Cleaning a brownstone facade

19 years ago

I'm not quite sure if this is the right forum to pose this question but here goes. I have a brownstone in NY. Well, the facade is really made up of three materials; brick, terra cotta and brownstone. It desperately needs to be cleaned and pointed. Cracks, dirt, moss, etc. I think it should be steam cleaned rather than power washed (which I think is too rough for the terra cotta surface especially). One person I interviewed said he would be using a light muriatic acid on the brownstone part but only steanm cleaning the brick and terracotta. Does this sound right? Thanks in advance.

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Comments (4)

bulldinkie
19 years ago
We had our brick home chemically cleaned.It was biodegradable,House looks great, still.It removed chalking from old white paint,bird doo,Everything that shouldnt be there.We didnt want to sandblast.
User
19 years ago
It doesn't sound terrible but you should get more than one opinion. Are you sure the brownstone doesn't need any patching - that's the material that's usually the weakest link. Muriatic acid is used to remove the effloresence (the white stuff) resulting from curing. I'm not sure how much it's going to do for cleaning. If your brick is very old you can question him about the type of mortar he will use. Portland cement should only be used on newer brick. The older, softer brick requires more sand and lime in the mix in order to bind with the brick. If you can find established masons from Spain (they come to NYC for the working season)they usually have apprenticed in Spain and know the right way to do it.
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arooney
19 years ago
Cleaning a masonry building can be irreversable...do it carefully.
I have lived for 32 years in a 1890 grand brownstone, brick and terracotta house in the Hudson Valley. My house's brick is a smooth, precise brick that was used between 1880 and 1910. Similar houses nearby show a powdery surface after even the mildest chemical cleaning. Their brownstone display small pockmarks from the cleaning and sometimes major decay. Sometimes the best way is simply low-pressure water.

Contact your local preservation/historical association for advice or for names of several cleaning firms. I read advice from oldhouses.com and historichomeswork.com (John Leeke) and get advice from Historic Albany
micki
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks, judeny and arooney. Great advice and I'll follow up. In the meantime I spoke again with the guy who will be doing the job. He said he will only steam clean the brick and terracotta--no acid. He said he'll brush on a very mild acid solution on the brownstone before steam cleaning that part of the facade. He has a lot of experience doing this and had shown me his work which looked OK to me. He will be doing pointing too so thanks for the info about using a more sand/lime mix in the cement. I'll ask about that too. Boy, what I don't know. Thanks so much for the help.