Hey All,
Got a call about the brick on this building. She wants the discolorations gone and the brick back to white. I don’t know if I can help her but I told her I would look into it.
I haven’t done anything brick. I haven’t been on scene yet to look at it with my eyes. Looking at it tomorrow.
I just wanted to see what you guys might see in the pic. Thoughts and what not’s so I can go there with ideas. I’ll post closer pics tomorrow. Thanks for any thoughts!
Make sure your customers know anything “restoration” is $$$$. Keep calling it restoration not cleaning.
Nice tip, she called it restoration herself too. Good to know, Thanks!
Might be rust due to runoff from the metal window frame above. F9 Barc should take care of it. I always like seeing what @Historic has to say.
Her’s some more current-condition pics she just sent to me. She’s going to have mortar work done too. I would think the “color restoration” would be after the mortar work right? Thanks guys.
I was thinking the same but now the more current pics don’t really show it. There’s probably rust and a bunch of other stains too.
I think I would clean it before the mortar. That way if any mortar gets knocked out with some pressure it won’t hurt anything. I wouldn’t touch for months after the mortar work. It takes a long time for mortar to cure. Same goes for concrete. The bricklayers usually take care of cleaning any mortar splatter off when the job is finished. If she has the mortar joints fixed first I’d tell her to wait until next year to have it cleaned. I’d do the cleaning first though.
Hopefully Historic will chime in. He usually does when he’s tagged. He’ll tell you exactly how to restore it and what to use.
I like OneRestore myself. It seems to address a lot of different stains on many surfaces. But I don’t do a lot of restoration either.
Does one Restore have shelf life?
I’m starting to get into brick Restoration and I need all the chems I can get lol
Not positive, I’ve used some a year old and worked fine. I’d say as long as it don’t freeze, it should be good for a bit.
Please be careful using harsh chems with those windows.
I use OneRestore on windows too, takes hard water right off. Do a lot of window restoration too.
Sorry for delay. Been busy and just saw the tag. The discoloration, to me, looks moisture related. Runoff from the window and stone sill. I would bet that the windows need to be “wet sealed” and the brick work that the owner mentioned will most likely be tuckpointing or repointing.
As for cleaning, get some 600. That removes rust as well and new mortar stains. It’s fine on windows as well but be careful on exposed unpainted metal surfaces. The top portion looks good. Maybe a soft wash on that. Some rolling masonry scaffolding and for the bottom section, wet wall, spray 4:1 600, agitate with brush and dwell for 15, high pressure with just plain water the remaining bottom section. If anything remains, some light duty restoration cleaner but I’m sure just 2k with a 45 degree tip at the right distance will clean just fine.
I would clean prior to the brick guys doing their work. Leave them a clean pallet and dont let any sloppy work fall on your shoulders to clean afterwards.
Solid advice sir, much appreciated. If I get the shot on this project, I’ll update with results from this process.
Thanks Historic, and Thanks @marinegrunt for tagging the right guy on this one.
Could it just be ingrained dirt / dust / tree sap / pollen ect, I have did a couple of walls recently, yours looks “less bad” than mine, treated with SH, left for about 20 mins then pressure washed, results were excellent. both customers very happy. actually easy jobs for a change 
