On Apr 4, 5:21 pm, "Italian Mason" wrote:
On Apr 2, 4:40 pm, "jo_jo" wrote:

Hi,

I laid about 200 square feet of stone in my foyer. I grouted the
stone yesterday and when I finished, the grout where I started was too
dry to wipe off with water and a sponge. Also, I tried vinegar,
didn't phase it. There is a substantial amount of grout on the tops
of the stone, not just a haze. My drill and a wire wheel brush work,
but it's very time consuming.

Is there a better way to remove this extra grout? There's nothing
special about the surface of the stone. It's rough. It can take a
little etching or scratching and I'm not worried about it.

Thanks,
Jo Jo

Hi Jo Jo,
Muriatic Acid...wall mart, home depot pool section. Make sure to
dilute it, start small about 1/4 cup in a gallon of water and see what
this does for you. Brush it on with an old paint brush or a chip brush
you should see it start to bubble immediately let this sit for a while
(10-15min) and then use a wire brush to brush it. If it come up a
little you have a good mixture if not make it stronger. Dont go crazy
trying to do it all in one step with a strong solution is not the
answer here..or ever actually. CAUTION CAUTION keep the area well
ventilated and wear goggles, gloves and long sleeves. If it is natural
stone it should not effect the color but some is sensitive so use as
little as possible. This should work. It will be time consuming so if
your wire wheel was working you may choose to stick with that. The
acid will LOOSEN it up to make removal easier.
GOOD LUCK I'm sure it will be fine..http://www.palmisanoconcrete.com

Thanks a ton! I went and bought an angle grinder yesterday and a big
4" wire brush wheel. Had the fan blowing out an open door, and was
working in front of the fan so all the dust was blowing out the door
and not on me or the rest of the house. Gloves, goggles, kneepads,
etc... Felt stinging on my legs and thought it was just the loose
grout hitting my legs. Stung a bit, but I kept going. Looked down
after about 10 minutes and my legs were all bloody. Apparently, the
wires were coming off the brush and sticking into my legs like darts.
Had about 20 of the little wires sticking out of my leg like a pin
cushion! Quickly moved to blue jeans.

The wire brush was $15 and I wore it out after about 10 square ft of
stone. I think I'll give the muriatic acid a try!