Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:20:53 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.

Nevada, right. Try white vinegar to wash it off the foundation?

Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

If you have lawn sprinklers / drip lines near / close to the house, it
will leach into block walls, concrete drives and foundation.

I don't think you can get the salt out of the soil, without extensive
soil amendments. Money and labor...

Try your county:

http://www.unce.unr.edu/counties/clark/

YMMV

On 04/24/2013 08:50 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:20:53 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.

Nevada, right. Try white vinegar to wash it off the foundation?

Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

If you have lawn sprinklers / drip lines near / close to the house, it
will leach into block walls, concrete drives and foundation.

I don't think you can get the salt out of the soil, without extensive
soil amendments. Money and labor...

Try your county:

http://www.unce.unr.edu/counties/clark/

YMMV


Hi Oren,

Yes. Northern Nevada.

Thank you! I am in process of getting rid of my lawns.
And! Putting in rain gutters.

What will White Vinegar do to the salt?

-T

On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:02:26 -0700, Todd wrote:

On 04/24/2013 08:50 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:20:53 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.

Nevada, right. Try white vinegar to wash it off the foundation?

Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

If you have lawn sprinklers / drip lines near / close to the house, it
will leach into block walls, concrete drives and foundation.

I don't think you can get the salt out of the soil, without extensive
soil amendments. Money and labor...

Try your county:

http://www.unce.unr.edu/counties/clark/

YMMV


Hi Oren,

Yes. Northern Nevada.

Thank you! I am in process of getting rid of my lawns.
And! Putting in rain gutters.


Check with your water utility to see if they have a rebate for
removing turf. The money I received paid for the rock I installed.

What will White Vinegar do to the salt?

-T

I use it to clean calcium off block walls (hard water) - try it on the
salt. A garden sprayer, allow to work, brushed and then rinsed.

On 04/24/2013 09:11 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:02:26 -0700, Todd wrote:

On 04/24/2013 08:50 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:20:53 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.

Nevada, right. Try white vinegar to wash it off the foundation?

Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

If you have lawn sprinklers / drip lines near / close to the house, it
will leach into block walls, concrete drives and foundation.

I don't think you can get the salt out of the soil, without extensive
soil amendments. Money and labor...

Try your county:

http://www.unce.unr.edu/counties/clark/

YMMV


Hi Oren,

Yes. Northern Nevada.

Thank you! I am in process of getting rid of my lawns.
And! Putting in rain gutters.


Check with your water utility to see if they have a rebate for
removing turf. The money I received paid for the rock I installed.

What will White Vinegar do to the salt?

-T

I use it to clean calcium off block walls (hard water) - try it on the
salt. A garden sprayer, allow to work, brushed and then rinsed.



Thank you!

Todd wrote:
Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

Gypsum.

Greg

On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:20:53 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

A fully charged battery! Then you'll be charged with salt and battery!

Todd wrote in :

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T



(rain)water.

On 04/24/2013 09:30 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:20:53 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

A fully charged battery! Then you'll be charged with salt and battery!


:-)

On 04/24/2013 09:28 PM, gregz wrote:
Todd wrote:
Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

Gypsum.

Greg


How do you use it?

On 04/24/2013 09:34 PM, Sjouke Burry wrote:
Todd wrote in :

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T



(rain)water.


That is making it worse! The solution gets wicked up into my
foundation. Then it bubbles out.

Todd wrote:
On 04/24/2013 09:28 PM, gregz wrote:
Todd wrote:
Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

Gypsum.

Greg


How do you use it?

Pellets. Like fertilizer. Are you sure it's salt ?

Greg

On 25 Apr 2013 04:34:31 GMT, Sjouke Burry s@b wrote:

Todd wrote in :

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T



(rain)water.

It don't rain much in Nevada, at least in the Mohave Desert of
Southern Nevada G Spigot water is some of the hardest water in the
nation - high in calcium.

