DIYbanter - View Single Post - Brick Cleaning (follow-up)

wrote:

I deeply appreciate the time and care you put into your post.
I'll make note for future use.
Some questions:
Can you describe the brick, please? Smooth/Rough, Soft/Hard
All of the above, hence the five test patches. The smooth/hard brick used on
the front of the building turned out very nice and looks almost new. The
rougher brick used on the sides and rear was of a lower density and/or
quality and sustained a slight (though acceptable) amount of damage from
the pressure washing. Also, I still need to go over the latter brick with a
wire brush to finish the clean up on it - a few small patches of dried
stripping paste and paint remain since I couldn't be as thorough there with
the pressure washer (or risk more damage).

The remaining section to be stripped is a very soft brick; it appears to
have been sandblasted once in the past and is in rough shape. Actually, the
plan was to replace this section of wall until I tried peel away and
realized that it may be salvageable after all. There'll be a few bricks to
replace but if I do that and add some type of sealant to this section
afterwards, it should look presentable and hold up for quite some time.

Did the mortar joints hold up, or did they loose material in the
process?

The mortar on most of this place was in poor shape to begin with, so I made
no attempt to avoid mortar loss. The pressure washer took a fair amount out
but it's just that much less that we'll have to scrape away by hand. You're
bound to lose some. If you're losing a lot, you're probably being to rough
with the water. If I had to give an estimate, I'd guess that I lost a bit
less than an 1/8th of the total surface mortar.

Did you strip any wood trim?
If so, what was your experience?

Not yet. There are several areas where the brick wall meets wood (window
frames) but, again, all of these need to be replaced so I made no attempt
to shield them from the stripper. According to the instructions, Peel Away
1 can be used on wood but has a tendency to darken hard woods so if your
plan is to stain the wood afterwords, your best to use a different
formulation. I think a neutralizer is required for PA1 when stripping wood.
It leaves some kind of alkaline film behind that makes painting impossible
otherwise.

I have several pieces of wood to strip and also a nice metal column. I'll
post my results as I get around to those projects.

-BB