I am in the process of creating a quote for a building complex. I have several granite retaining walls, a lot of cement curbstone and the buildings are brick and this sort of ornate trim. They appear green but also have this orange-like hue to them. My approach was to hit it with SH - start with around 2% and then strengthen as needed. Do you think the SH will have any effect on these orange stains or should I be prepared with something else I could downstream? I can’t tell if it’s rust or GA clay and have a short runway if they decide to use me for the job. (Combined, it’s two building complexes ~34,000 each and they want the work done in the next couple of weeks)
Any thoughts come to mind about how you would approach this? What would you be prepared to try besides SH? (I was thinking OneRestore perhaps, but would probably need something downstreamable as the concrete section is about 30’ off the ground)
I also have what I have name the “ghostbusters wall” which is pretty disgusting - it’s actually foaming kind of a white frothy bubbly secretion in spots. It’s right near some office windows so the tenants want it cleaned for when they decide to open the windows (when it gets back above chilly) - I’m thinking I’m gonna hit that with about 3% SH wearing PPE - it’s really gross!
Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts about this post. I’m trying to understand what I should be prepared for with the orange stains on the concrete trim if anyone has had any similar experiences. I’d appreciate any input anyone has. I’m praying that it’s not a result of sealer as I’m not sure how I would go about removing large volumes of sealer in order to clean…
Really no big deal, need to clean school front first, getting the dirt and mildew off. Then on the limestone may need to acid wash it, One Restore should be ok, or contact Prosoco and they have a product, probably oxalic or something you can put on to neutralize. I’d send pics to them and Eacochem after washing.
On the wall, clean it first using SH. That’s calcite coming out. You’ll need an acid and to be honest, I’ve got one similar to that, that’s been treated 7-8 times with every acid, Efflo, nmd-80. F9, One restore, and pressure and I’ve gotten it better, but not perfect. Maybe 50% better. Sometimes it comes off pretty easy and sometimes not. Just cleaning wall will make it look a lot better.
Plus you’ve got some mud stains it looks like coming thru, so after cleaning with about a 3% mix, rinse with medium pressure, go back and work on mud stains. Efflo will work on mud and help the calcite. Be careful hitting with high pressure, forcing water into the concrete, besides risk of damaging concrete joints, will also force water into, which will cause more of the calcite. Excess moisture is what causes it to start with, so don’t turbo it.
That calcite buildup, is probably coming from within wall, no vapor barrier, bad drainage above, who knows. Excess water passing thru the mortar joints is what causes it. Need to explain to school. Even if you get removed, it may come back.
You need to set level of expectations with client.
I agree it is the drainage system that is causing it. That wall gets rained on and that ground behind it soaks up the rain too. Then the ground water looks for someplace to go. even though that guy is in GA, i’m sure they get the occasional frost there, which already forces water into those joints.
I don’t think the turbo water is hurting it. No different than if you apply water with any system. Besides, it’s going to knock some of that calcite hunk off and he can work on the residue.
Since displaced texan turned me on to doing retaining walls, I hit them and block foundations often. My estiamtes all say the same thing when I am working with masonry. Have a mason look at your mortar joints, they may want to come in after I am done and hit those joints with a color match and a slicker.
Maybe where you are you can find a mason to inspect and point up joints to match. Here it’d be a 2 month wait and cost hundreds of dollars. At one time I was one of the largest homebuilders in this part of the state and have cleaned literally thousands of homes and I’ve never, ever, seen pointed up mortar that matched.
If I ever knocked mortar out of a joint I’d feel responsible for fixing. If you put that in an estimate to me, I’d say never mind, I’ll find a professional, lol.
Thanks for the responses. @Dirtyboy I have had the same idea regarding the turbo nozzle, but am finding that it tends to blow out a lot more than intended and have started actually using it less on walls because of the additional dirt to clean up and the potential, as @racer points out, for damaging mortar joints.
One of the first things I mentioned on this was that the wall actually has a problem with it’s construction and that I could clean it, but not fix it. I appreciate y’all pointing that out - I probably need to stipulate that somehow so it doesn’t come back to bite me - especially at payment time.
These are all great suggestions and I am grateful for your responses. I’ve been working on two things - trying to upgrade to an 8 GPM machine (I’m stuck on heat or no-heat) and creatively trying to convince this company to award me the work which hasn’t happened yet. They do however, keep sending me quote requests for other buildings. At first it seemed like a good sign, but their lack of communication makes me think they are having me chase rocks while they shop me. It also raises concern for me about being paid after doing the work.
