Is there anything I can do to make our bricks look new again? They are all faded and barely a year old and I dont know why. We live in texas and it gets hot but that shouldnt matter.
2006-12-03 08:40:08 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Other - Home & Garden
You might be experiencing a haze caused from the mortar joints leaching Portland cement, especially if it is on the side of the house with the most severe weather. Most masons use muriatic acid to wash brick after they have been laid. You might try this.
Also, if it is from algae, mold or fungus spores, a good Chlorox wash should do the trick. Hope this might help.
Good luck.
2006-12-03 11:43:11 · answer #1 · answered by old hort agent 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My recommendation: Do not seal the brick. Do not try and coat the walls with ANYTHING! With the kind of sun exposure that your house gets in the sunny Texas summer, who knows what color that sealant will turn?!
If you're in Texas, chances are your bricks are tan, pinkish, or orangey instead of the typical red. The biggest problem with brick masonry is that it is rough-textured. That means that if it's in a dusty place (like Dallas or West Texas) all the dust will accumulate in all the rough spots on the bricks. And then with the exhaust from cars and a little bit of rain it turns into a thick brown paste. This is called becoming bituminous because it becomes dark/black and tar-like.
What to do about it? Pressure wash it with PLAIN WATER. Get as much off as possible, then repeat with a very mild acid solution. Muriatic acid will work well, diluted one part in ten or twenty of water. If not, distilled vinegar in a similar dilution. Just don't leave it on for long. Rinse (yeah, you'll get plenty of use out of that pressure washer!) with clean water again. Test this on a small patch in your house. I believe this will work. Unfortunately you may have to do more than just water-blast it and put some real elbow grease into the project The longer it sits untreated the thicker the gunk gets.
2006-12-03 16:55:30 · answer #2 · answered by anon 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Real brick will not fade. My parent's house is over 35yr old and hasn't faded.
Get back with whoever put them on your house, they should know where the bricks were made.
And raise some stink! After all they are bricks or are they?
Sounds like they could have been defective when they were made.
2006-12-03 18:40:06 · answer #3 · answered by Momwithaheart 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Are they really that awful looking? I want to say to let them age gracefully, like wrinkles on our own faces, it shows that they were here more than a day or 2.-but if you prefer them to look like every other new brick , you could check with others in your area to find out which method works best there.
2006-12-03 17:35:34 · answer #4 · answered by territizzyb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
seal them and they will get the wet new look again.. you can do a matte finish, and it will work restoring the new look.
2006-12-03 16:50:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