Essential Maintenance For Unpainted Brick Built Houses. Don’t take your home for granted.

Do you live in a home with unpainted bricks on the outside walls?

It is important to keep an unpainted brick built house in good condition, to keep it looking its best and to prevent damage by time and by the weather.

There are a few ways to keep it in good condition, including re-pointing, cleaning, and weatherproofing. These procedures are necessary for the life of the house.

Repointing is one way to keep your brick home walls in good order for future years.

Repointing is the process of replacing old mortar with new mortar.

This is the best way to keep your brick structure in good shape.

It’s a cost-effective, easy maintenance task.

The mortar in a brick wall is essential for preventing moisture from entering. If it is degraded, the bricks will become uneven and flaking. Water can penetrate into the home, causing mould, damp and rot.

There are many reasons to repoint your brick house. Besides protecting your home from weathering, repointing can enhance the look and feel of your home.

The first step in repointing your brick house is to identify the problem.

You can start with a visual inspection of the exterior of your property. Any cracks or missing pointing can be easily seen.

Use a screwdriver to run along the lines of pointing to find loose areas.

If the problem is not easily detected, then the best course of action is to hire a professional. A masonry expert can help you identify the problem and determine the best repointing method.

For a small to medium sized brick house, it’s a reasonable idea to repoint every 20 to 30 years. Repairs to larger sections of brick often require demolition and replacement of the bricks, which is a costly job.

To prepare for repointing, it’s a good idea to clean the surface of the bricks. Use a self-vacuum grinder to remove sand-like mortar from the joints.

If a brick wall is not kept in good condition the bricks will begin to soak up water.

Repointing small areas of mortar is something that a seasoned DIY’er can achieve although to do an entire house, leave it to the professionals. It is fiddly, difficult and very time consuming.

In the winter time water inside brick will freeze and expand, causing bricks to literally fall apart, like in the photo below.

Cleaning brick walls is a good idea, and very satisfying too.

When you own an unpainted brick house, it can be tricky to keep it clean, especially if you live near a main road, or near or on a coastal area.

It really depends on how bothered you are about a bit of dirt and grime really, but there is nothing wrong with being a bit house proud from time to time.

Aside from the obvious dirt, stains and mould, you may also have waste and detritus from surrounding trees and shrubbery that can get stuck in the walls.

However, there are a number of ways to make your brick look fresh again.

You could, in theory, use a garden hose with a spray nozzle attached, it just depends on how thorough you want to be, and of course, how dirty the wall actually is in the first place.

You can also use a pressure washer. This is ideal for new brick, but it can be used on older homes as well.

For an even more effective cleaning solution, you can use bleach. Mix one tablespoon of bleach with two cups of water.

Apply the mixture with a sponge and scrub it on the brick. Once it has been wiped off, rinse the brick with warm water.

There are specific brick cleaning liquids available, which normally contain hydrochloric acid.

Then for the ultimate brick cleaning product, there is something called brick acid, which is not to be taken lightly as it is a high strength version of hydrochloric acid and requires careful use. It is so strong it can even strip paint off brickwork so use with the utmost of caution and use protective googles and gloves.

Brick acid should be used as a last resort.

Another option for cleaning brick is using an orbital sander.

It’s not a very good option, however, as it can damage the surface and leave residue stains and this method would be reserved for only the most filthy home.

If that is you, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Do people walk past your house, point at it and laugh? Time to get cleaning. C’mon, make an effort eh?

For more basic stains, a combination of dish soap and table salt can be used. Rub the mixture onto the brick and rinse it off with a sponge.

One tip, if you really plan on cleaning your exterior brick, don’t do it during cold weather such as in winter time.

If you soak your walls with water and the wall has little or no water repellent applied to it, such as an exterior wall coating, the wall will soak up the water and could cause damp inside.

Also this would mean that any water running onto your path or driveway will turn it into an ice skating rink.

Fine if you live in Toronto and your skates are kept by the front door, but not so good in the UK.

In addition, during cold weather, any water inside the brick will freeze and delaminate the surface of the brick, removing any waterproofing it may have previously enjoyed.

