Forum Archive

The pointing on our brick townhouse was redone about 4 yrs ago. The job was fairly sloppy, such that the mortar extends onto the brick faces. From the street it looks sloppy, so I’d like to get it cleaned up. For the most part it’s not caked on top, but just a very thin layer (it probably could have been cleaned up adequately had they acid washed at the end of the job). I was able to remove the mortar pretty well from a few test spots with diluted muriatic acid. Anybody have general recommendations? Some specific questions:
1) Is removal of mortar like I describe feasible? (based on my test acid cleaning, I think it is, but I can’t do the whole thing myself).
2) Alternatively, I’ve considered some sort of reddish colored staining (changing the gray mortar to red). A neighbor has something of that sort, and it looks nice (IMHO) – certainly nicer than our bricks. I’m not talking about paint, which would give it a caked on look that would not be to my liking, just a stain-like product that still shows the brick texture; my neighbor doesn’t know what the product on his is, but it’s clearly a stain of some sort, and it lasts, as it’s been there many years according to him).
3) any contractor recommendations for this?
4) will a contractor have to erect a scaffold (like I see all over this summer), or can they use a hanging platform like was common in recent years (and presumably saves cost).
Thanks!