Brick cleaning, when it is optimum time post laying?

[epsilonGreedy]

A pro brickie team will no doubt leave a few mortar splashes on my blue/grey engineering bricks as they work at speed.

 

If I undertake to clean up the brick faces later with some brick cleaning acid plus seriously long rubber gauntlets, how long should I wait?

 

I assume anything less than 6 hours in the current cold weather could make things worse by smearing still unset mortar? My hunch would be 24 to 48 hours after the bricks are laid and that 2 weeks would be far too long.

[scottishjohn]

1 minute ago, epsilonGreedy said:

A pro brickie team will no doubt leave a few mortar splashes on my blue/grey engineering bricks as they work at speed.

 

If I undertake to clean up the brick faces later with some brick cleaning acid plus seriously long rubber gauntlets, how long should I wait?

 

I assume anything less than 6 hours in the current cold weather could make things worse by smearing still unset mortar? My hunch would be 24 to 48 hours after the bricks are laid and that 2 weeks would be far too long.

a pro brickie team should be cleaning it up as they go 

thats why you employ pros

[epsilonGreedy]

1 minute ago, scottishjohn said:

a pro brickie team should be cleaning it up as they go 

thats why you employ pros

 

 

Fussy amateurs strive for better than pro!

 

When I look at examples of laid blues I often think, "I hope my house will be better than that".

 

I have been drying the bricks systematically over the past two weeks as I am told will help the brickies deliver a better finish.

[Mr Punter]

The blues are not too bad to clean.  I have had some covered in concrete from a floor and they cleaned up OK over a year later.

[epsilonGreedy]

21 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

The blues are not too bad to clean.  I have had some covered in concrete from a floor and they cleaned up OK over a year later.

 

 

Is it important not to get the cleaning agent on the regular mortar joints?

[PeterW]

Get them coated with boiled linseed oil to start with and you can just wash the snots off

[epsilonGreedy]

16 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Get them coated with boiled linseed oil to start with and you can just wash the snots off

 

 

I have considered this and followed @Brickie's comments in a thread on that subject however it just sounds like a proposal at the moment.

 

The other concern I have is that references to Lineseed mention it being used as a type of varnish. I don't want to amplify the visual intensity of my engineering bricks with a long term varnish type finish, is the boiled linseed usually washed off at the end of a build?

[Oz07]

Think there are pro brick acid guys now, come round at top out before scaff gets dropped and jet wash with a diluted acid and water mix, then water over the top. Think they were charging 250 a plot round here

[MikeGrahamT21]

2 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

Fussy amateurs strive for better than pro!

 

When I look at examples of laid blues I often think, "I hope my house will be better than that".

 

I have been drying the bricks systematically over the past two weeks as I am told will help the brickies deliver a better finish.

Dry bricks aren't good for brickies, when my dad was still working, he used to drop the bricks in a bucket of water for a few seconds before he laid them

[nod]

I’m not a Brickie but I built up to slab propitious to getting block layers in 
It was November cold and wet 

So wet I had to point up the following mornings 

I simply used a sponge to clean any excess With the intention of cleaning with acid once the house was built 

[epsilonGreedy]

7 minutes ago, MikeGrahamT21 said:

Dry bricks aren't good for brickies, when my dad was still working, he used to drop the bricks in a bucket of water for a few seconds before he laid them

 

 

This is a summer concern when bone dry absorbent bricks or blocks suck water out of the mortar too quickly before the brickie can level up a run of just laid bricks.

 

My case is different, (1) engineering brick do not suck up water so much by design, (2) a this time of year bricks are unlikely to be bone dry and (3) wet engineering brick faces are prone mortar smears which are highlighted by the dark face.

[PeterW]

Acid works months after and will get it off engineering bricks no problem. Just need a stiff brush and a plant sprayer, make sure the bricks get a proper soaking before you use the acid. Wet the bricks, spray on acid, wait 5, scrub and rinse. Stubborn bits may need another spray.