Delamination occurs when water inside porous bricks freezes, which then expands, causing tiny fissure crack inside the bricks themselves, pushing the “face”, outside edge, of the brick away from the wall, allowing even more damp inside.

This property we worked on in Salisbury had the same problem and the owner rather naively painted the bricks thinking it would solve the issue, as you can see it did not.

An example of when bricks de-laminate

We had to repair or replace many bricks on the outside of this house.

Thankfully the property is now protected with a durable and weather resistant exterior wall coating will will give at least 20 years protection from this ever happening again.

The exterior wall coating we used on the above job was a coloured coating.

If we had removed the paint on this house we would have uncovered a lot of brickwork damage, which with a job like this, would not have been effective.

Once you paint brick, it is pretty much permanent and very difficult to remove so you need to think long and hard before you start painting unpainted brick as it’s a one way street.

Thankfully after brick repairs, the house turned out ok.

Inspecting existing brick work for waterproofing capabilities.

Having a brick built house does not mean you are putting up the weakest material on the planet.

One of the smartest things you can do is have a regular maintenance plan in place.

This can include a periodic inspection of your brickwork.

The best way to do this is to have a trusted and knowledgeable contractor inspect your walls for any glaring issues, such as rotted timbers, cracked mortar, and other unsightly problems.

The same contractor will also be able to recommend a repair scheme that will help you avoid a major renovation down the line.

Steps to take if your brick walls are not waterproof or weather resistant.

Over time the face of the brick, which is supposed to repel weather, is degraded and loses it’s ability to keep your home warm and dry.

The easiest way to test this yourself, before you call in a builder or contractor, is to run water down the wall using a normal garden watering can.

If the water starts to be absorbed into the wall instead of running down to the ground, then that is the time to worry as your home is not weatherproof and damp and mould issues could well be on their way.

We would recommend your walls be treated with a weatherproof exterior wall coating, such as ProPerla, which is approved by the energy saving trust to weatherproof your home, AND lower your home heating bills.

It soaks into the wall, creating an impermeable vapour barrier but will NOT alter the appearance of the house.

This is especially good for listed and historic homes too.

It also comes with a 20 year guarantee.

Having this exterior coating applied to your home will save a lot of money on future home heating bills too, eventually paying for itself.

Removing rust, soil, and mortar stains

Removing rust, soil, and mortar stains for unpainted brick built houses can be done by following simple and safe procedures. It’s important to use the proper cleaning equipment, tools, and techniques.

Rust stains can occur via the oxidation of ironwork or metal objects attached to your wall.

These could be house numbers, a hook for a washing line, an outside light, a satellite dish, and so on.

Using improper procedures can ruin the appearance of your brick walls, which will also lead to more serious problems such as mould, moisture, and deterioration.

When it comes to removing rust, soil, and mortar stains, it’s best to start with the mildest cleaning method possible. For example, you could use a 50/50 solution of laundry bleach and water to remove soot from your brick.

You can also try using hydrochloric acid, oxalic acid, or a combination of these.

If you’re using one of these chemicals, you should wear protective eyewear.

This is because the chemical can be harmful, if used incorrectly.

In addition to wearing eyewear, you should also ensure that the chemicals are applied properly.

Make sure that the area is well ventilated and that the cleaning solution does not come into contact with any metal surfaces.

To remove a rust stain, you can use a mixture of oxalic acid and water.

After soaking the rusty object in the solution for a few minutes, scrub it with a stiff brush.

Before re affixing the metal objects to the walls of your house, it is always a good idea to repaint them in a rust proof paint such as Hammerite®.

Cost of maintenance is a major factor in owning your own home.

A house built with brick has the potential to last a lifetime.

However, you may have to do some maintenance on the outside of the building to keep it in good shape.

If you’re not sure what you need to do, you should get in touch with your local home improvement contractor, such as ourselves. We can be reached on 0800 970 4928 (UK Only).

We can tell you exactly what you need to do to keep your brick looking its best.

To find out more about having your unpainted brick house repaired and weatherproofed, with our energy saving exterior wall coating system, get in touch with us today.