Thanks - great points - I’m a couple of hours away from you in N. Ga - I’ve been to Greenville a bunch in my former life (not pressure washing)
It’s been in the 30’s here in the mornings which is making the days a little shorter on top of DST.
My next door neighbor is in construction and shook his head looking at that wall. I can clean it, but I can’t fix it so it will definitely come back.
Wow, call a professional. Well, I like you racer, you have been very helpful and informative, but if you built homes like you said, you would know that the mortar that is already loose is coming out eventually anyway. Let’s be real, a real mason could match the mortar, but hacks don’t bother. The place I go to get my eaco chems at is a masonry place, the masons are always bringing in chunks of mortar to match. Any monkey can repoint, just mortar and a slicker or rake, maybe a stiff/wire brush to clean up with. If MY customer complained to me that they couldn’t find a mason in two months, I would do i tmyself, but I would also charge. If they had me clean their deck and the boards were bad, I would charge to replace them there too. I see no difference just because it is made out of rock/concrete. Besides, what is a mason going to use to get the built up calcite off the surface, oh yeah, a hammer. Because they use hammers on everything.
If you stick a turbo on the surface of anything, sure it will gouge it. I have used zero degree nozzles to remove mortar from old brick that I was salvaging. The trick is not to be on top of it. I could rinse your house with a turbo nozzle and not do damage. Why is the turbo so maligned on here? Maybe the rotating zero degree nozzle scares people.
You have to knock the dirt off with something. Solid, well adhering mortar doesn’t come off, unless you are getting on top of it and sitting in one spot. Bad mortar does come off, you didn’t damage it, you revealed the damage that was there. IF you wash a piece of concrete with a hose and flakes come off, you didn’t do it, it was spalling already.
Potato - potatoe, some will say. TO each their own.
Absolutely, great points. I’m finding that with the right chemical, the job gets easier and that was my point. I have run into several guys that have been doing this much longer than I and found that I can move a lot quicker if I don’t disturb as much. That equals $$ in my pocket, which is why I love pressure washing. Thank you for all your input, it’s great to get many perspectives. Sometimes, I find new ways to do things and who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks
We’re discussing philosophies here, not personal feelings. Say for example, you needed something done at your house that you weren’t comfortable doing yourself. Let’s just say you want a new skylight installed over your kitchen. And you get a few quotes and pick a contractor. Contractor sends over contract and it says I can do it, but it may leak or you may need to get a roofer to patch leaks after I’m done. Or another popular thing to do these days is to remove walls to open things up. So carpenter gives you a quote, but says, "Well ceiling may sag a little after I’m done and you may need to get someone else to come fix it. No difference. Either they can do it or can’t.
If there’s any question, I tell the client up front what I’m capable of doing or not doing and if any question I’ll explain how I’m going to address before hand. I run into old brick stoops with crumbling mortar weekly and often on jobs I’ve never seen before that I quoted over the phone. I’ve never yet had to touch up.
Matching the mortar helps, but I guarantee you I can look at any masonry and tell if it’s been touched up.
We are going to disagree on more than one thing then.
What is the point of mortar - it is weaker than the rest of the structure and it is meant to fail, vs the brick/block/stone. It is easier and cheaper to fix.
Your examples don’t make sense to me. yours is the intentional damage to a structure, whereas mine is that the structure is already damaged.
Of course you can tell when new mortar is added,Photooxidation occurs to everything the big yellow ball hits. Give it a couple of years of sun and rain and maybe snow and you really won’t be able to tell the difference if it was color matched. I just don’t get the whole I went to a customers damaged home and took their money and walked away bit. I just took dirt off their crumbling brick/stone.
They hire me to clean it, not to replace it. They all know when it’s bad, but how many people want to pay to have it fixed. I had 2 people tell me in the last week, “I know, it’s been like that for years, need to get fixed sometime”. Doesn’t mean I don’t try to clean it to the best of my ability.
I clean 10 yr + old vinyl siding all the time that’s oxidized, brittle, etc. I don’t put a disclaimer that they may need to have replaced when I’m finished. Or another one I see all the time is window and door trim with failing paint and some wood rot. I still clean it w/o damaging further.
Here is the only disclaimer I use on any quote
Pro Clean Exteriors is not responsible for leaky doors or windows, or preexisting damage.
Please disclose these areas prior to inception of work. We assume no liability for these conditions.