Search - Bathtub ring around Lake Mead

On 04/24/2013 09:41 PM, gregz wrote:
Todd wrote:
On 04/24/2013 09:28 PM, gregz wrote:
Todd wrote:
Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

Gypsum.

Greg


How do you use it?

Pellets. Like fertilizer. Are you sure it's salt ?

Greg


Paid a PE $100.00 to come diagnose it. Not sure
if it is Sodium Chloride salt or some kind of
Calcium salt. We have a lot of calcium in out
water.

I hate to be negative about this, but you should
be positive before you give advice. Might not be
current, and can meet with resistance. This is,
after all, ohm repair group.

Nice thread, did you read the series?
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
wrote in message ...

Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?


A fully charged battery! Then you'll be charged with salt and battery!

I'm in NYS, so I'm really not sure what's doing.
Do you have a lot of salt in the top soil?
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"Todd" wrote in message ...


(rain)water.


That is making it worse! The solution gets wicked up into my
foundation. Then it bubbles out.

On 4/25/2013 12:17 AM, Todd wrote:
On 04/24/2013 09:11 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:02:26 -0700, Todd wrote:

On 04/24/2013 08:50 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:20:53 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.

Nevada, right. Try white vinegar to wash it off the foundation?

Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

If you have lawn sprinklers / drip lines near / close to the house, it
will leach into block walls, concrete drives and foundation.

I don't think you can get the salt out of the soil, without extensive
soil amendments. Money and labor...

Try your county:

http://www.unce.unr.edu/counties/clark/

YMMV


Hi Oren,

Yes. Northern Nevada.

Thank you! I am in process of getting rid of my lawns.
And! Putting in rain gutters.


Check with your water utility to see if they have a rebate for
removing turf. The money I received paid for the rock I installed.

What will White Vinegar do to the salt?

-T

I use it to clean calcium off block walls (hard water) - try it on the
salt. A garden sprayer, allow to work, brushed and then rinsed.



Thank you!

Don't use vinegar. It will probably accelerate the attack of salt,
sodium chloride, on concrete. Calcium salts are carbonates which
vinegar converts to soluble acetates and allows washing away. Entirely
different chemistry. Vinegar will not neutralize sodium chloride.

In central Virginia we have trouble with salt leaching out of the mortar on brick and concrete masonry structures and staining the surface.

Is this what you have?

In our area, it is not from the soil. The salt comes from the sand used to mix the mortar. The cure is prevention.

On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:17:47 -0700, Todd wrote:

On 04/24/2013 09:11 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:02:26 -0700, Todd wrote:

On 04/24/2013 08:50 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:20:53 -0700, Todd wrote:

Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.

Nevada, right. Try white vinegar to wash it off the foundation?

Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?

Many thanks,
-T

If you have lawn sprinklers / drip lines near / close to the house, it
will leach into block walls, concrete drives and foundation.

I don't think you can get the salt out of the soil, without extensive
soil amendments. Money and labor...

Try your county:

http://www.unce.unr.edu/counties/clark/

YMMV


Hi Oren,

Yes. Northern Nevada.

Thank you! I am in process of getting rid of my lawns.
And! Putting in rain gutters.


Check with your water utility to see if they have a rebate for
removing turf. The money I received paid for the rock I installed.

What will White Vinegar do to the salt?

-T

I use it to clean calcium off block walls (hard water) - try it on the
salt. A garden sprayer, allow to work, brushed and then rinsed.



Thank you!
If it is just salt (Nacl) pure water will disolve it.

On 4/25/2013 10:04 AM, TimR wrote:
In central Virginia we have trouble with salt leaching out of the mortar on brick and concrete masonry structures and staining the surface.

Is this what you have?

In our area, it is not from the soil. The salt comes from the sand used to mix the mortar. The cure is prevention.


