like with
confidence?

This happened a couple of years ago and it took about 6 months for the
grafitti to disppear through natural weathering.

It's actually a railway wall and so not strictly my responsability
though it does reflect badly on my property. The road is faily busy and
I don't really want the humiliation of scrubbing away at it for ages
while watched by passers by. So if there is something I can slap on or
spay on in a couple of minutes that would be great. I don't expect
instant removal, but something that would get rid of it in weeks
instead of months would be a great help.

Any suggestions?

Not a d-i-y answer, but have you tried your local council?
I had graffiti over the side of a house that I rent out (no, it wasn't
disgruntled tenants!), a call to the council and it was removed promptly,
and quite expertly too.
Free of charge as well, although I dare say some council might charge.

Hugh wrote:

Not a d-i-y answer, but have you tried your local council?

Good point, which reminds me. If it's a railway wall, try the railway.
They greatly dislike having stuff painted, stuck or fixed to their
property and may get around to shifting it. They'd probably disapprove
of your attacking the wall with paint strippers or pressure washers, if
they found out. Might be quickest to DIY rather than await their
efforts though.

Hugh wrote:
Not a d-i-y answer, but have you tried your local council?

Good point, which reminds me. If it's a railway wall, try the railway.
They greatly dislike having stuff painted, stuck or fixed to their
property and may get around to shifting it.

Unfortunately the local council will only remove graffiti from
council-owned premises.

My impression of Railtrack (or whatever they became) is that they
couldn't care less. There a couple of places in the area where dumped
rubbish has been left to accumulate on their side of railway fences,
and it's been like that for years. They would probably dislike signs
and carriages painted but I doubt they would be prepared to pay for
removal on a wall which is comparatively unimportant to them. I also
doubt they would care if someone cleaned it of for them.

In article .com,
says...
Some grafitti has been spayed on a nearby wall overnight and I'd like
to hasten its removal.

It's constructed of "blue brick" which it fairly smooth and I'm told is
extremely hard.

I believe that a problem with applying paint stripper to brickwork is
that it can be absorbed (together with the paint) into the bricks and
makes matters worse.

Is blue brick porous in this way or can I apply whatever I like with
confidence?

This happened a couple of years ago and it took about 6 months for the
grafitti to disppear through natural weathering.

It's actually a railway wall and so not strictly my responsability
though it does reflect badly on my property. The road is faily busy and
I don't really want the humiliation of scrubbing away at it for ages
while watched by passers by. So if there is something I can slap on or
spay on in a couple of minutes that would be great. I don't expect
instant removal, but something that would get rid of it in weeks
instead of months would be a great help.

Any suggestions?

Blowlamp?

Rob Morley wrote:

In article .com,
says...

Any suggestions?

Blowlamp?

.....on the offenders faces.

It's not a particularly good idea to use a blowlamp on brick or
concrete as it's quite easy to blow a chunk out of the surface.


--

In article ,
says...
Rob Morley wrote:

In article .com,
says...

Any suggestions?

Blowlamp?

....on the offenders faces.

It's not a particularly good idea to use a blowlamp on brick or
concrete as it's quite easy to blow a chunk out of the surface.

Concrete doesn't like to be heated, I wouldn't have thought that hard
bricks would mind too much.

How about sanding/grinding it away with a power sander or angle grinder
with masonary disk in it?

In article . com,
says...
How about sanding/grinding it away with a power sander or angle grinder
with masonary disk in it?

How about getting sued for vandalising a railway bridge?

Well don't get caught!

Try soaking the bricks with a good deal of water before applying the paint
stipper. This makes them unlikely to soak up an stripper. This is the
technique recommended when applying brick acid to bricks.

Andy.