Just realized my brick cleaning method was wrecking old facades

I used to hit every old brick wall with a pressure washer at full blast, like 3000 psi, thinking I was getting them super clean. Then last month I was working on a 1920s church in Albany and the historic preservation guy walked over and pointed out how I was basically sandblasting the face off the bricks. He showed me a spot where the outer layer had just flaked away, and I felt like an idiot. Turns out, you gotta use a much lower pressure and a wider nozzle, like 1500 psi max, or even just a stiff brush and water for really old soft bricks. The guy told me "you're not cleaning them, you're speeding up their death" and that stuck with me. Has anyone else messed up old brickwork with too much pressure? What do you use instead?

2 comments

2 Comments

abby30811d ago

Totally done the same thing... I blasted a 1920s bungalow with 3000 psi and you could literally see the brick faces shredding off in sheets. Felt so stupid when a mason pointed out I was basically water jetting them to death.

nathan_hill6011d ago

Point that power washer at a brick wall and tell yourself you're just cleaning it. I did the same thing to a 1930s Tudor revival a few years back. Watched the soft old mortar turn to mud and drip down the wall like a melted candle. A historic home guy told me I might as well have taken a chisel to the whole thing. Now I won't even look at a brick house without checking the date it was built first.