This one it kind of hard to explain. I have been asked to bid on cleaning the front of 2 of my local Cheesecake Factorys. I am hoping someone else has cleaned them and can answer this question. What are the pillars and decorations made of??? They look like cast concrete but have at least the pillars have a hollow/plastic like feel to them. I figure i could x-jet or 12 volt a slightly stronger HW mix and be done pretty quickly. An one have any experience with this?
FYI, I am not touching the calcite/efflorescence due to it being on tile and I have zero experience with it.
If they have a hollow feel they must be architectural foam covered in something. Around here I’ve done a few that are architectural foam covered in stucco, but I’m not an architectural foam expert so not sure if there are other coverings out there. As long as they don’t have any cracks it needs a pretty hot mix and/or multiple coats.
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Interesting. The texture is actually relatively smooth so i figured it wouldnt need to hot of a mix. I’ll bid it a little higher just in case. I am bidding 100ft of awnings as well and some concrete.
@MagicMan is correct, those are shaped foam covered in the absolute thinnest layer of stucco, sprayed on. Individual pieces get glued together, you can see the adhesive lines.
Be very careful and have great insurance. I don’t have any useful information about the cleaning process, wish I did
That is very reassuring 
Hmm interesting. The entrances I did look smooth, but if you ran your hand over it it was kind of like a knockdown texture on a wall with a lot of small nooks and crannies - I think that’s why I had to go higher surfactant and a 6% mix to get it clean. If that is actually smooth you might get lucky.
Just make sure you rinse, rinse, rinse everything else.
Yep. Architectural foam with a mesh backing and skimmed. Same thing as Dryvit/EIFS more or less. Definitely will need a stronger mix. Probably start at 3% and go up from there if necessary. Ultra low pressure rinse and rinse well. Cut your soap back a bit to decrease rinse time. It’s not really “porous” because there’s nothing behind it that really soaks anything in but it definitely isn’t like rinsing vinyl. I had a quarter size chunk pop loose when rinsing 20+ feet up with my soap shooter tip and had to buy some Dryvit putty and a sheet of expanded foam to patch it. Luckily, that one was natural colored and the patch matched beautifully. That yellow could be hard to match so be gentle with it and you should be good to go.
Ok, so definitely will be using my 12V system. Cant get much more gentle than that. I really appreciate everyone’s knowledge on this!
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That’s a piece of cake
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Enter Dad joke here
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I would still do a strong SH test spot in an inconspicuous area. I’m sure it’ll be fine but only takes a minute.
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Well that’s a cheesy response
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Sorry it’s been a long day, I’ve been baking out in the sun.
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Don’t complain. I spent the morning running a hot saw and knocking out concrete floor and then the afternoon washing in the rain. Today was just not fun. And, wouldn’t you know it, THE MINUTE I roll up my hoses and pull tape the dang sun comes out. And now it’s cold.
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Seems like that be a cakewalk for you, no?
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Sounds like you’ve been hit with a 4 seasons in 1 day type of ordeal, with a bit of concrete thrown in lol I’m not sure what I hate more, baking out in the sun and getting rained on or vice versa, if i wake up to rain i want it to rain all day.
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Your not wrong my friend, I like to cake it easy, why stress about it?
