Mysterious Effloressance
Hello: I attached a photo of my brick building in Chicago. I seem to be having an issue with efflorescence in a single spot on the brick next to my window. No where else on the building are we seeing this issue. I wonder if you might be able to offer some insight into the…
Hello:
I attached a photo of my brick building in Chicago. I seem to be having an issue with efflorescence in a single spot on the brick next to my window. No where else on the building are we seeing this issue. I wonder if you might be able to offer some insight into the issue. I am thinking that the caulk on the window next to this area might be letting water creep into the brick. In one of the photos you can see the caulk might not be applied correctly. But I also wondered if efflorescence tends to creep upwards like we are seeing here?
The tuck pointing was done about 3 years ago and we just started to see this issue in the last 6 months.
This spot is about 4 feet off of the ground level, and the building is 4 stories tall. I see no evidence that the issue is coming from water above or below this spot.
Please help!
An update for anyone interested…
Last night I lightly sprayed the area with the garden hose. The white stuff just washed off and it looks fine now. Not sure if it will come back or not, but it looks okay now.
Brad, that’s a realistic concern, but based on what I see in your photo, I wouldn’t worry about water getting into the living space. The water (and we’re talking about a small amount of water–not gallons and gallons) is getting wicked up from the ground and is getting back out the easiest way: through the front of the brick. As long as you don’t play with that situation (by sealing the brick) there is nothing to worry about.
But more questions come to mind: when it rains, does water drip on this portion of the building? Did someone continually rinse off the concrete with water? Does someone’s AC drip here? Maybe this area is getting periodically wet and that’s what’s bringing the minerals out of the mortar.
Thanks everyone! The small concrete fixes that some people notices are recent. The efflorescence on the brick pre-dates the concrete repairs by many months.
I have looked everywhere in the area and I cannot see a hole where water could get in. The only thing that I can see is the window caulk right next to the area of concern looks off. Could we need to re caulk the window, or add caulk?
I am mainly concerned about water getting into the living space behind the wall, and the look of the brick. What are the chances the water will get in? The inside so far is bone dry.
Thanks!
I also suspect it has something to do with the newish concrete patch on the low wall. Somehow the salts from that mix are wicking up the wall. It is harmless. If you want to clean it up you can wash with a sponge sopped with vinegar. Should come right off. I’ve used apple cider, white vineagar and, even balsamic in a pinch, for a very porous foundation wall interior. Vinegar works great.
I don’t think is anything to worry about.
what’s going on to the left on the concrete? looks similar…
DO NOT put bleach on your brick building!!!
Because this efflorescence is close to the ground, it might be that mineral-containing moisture is being wicked up from the ground. This might be a temporary thing caused by some change in the way that moisture is getting up and out through the masonry (a completely normal process.)
Efflorescence on the brick surface isn’t dangerous to the bricks. It doesn’t look good, but it doesn’t usually cause any problems (especially when it’s such a small area) because the crystallization is happening on the surface. When the crystallization happens inside the bricks, that’s when you can have spolling.
Crystallization happens at great force, and over time that force will weaken the bricks. You want to keep these bricks as permeable as possible to make sure that the moisture (and the dissolved salts) continues to get to the surface of the bricks.
I wonder: was any work done to the concrete steps? I notice that some of the parging looks new. Was any landscaping changed? New soil or plantings might add minerals to the ground.
Someone might tell you to seal the bricks. I would be skeptical. First, you might cause the problem I describe above. Second, you’ll just force the efflorescence to another part of the building, as the moisture looks for another escape route.
Someone might also tell you to power wash the bricks. If you do this, use an extremely low pressure, basically just rinse the salt off the building (which doesn’t require a pressure washer.) You don’t want to force re-dissolved salts too far back inside the brick. If the salts can’t be moved out again with natural capillary-type action, you’ll have them crystallizing inside the brick.
Efflorescence (which is the salt deposit left behind by evaporating water) will creep upward through brick and mortar as a result of capillary action, the same way sap rises to the top of a tree. Usually, it is the mortar which exhibits the first signs of this, since, for some unexplained reason, high lime content tends to attract this capillary flow of water. However, if the mortar used in construction is strong mortar, then its lime content is lower, and the brick may be more exposed to water.
As to sources in the water, sealants are one place to look, but that wouldn’t explain the salts – unless your rainwater is salty in Chicago. Very mysterious…Maintenance – as described by elninio – is the best you can do, unless you want to dig in and do some $$ testing and forensic work.
Try some warm water with bleach and scrub it with a plastic bristle brush.