I'm not sure of his exact problem. Your note prompted me to google
efflorescence removal:

http://www.delawarequarries.com/clea...orescence.html

Worse salt problem I ever had was one bad winter where my wife could not
get calcium chloride ice melter and stores were selling sodium chloride
or regular salt. Did a job on parts of my sidewalk.

On 04/25/2013 07:04 AM, TimR wrote:
In central Virginia we have trouble with salt leaching out of the mortar on brick and concrete masonry structures and staining the surface.

Is this what you have?

In our area, it is not from the soil. The salt comes from the sand used to mix the mortar. The cure is prevention.


It is in the soil and the contractor used a cheap grade of cement
and added water and calcium

On 04/25/2013 04:22 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
I'm in NYS, so I'm really not sure what's doing.
Do you have a lot of salt in the top soil?

We are an ancient lake bed with no outlet.

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:18:41 -0400, Frank
wrote:

On 4/25/2013 10:04 AM, TimR wrote:
In central Virginia we have trouble with salt leaching out of the mortar on brick and concrete masonry structures and staining the surface.

Is this what you have?

In our area, it is not from the soil. The salt comes from the sand used to mix the mortar. The cure is prevention.


I'm not sure of his exact problem. Your note prompted me to google
efflorescence removal:

http://www.delawarequarries.com/clea...orescence.html


My experience in Nevada tells me it is efflorescence. The soil is
heavy in salt, our water has calcium and magnesium. That is why I
asked about sprinklers or drip lines next to the foundation and why I
suggested white vinegar. I'm cautious about using muriatic acid, but
it can be used to clean the deposits.

After heavy rains (rarely) the efflorescence shows up again until the
block walls or concrete dries.

Worse salt problem I ever had was one bad winter where my wife could not
get calcium chloride ice melter and stores were selling sodium chloride
or regular salt. Did a job on parts of my sidewalk.

Makes me wonder. If you pour some of that water into a huge tray, and let it evaporate. You'll be left with salt. Scrape up the salt, and dispose of it, in jars and buckets with lids to the landfill. Or sell it to NYS as road salt. Eventually, the lake will run lower on salt.
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"Todd" wrote in message ...
On 04/25/2013 04:22 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
I'm in NYS, so I'm really not sure what's doing.
Do you have a lot of salt in the top soil?

We are an ancient lake bed with no outlet.

On Thursday, April 25, 2013 1:49:05 PM UTC-4, Todd wrote:
It is in the soil and the contractor used a cheap grade of cement

and added water and calcium

Then it is NOT in the soil.

It is in your cement (concrete? mortar?) and it comes out as moisture flows through.

On 04/26/2013 06:25 AM, TimR wrote:
On Thursday, April 25, 2013 1:49:05 PM UTC-4, Todd wrote:
It is in the soil and the contractor used a cheap grade of cement

and added water and calcium

Then it is NOT in the soil.

It is in your cement (concrete? mortar?) and it comes out as moisture flows through.

Both. The cheap grade of cement used in the foundation makes it
more porous and exacerbates the problem

On Friday, April 26, 2013 5:44:54 PM UTC-4, Todd wrote:
On 04/26/2013 06:25 AM, TimR wrote:

On Thursday, April 25, 2013 1:49:05 PM UTC-4, Todd wrote:

It is in the soil and the contractor used a cheap grade of cement



and added water and calcium



Then it is NOT in the soil.



It is in your cement (concrete? mortar?) and it comes out as moisture flows through.



Both. The cheap grade of cement used in the foundation makes it

more porous and exacerbates the problem

Okay. There probably is salt in your soil. But that has nothing to do with salt appearing on the surface of the foundation. That salt comes 100% from within the foundation. It is normally caused by the sand inside the concrete or mortar.

Your foundation is not !NOT! built with cement. Cement is one component of concrete, if you happen to have a poured concrete foundation. It is also one component of mortar, if your foundation is block or CMU. In either case, it is a mix of cement, sand, and gravel if concrete, or cement sand and lime if mortar.

