For some reason I cannot get this stain to come up…client says there was a potted plant there for years. Pressure washer didn’t phase it. I tried SH, but maybe it wasn’t hot enough. I also tried an outdoor all around cleaner & scrubbed it, still nothing. I ordered some F9 Efflo, but am scared I will etch it. Any help is greatly appreciated as I’m determined to get rid of this stain! Thanks for your help!!
You’ll be fine with the f9 products….no worries.
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Thanks! Any particular ratio I should use? I was thinking like 8:1; 8 parts being water. Of course I have no real idea to be honest
You can start there, might need stronger. F9 has a manual you can use to guide you through stuff like this. Go to the App Store, should be .99 I think. It’s a big help using their products…..
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Thanks so much!
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No problem!
I recently had some similar white stains on a brick mailbox. I treated with Eaco Chem onerestore and f9 efflo and it didn’t budge. Contacted Eaco Chem and that stated it is likely calcite. Have Calcite Presoak being delivered today and they advised trying to use in conjunction with NMD 80. The mailbox cleaning I was doing was free, so not going back for that job, but at least have the needed on hand.
Interested to hear what results end up working for you.
Yeah, I’m just so worried about etching the surface that I’m debating even working on it. Just feels like a challenge now that I want to get done
What % SH did you use because the mortar on the bricks looks like it’s not clean either
Yeah, I wasn’t cleaning the porch…the tenant just asked if I could get rid of the stain. I figured if I get it up, I’ll probably go ahead and do the whole porch so it looks uniform.
You tried SH though, what percentage did you try?
we get that a lot here on unlined chimneys or uncapped older chimneys. I’ve hit some with a little pressure before, but you have to be careful or you could knock out the mortar. if you use an acid, make sure to neutralize afterwards. I don’t know what f9 says to do. We used to use muriatic acid and a wire brush, but that was decades ago and there might be a better way now. I was asked to clean one up the other week and I told them I would take some crust off while cleaning the house, but they need to get their chimney fixed or I’m just putting lipstick on a pig.
I believe it was right around 3%…maybe not quite strong enough?
I would imagine 3% plus pressure would be more then enough, might need closer to 6% if no pressure was used.
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You used SH to remove calcite?
No, sorry I see how that reads weird.
@TimOKC said they tried SH but wasn’t sure if it was hot enough. I was just trying to clarify what percentage they tried. If it was around 1% and no pressure was applied, the stain could easily be organic like the homeowner thinks… but at that low of a mix, it wouldn’t have done much to remove it. So I just wanted to rule out whether a hotter mix was used, and it sounds like it was, which means the staining likely isn’t organic.
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What you got here is calcium build-up from water leeching from the plant that was there over time. SH wont do a thing for that. Get you Efflo, Barc and for the matter Muratic Acid. Start with 10:1 ratio with a brush. Spray on, let dwell 10 minutes, scrub with hard bristly brush and rinse off with hose. Still there, up the strength. Repeat and continue. For that small an area you could use a spray bottle if you wanted and just add more acid if needed after each cleaning. Keep increasing strength of solution until you get it up. Note - always, pour acid into water, never water into acid. Good Luck!
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