DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi

We have a victorian house, as a result of some damp we have had a small amount of repointing carried out to the external brickwork. Unfortunatelly some bricks have been 'smeared' with mortar - could someone tell us the best way to remove/clean this?

Also, we wondered what the best product would be to seal the external bickwork to help protect it?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Regards - Steve

Hi,
For cleaning the mortar stains off the bricks the best thing is a proprietary mortar stain remover which is available from most diy stores or builders merchants. It's usually possible to dilute this by adding it to an equal quantity of water, the advantage of this being that the action is less agressive and wont damage your new pointing. As for sealing the brickwork, I personally don't reccomend this, especially with the solid brickwork your house is almost certaintly constructed in, as it traps any damp already in the structure. As long as the pointing is in good order and there are no leaking gutters causing water to run down the walls all should be fine.

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