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Removing efflorescence from brickwork?


39TDS
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My newbuild has turned white. Has anyone got a method they have used to remove efflorescence, particularly from new brickwork and it is the bricks rather than the mortar.

The amount of new builds around here that have got this problem is incredible, I was told it's because they are using sand dredged from the estuaries to make the brick.

 

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The salt is in the brick, if they are clay bricks then it’s just a high content of salt that naturally occurs in the clay. It’s mostly caused by wind and rain, the rain soaks into the brick, the wind comes along and drys the surface of the brick the salt doesn’t have time to go back into brick so it stays on the surface, you can gradually reduce it by brushing off, this eventually keeps reducing the amount of salt in the brick, but very rare to get rid of all of it. It will disappear at times and then all of a sudden reappear.

place a plastic sheet at the base of the wall and just use a soft brush to remove it off the surface, make sure you are careful to empty the sheet well away from the house.

I have also seen people hoover it off the wall with Karcher type hoovers.

good luck

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2 hours ago, 39TDS said:

My newbuild has turned white. Has anyone got a method they have used to remove efflorescence, particularly from new brickwork and it is the bricks rather than the mortar.

The amount of new builds around here that have got this problem is incredible, I was told it's because they are using sand dredged from the estuaries to make the brick.

 

As is advised below, it's a natural phenomenon which does (unfortunately) look unsightly. Dry brushing is the only way to keep getting rid of it. Making the brickwork (deliberately) wet, ie; jet washing or diluted acid etc, will only push the salts back into the bricks. It will eventually go, so patience is the key 😉

1 hour ago, steve1066 said:

The salt is in the brick, if they are clay bricks then it’s just a high content of salt that naturally occurs in the clay. It’s mostly caused by wind and rain, the rain soaks into the brick, the wind comes along and drys the surface of the brick the salt doesn’t have time to go back into brick so it stays on the surface, you can gradually reduce it by brushing off, this eventually keeps reducing the amount of salt in the brick, but very rare to get rid of all of it. It will disappear at times and then all of a sudden reappear.

place a plastic sheet at the base of the wall and just use a soft brush to remove it off the surface, make sure you are careful to empty the sheet well away from the house.

I have also seen people hoover it off the wall with Karcher type hoovers.

good luck

The main reason this occurs is that the bricks have been allowed to get wet after manufacture. This can include bad building practice, by not using protection during storage and/or construction.

Edited by JKD
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Thanks for the answers.

No way is this stuff going to brush off unless some kind of wire brush on a drill but that will damage the bricks and/or make them look even worse.

Had a quick go with a pressure washer on a small patch and that didn't do much, if anything.

It is a shed so doubt it is covered by any warranty. Built to house spec, cavity wall etc.

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1 hour ago, 39TDS said:

Thanks for the answers.

No way is this stuff going to brush off unless some kind of wire brush on a drill but that will damage the bricks and/or make them look even worse.

Had a quick go with a pressure washer on a small patch and that didn't do much, if anything.

It is a shed so doubt it is covered by any warranty. Built to house spec, cavity wall etc.

As I previously stated,,,, don't attempt to wash it off. The salts are a natural substance within the bricks and the efflorescence will disappear in time. Seems to me that the bricks weren't protected prior to, or during construction 🤨

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The bricks were well protected as it goes, the brickies complained they were too dry and sucked the mortar dry too quick. Some were laid in very hot dry weather and the brickies actually resorted to dunking each brick to wet them a bit. Initially these did stand out as whiter but you wouldn't be able to tell now.

The pressure washer made no difference at all, neither better or worse. The worst bit is the gable end that gets the most rain and the most sun, obviously the wetting and drying process doing the most.

My plan from the start was to build a very traditional building that looked like all the orange farmhouse brick buildings in the area. I used what was supposed to be a replica brick from Imperial Brick Co and instead of being orange/red it is more like pink. It is uniform over the building for the most part so it isn't as bad as it could be but it is nothing like what I wanted. In hindsight I wish I had used reclaimed brick instead. Not to worry.

As for weathering over time, there is one house I know that has looked awful since it was built and that is probably 20 years old. So not sure how much time is needed but more than I have got at that rate. A new house down the lane from me has similar problems and theirs does look bad, at least mine actually looks OK just not what I wanted, I can live with mine but would be very disappointed if it looked like the one down the lane.

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Had a similar problem when my extension was built , i used an acid wash i got from the builders merchant, if you go this route make sure the brickwork is really wet before applying it. It is Hydrochloric acid so be very careful with it.

 

Good luck 

scobydog

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