Hello all I am bidding on brick building cleanup for new construction, and I am also new to brick cleaning, does anyone have any good tips or recommendations, (I have already found the right chemical NMD 80, and have done allot of research), but need some ballpark pricing help, I am in the Chicago area, I would appreciate it, Thank You and God Bless, Andy
Brick Washing
- Thread starter Andrew07
- Start date
Les Howington
New member
Andy, here in NC pricing runs anywhere from .17 to .28 a SF. I can usually get around $600 for a typical 2 story 3000 SF home. It also depends on how bad the tags and smears are too. If it looks like my 8 year old son laid it, they pay for it. Also, how long the mortar has been drying as well as the type of brick plays a role in the price.
If you have never cleaned brick before, stay away from sand or soft faced brick until you get more experience.
One tip I can give you is when you are scraping the wall, don't just scrape randomly looking for tags. Start on one corner and scrape across every brick in a pattern. It may sound like more work but this way you insure you get all the tags and you are not spending wasted time standing there looking for more tags. Think of it this way, you wouldn't randomly wash a house and then go back to clean the missed spots. You start at the bottom or top, whichever you prefer and work your way to the opposite hitting everything. This way when you finish you know you are done.
As far as chemicals go. I tried all the specialized brands for cleaning brick and got no better results than using a mixture of muratic with a little soap added for cling. If I'm going to pay $20 for a gallon of chemical versus $1 for a gallon of muratic, it better melt the stuff off there like butter and I haven't found any thing that comes close to that. Things may be different in other parts of the country.
If you have never cleaned brick before, stay away from sand or soft faced brick until you get more experience.
One tip I can give you is when you are scraping the wall, don't just scrape randomly looking for tags. Start on one corner and scrape across every brick in a pattern. It may sound like more work but this way you insure you get all the tags and you are not spending wasted time standing there looking for more tags. Think of it this way, you wouldn't randomly wash a house and then go back to clean the missed spots. You start at the bottom or top, whichever you prefer and work your way to the opposite hitting everything. This way when you finish you know you are done.
As far as chemicals go. I tried all the specialized brands for cleaning brick and got no better results than using a mixture of muratic with a little soap added for cling. If I'm going to pay $20 for a gallon of chemical versus $1 for a gallon of muratic, it better melt the stuff off there like butter and I haven't found any thing that comes close to that. Things may be different in other parts of the country.
Russ Spence
Commercial Pressure Wash Expert
Has Anyone Used Prosoco 600 Detergent For New Construction Cleanup?they Say It Works Well On Red Stains In Concrete.I USED IT ON NEW BRICK AND IT WORKED WELL BUT I WAS WONDERING ABOUT STAIN REMOVAL ON THE MORTAR
Carolina Prowash
Exterior Surface Pros
Russ,
We used to use the Prosoco line for our new construction brick cleaning - there are so many products from them that are specialized...use product A for this type brick, product B for this type brick, never use product C on this type brick - it's a pain.
We have since switched over to EacoChem products....NMD80 works much better for us. As far as mortar being stained, that may be as simple as a little bleach - oxalic could be your answer but you run the risk of getting it too light. EacoChem has a couple other products out there that might answer your issue
Celeste
We used to use the Prosoco line for our new construction brick cleaning - there are so many products from them that are specialized...use product A for this type brick, product B for this type brick, never use product C on this type brick - it's a pain.
We have since switched over to EacoChem products....NMD80 works much better for us. As far as mortar being stained, that may be as simple as a little bleach - oxalic could be your answer but you run the risk of getting it too light. EacoChem has a couple other products out there that might answer your issue
Celeste
Russ Spence
Commercial Pressure Wash Expert
Celeste,
I Will Probably Get In Touch In The Next Few Days On Some Distributor Info If You Dont Mind
I Will Probably Get In Touch In The Next Few Days On Some Distributor Info If You Dont Mind
This job is killing me, seems like I have to scape almost everything even the smaller smears, brick job was completed about two months ago, I suspect this is one reason for being so tuff in coming off, guy is also very picky, that does not help, lol, I will post pics when I am done, any other tips would help but I dont know what else could be done? thanks, Andy
Russ Spence
Commercial Pressure Wash Expert
Celeste ,
I Found What I Needed On The Internet About Eaco Chem The Product Looks Good I Will Let You Know When I Use Some Of It Thanks For Looking Out
I Found What I Needed On The Internet About Eaco Chem The Product Looks Good I Will Let You Know When I Use Some Of It Thanks For Looking Out