Brick & Stone Cleaning
What Is Brick & Stone Cleaning?
Brick and stone cleaning is the process of carefully removing debris, or any other elements which may accumulate over time.
Due to the often delicate nature of brick and stone surfaces this form of cleaning is required to be done with the utmost care.
Furthermore, with specific and appropriate tools.
This means the Structural Repairs team ensure that their original condition and aesthetic appeal is not compromised.
What Causes The Need For Brick & Stone Cleaning?
Brick and stone cleaning is often needed due to a variety of different reasons.
Firstly, this form of repair is commonly caused by factors such as natural wear and tear.
Brick and stone structures are often located in outdoor areas which makes them prone accumulate debris.
Other natural elements such as moss and fungus also build up on their surfaces.
On the other hand, cleaning might be necessary due to vandalism such as graffiti or paint.
In both cases, as a means to restore a structure back to its original condition, brick and stone cleaning is required.
What is unique about this form of cleaning is that it utilises extremely careful and delicate measures.
Especially given that any form of harsh cleaning is likely to permanently damage the surfaces under questions.
Is Brick And Stone Cleaning Effective?
Brick and stone cleaning is an extremely effective method to use when looking to remove accumulated dirt from brick or stone structures.
It utilises processes and tools which have been design and tailored for this specific purpose.
With steam strong enough to remove debris, yet soft enough to avoid any form of damage to the surface it is being used on, brick and stone cleaning can be understood to be extremely effective.
Brick & Stone Cleaning Benefits
There are an abundance of benefits which come from repair methods such as brick and stone cleaning.
Firstly, conducting this form of cleaning will result in an improved curb appeal which will not only show that a structure is being well taken care of, but holds the ability to increase its value.
Brick and stone cleaning are likewise effective at removing dirt, grime, and other materials which at times can contain harmful bacteria.
In addition, regular cleaning, and preventative maintenance in the form of brick and stone cleaning, is an effective way to maintain the integrity of a structure.
Often, if accumulated debris is not cleaned, it can end up causing a structure’s surface to chip or crack.
Regular brick and stone cleaning are furthermore less costly in the long-term given that it can prevent more problematic damage in the future from arising.
In the same vein, cleaning a structure’s surface is known to be much less costly than having to have the structure completely redone or replaced.
How Effective are the treatments?
Untreated damp can cause a large variety of problems which only become worse as time goes by.
Waterproofing a basement holds a variety of benefits given that you are both able to avoid the ingress of damp, as well as being able to avoid the consequential issues which arise due damp ingress.
A waterproofed basement is able to avoid issues such as the cost of repairing damp, the musty smells which come along with damp, the aesthetical damage caused to your walls, the drop in value a property experiences when infested with damp, severe structural damage, appearing mould and rot, and the like.
In all, waterproofing a basement is very beneficial in the sense that it allows you to avoid damp damage itself, as well as all of the negative consequences which come along with the ingress of damp.
How We Clean Brick Walls
With our non-intrusive approach and systems, we love nothing better than to see old brickwork cleaned and restored to its former glory.
The brickies of old took pride in their work, were masters of their craft, and produced some of the finest buildings in the world at the time.
We follow in their footsteps and remove the veil of mortar from their work.
Working a metre at a time, we painstaking uncover each section until the entire are or brick has been cleaned.
The system we utilise uses a combination of superheated steam, water and soluble particles that are introduced to the area by means of a lance.
The operator is covered head to toe in a respiration suit and the feed pipes are connected to as long as we need them and will even include high rise buildings.
Mortar Cleaning
Our cleaning system and method is all about retaining as much of the original material as possible.
We actually do all kinds of mortar cleaning.
For instance, a Victorian red brick building that was rendered with a concrete mortar in the seventies is not starting to look tatty.
You could replaster the entire building but as much of the seventies’ mortar is falling off, there is not much for it to adhere to.
With the above, a common practice is to angle grind grooves into the existing mortar to allow for better adhesion.
This effectively ruins the beautiful red brick underneath for future restoration (although many developers care not – it’s all about swinging and selling it fast).
How Is Brick & Stone Cleaning Conducted
Here at Structural Repairs, with our non-intrusive approach and systems, we love nothing better than to see old brickwork cleaned and restored to its former glory!
The brickies of a long time ago took pride in their work, were masters of their craft, and produced some of the finest buildings in the world at the time.
We follow in their footsteps and remove the veil of mortar from their work.
Working a metre at a time, we painstaking uncover each section until the entire area of brick has been cleaned.
The system we utilise uses a combination of superheated steam, water and soluble particles that are introduced to the area by means of a lance.
The operator is covered head to toe in a respiration suit and the feed pipes are connected to as long as we need them and will even include high rise buildings.
In addition, our cleaning system is all about retaining as much of the original material as possible.
For instance, a Victorian red brick building that was rendered with a concrete mortar in the seventies is not starting to look tatty.
You could replaster the entire building but as much of the seventies’ mortar is falling off, there is not much for it to adhere to.
In this case, a common practice is to angle grind grooves into the existing mortar to allow for better adhesion.
This effectively ruins the beautiful red brick underneath for future restoration (although many developers care not – it’s all about swinging and selling it fast).
Structural Repairs are a leading global specialist