bricklaying & morter clean-up question

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dgold

New Member
Feb 16, 2008
26
Phoenix, Maryland
Hi there. This isn't exactly a hearth question, but very very close. You see, I built a mailbox made from hearth & chimney components.

I recently built a brick mailbox using bricks, flue tile (flue liners), and a fireplace clean-out door. This was my first ever attempt at brick-laying and overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, with one major exception... I'm a lousy brick-mason and I've got mortar stains all over the thing as seen in the "drips" in the picture below, especially noticeable under the pier cap:


image26.jpg


Any thoughts on how to clean this up? I don't want to use a wire brush or a wire cup wheel because I'm afraid I'll damage the surface finish on the bricks. Does anyone know if muriatic or phosphoric acid would release the very thin layers of mortar that look like "drips" all over the mailbox? Any other suggestions? For what it's worth, those "drips", "stains" or whatever I shall call them are now several weeks old. :(

Thanks in advance for your help.

David

Ps. If anyone is interested in seeing more pictures of the mailbox, how I built it, or the hearth I remodeled, the photo album is here.
 
acid will remove a lot of the mortar . It depends how wet it was when it was laid ( mortar & brick ) and how long it been curing for . I would hit it with acid 3 times then use a power washer with a fine tip . neutralise the acid with backing soda and water when your done . wash with masonry cleaner from your brick yard when done . The acid will rust the cast door . PS in 100 years you wont even see the mortar .
John
 
wellbuilt home said:
acid will remove a lot of the mortar...
Click to expand...

Any recommendations on what kind of acid to use? Vinegar, Phosphoric, Muriatic?

The mortar was applied fairly wet. The bricks had gotten several days of rain in the week previous to building it.
 
I don't have an answer to your question . . . but I'm thinking that any punks planning to play a little bit of Mailbox Baseball will be in for a surprise if they try to hit a "homer" with your mailbox now. :)
 
John has it right. Muriatic acid in a 15% solution is the answer. You can use a stiff fiber brush like a parts brush to add a little elbow grease to it. The solution will rust the iron door and plenty of water rinseing will negate needing to nutralizing with soda. This is how all of our masons clean up thier work.
Brad
 
If you absolutely can't scrub it off with a stiff brush use a muriatic solution of one part acid to ten to twenty parts water. Start with 1:20, adding acid to water and see how it works. If it doesn't effectively remove the mortar increase the acid concentration. You want to use the least concentration of muriatic acid that you need - it damages mortar joints aging them as much as 15 to 20 years in one cleaning! Start washing from the bottom to prevent streaking and don't use a metal brush -use plastic or fiber. Soak the wall before cleaning. Leave the acid on for 5 to 10 minutes and rinse well. Wear gloves, glasses and don't breathe the acid fumes.
 
I've had luck taking a half brick, wetting it and rubbing the morter. Then take a stiff scrub brush and some muriatic acid mixed in water and scrub the remaining morter off.
 
To tell you the truth ,Ive never had to clean my brick or stone work. I dont make a mess on the brick or stone when laying it . Ive done a ton of stone and brick lots of houses , i know better then to make a mess . I know ive seen whole building that looked worse then your mail box and after they are cleaned it looks good . You could get a guy to soda blast it .
 
wellbuilt home said:
To tell you the truth ,Ive never had to clean my brick or stone work. I dont make a mess on the brick or stone when laying it . Ive done a ton of stone and brick lots of houses , i know better then to make a mess . I know ive seen whole building that looked worse then your mail box and after they are cleaned it looks good . You could get a guy to soda blast it .
Click to expand...

You know the mason adage; the first step in cleaning your work began when you laid your first units. I see commercial jobs today completely soiled with mortar, then sparkling clean later after they acid wash it. 20 years ago you'd get fired off a job for what passes today.
 
You guys wanna help the OP out with his question, or just thump your chests and reminisce about how you'd have never gotten yourselves in a position where you had mortar on your bricks? Gimme a break. Rick
 
fossil said:
You guys wanna help the OP out with his question, or just thump your chests and reminisce about how you'd have never gotten yourselves in a position where you had mortar on your bricks? Gimme a break. Rick
Click to expand...

You're right. My apologies. Hope I didn't give offense to the nice work that David G. did by drifting off thread topic. Earlier I offered my advice, then later meant to comment on the state of some of the commercial work today done by professional masons. My intent was not to insult the fine work displayed here, but to ramble on about my pet peeve with some professionals. Sorry, Dan
 
Just to be absolutely clear... I'm not a bricklayer, I'm an R&D;/ marketing guy for a power tool company. If I were a bricklayer, I'd fire myself! As an ambitious DIY'er though, I'm grateful for this board and the free advice.

After having tried it myself, I admire those of you who can lay more than 30 bricks in a day, much less do it straight, square, level, plumb, or without getting mortar all over the bricks.

David
 
David G said:
Just to be absolutely clear... I'm not a bricklayer, I'm an R&D;/ marketing guy for a power tool company. If I were a bricklayer, I'd fire myself! As an ambitious DIY'er though, I'm grateful for this board and the free advice.

After having tried it myself, I admire those of you who can lay more than 30 bricks in a day, much less do it straight, square, level, plumb, or without getting mortar all over the bricks.

David
Click to expand...

Me too. Mechanical Engineer...pretty handy...but no brick mason. I've laid a few. Built a fountain in my garden once. My work was no better than yours, but I was proud of it nonetheless. Over the last couple of years I've had extensive brickwork done by a professional brick/stone mason who I consider nothing short of an artist. At least some mortar haze is simply unavoidable. He always came back a few days later and used a stiff bristle brush and mild acid solution on his work, followed by a wipe down with clean water. My brickwork I did didn't clean up so easily or nicely. In any case, as one amateur brick butcher to another, I'll say that I think you did a fine job on this project. Clean it up the best you can (chip off the worst of it, try acid washing it, whatever) and then just call it done and be proud of it. Rick
 
dave sorry if my last post came off the wrong way . I am much better at brick work then typing and writing . My writing skills are poor at best . I agree with rick the Mail box looks ok as is . Over time most of the mortar will come off . John
 
wellbuilt home said:
dave sorry if my last post came off the wrong way . I am much better at brick work then typing and writing . My writing skills are poor at best . I agree with rick the Mail box looks ok as is . Over time most of the mortar will come off . John
Click to expand...

Enough with the apologies. I'm just grateful for the free advice and that the thread wasn't deemed inappropriate to begin with, being that it's a mailbox and really doesn't have anything to do with the hearth other than some common parts. Thanks for the complements as well... both public and private. Bricklaying is seriously hard work... I used to think it was a trade, now I realize it's an art -- even at it's most fundamental level.
 
David G said:
...I'm just grateful for the free advice and that the thread wasn't deemed inappropriate to begin with, being that it's a mailbox and really doesn't have anything to do with the hearth other than some common parts...
Click to expand...

Scootin' it on over to the DIY forum now, David. Rick
 
I'm a DIYer and would like to try my 1st masonry project. If it ended up that much of a mess I would be proud as a peacock! Nice work David.
 
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