Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 22, 2021 2:16 pm Hi all, we are doing a knock down rebuild in Sydney North Shore with a small custom builder. I really need some expert advice with regards to brickwork and brick cleaning. We've used PGH Black & Tan and off white mortar. The actual laying of bricks in my opinion was quite good, and after the first brick clean (2-3 weeks after finishing laying), the bricks and mortar looked great. After about a week (Oct 2020), there were large areas of iron oxide staining. The brick cleaners came back and washed that off, but seemed to have gone overboard and after a few days there were strange stains on both brick and mortar. The builder said to not worry about it too much and they will have it resolved before handover. Fast forward to last week, they did another clean of the bricks downstairs and to be honest, some areas still look like crap. The first photo shows marks on the brick faces - these kind of look like pressure washer markers or something similar. Remaining photos show 'dirty' looking mortar. It's hard to explain but I know for sure that something isn't right. The joints all look irregular and the white bits on the edges of the mortar look like efflorescence. Can anyone who has had similar experiences or know more about brickwork please share their thoughts? Thank you! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Thank you so much for the effort. We will use it to talk with builder. We also had idea of building duplex instead and seeking suggest ions. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106744 11 13817 Hi VK, I am now retired however I have stood beside over 300 owner builders in the past 18 years that have successfully built their own homes. First of all a building… 10 22606 I am in the same situation, would you be able to give some insights in to this? I am in SA 8 17012 |