As far as I know there is no such thing as cheap cement. There is only weak concrete caused by not using enough in the mix.

The salt that effloresces comes from the sand. If the sand is not clean enough (and here in Virginia it is VERY hard to get sand clean enough) then the salt in the sand bleeds out over time and stains the masonry.

The salt in the soil stays there. The foundation doesn't care.

On 04/26/2013 05:24 PM, TimR wrote:
On Friday, April 26, 2013 5:44:54 PM UTC-4, Todd wrote:
On 04/26/2013 06:25 AM, TimR wrote:

On Thursday, April 25, 2013 1:49:05 PM UTC-4, Todd wrote:

It is in the soil and the contractor used a cheap grade of cement



and added water and calcium



Then it is NOT in the soil.



It is in your cement (concrete? mortar?) and it comes out as moisture flows through.



Both. The cheap grade of cement used in the foundation makes it

more porous and exacerbates the problem

Okay. There probably is salt in your soil. But that has nothing to do with salt appearing on the surface of the foundation. That salt comes 100% from within the foundation. It is normally caused by the sand inside the concrete or mortar.

Your foundation is not !NOT! built with cement. Cement is one component of concrete, if you happen to have a poured concrete foundation. It is also one component of mortar, if your foundation is block or CMU. In either case, it is a mix of cement, sand, and gravel if concrete, or cement sand and lime if mortar.

As far as I know there is no such thing as cheap cement. There is only weak concrete caused by not using enough in the mix.

The salt that effloresces comes from the sand. If the sand is not clean enough (and here in Virginia it is VERY hard to get sand clean enough) then the salt in the sand bleeds out over time and stains the masonry.

The salt in the soil stays there. The foundation doesn't care.


Interesting. Thank you!

The PE that came to look at it said it was underrated concrete (sorry
for calling it cement). He also said that calcuim and water may have
been added, which made it more pourous. He said the added calcuim was
probably coming out. He also said our soil was salty.

-T

On Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:40:15 -0700, Todd wrote:

He also said our soil was salty.

As you eluded to the other day about an ancient lake bed, much (all?)
of Nevada was covered with water at one time . Every master gardener
will tell you the soil has to be amended heavily to grow vegetables,
etc. Raised beds are a good solution, because the soil is compacted so
much.

State Fossil: The Ichthyosaur (NRS 235.080)

This fossil (genus Shonisaurus) was found in Berlin, east of Gabbs.
Nevada is the only state to possess a complete skeleton (approximately
55 feet long) of this extinct marine reptile. Ichthyosaurs (a name
meaning "fish lizards") were predatory reptiles that filled the same
ecological niche as—and quite resembled in body form—the dolphins of
today, only many of them were much larger.

Sample pics:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ichthyosaurus+facts&FORM=HDRSC2

http://www.leg.state.nv.us/General/NVFacts/index.cfm

On 04/26/2013 06:22 PM, Oren wrote:
He also said our soil was salty.
As you eluded to the other day about an ancient lake bed, much (all?)
of Nevada was covered with water at one time . Every master gardener
will tell you the soil has to be amended heavily to grow vegetables,
etc. Raised beds are a good solution, because the soil is compacted so
much.

I was tempted to say my property was once part of greater lake
Lahatton, but I could not prove it, so I kept my mouth shut.

Todd wrote:
Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?


No, there is nothing that will "neutralize" salt. Salt, in solution, has a
pH of 7 which makes it effectively neutral - neither acidic nor basic.

"HeyBub" wrote:
Todd wrote:
Hi All,

I have salt in my soil. I have salt powder on my house's foundation.
Is there anything that will neutralize salt in your soil to keep
it out of my foundation's cement?


No, there is nothing that will "neutralize" salt. Salt, in solution, has a
pH of 7 which makes it effectively neutral - neither acidic nor basic.

I thought we already figured out gypsum turns salt into calcium.

Greg