This involves using a concentrated acid from a builder’s merchant and so all the manufacture’s safety advice must be carefully followed.
Equipment:
- Brick acid
- Hose pipe
- Cheap plastic watering can with a rose
- Stiff broom
- Wellington boots
- Safety equipment (read and follow the safety recommendations that come with the brick acid).
Summary:
- Check the paving is suitable and read the safety instructions carefully.
- Get all the equipment ready and put on the safety equipment.
- Wet the paving with a hose pipe.
- Pour the cleaner over the paving.
- Scrub the paving with the stiff broom.
- Rinse the paving with lots of clean water.
- Repeat if necessary.
- Check the paving is suitable and read the safety instructions carefully.
Brick acid is not suitable for all paving so read the manufacture’s information for both the paving and the acid. If necessary, try using it on an area that doesn’t matter to check its suitability prior to starting.
- Get all the equipment ready and put on the safety equipment.
Get all the equipment together before you start and get yourself ready before you start. You don’t what to have acid everywhere only to discover the hose doesn’t work or you forgot your wellies and you have two very wet feet.
- Wet the paving with a hose pipe.
Wet all you paving with clean water from a hose pipe. You may feel you are watering the cleaner down but it works much better if you apply the acid to wet paving. This is to stop the acid soaking into the paving rather than spread the dissolving the mortar stains.
- Pour the cleaner over the paving.
Spread the brick acid over the paving, a cheap plastic watering can with a rose is as good a way as any. Do not use a metal one and the acid will attack it and keep it just for jobs like this.
- Scrub the paving with the stiff broom.
Scrub the paving with a stiff broom. The small bristle ones they sometime sell as deck brushes are ideal, but back sure they have a shaft and it is securely attached. You may find some larger lumps of mortar need a tap from a hammer and chisel as you go.
- Rinse the paving with lots of clean water.
When you feel the acid has worked rinse the paving with lots of clean water from a hose. This will stop the acid and cleaned the surface so you can see how clean it is.
- Repeat if necessary.
Once you have cleaned the paving down you will probably see a few persistent stains and you can now re-treat these areas with the acid in the same way. If you have done the first treatment properly it is though very unlikely that you will have to re-treat the whole areas a second time.
