About the service
I start every job with the surface itself, not with the can. I look at where the wall gets wet, how long it stays dark after rain, whether the mortar joints are crumbling and whether the white bloom on the brick is salt coming out of the body of the wall or just dust from the last renovation. Efflorescence is almost never a paint problem: water walks into a porous base, dissolves the salts inside, carries them to the face and evaporates, leaving the crystals behind. If I sealed that in without finding the source, I would only push the damage deeper, so I check the drip edges, the gutter, the ground line and the paving falls before I promise anything.
Cleaning comes next, and I keep acid out of it wherever I can. Acid brightens a wall for a season and eats the binder for good, opening the pores so the next crop of salt arrives faster. I work with moderate-pressure water, soft brushes, alkaline or neutral cleaners matched to the stone, and a biocide wash where moss, algae and lichen have taken hold. Then the base has to dry properly, usually two to four dry days depending on thickness and exposure, because a penetrating product needs open, empty capillaries to travel into.
I use penetrating silane and siloxane water repellents rather than film formers. A film looks impressive on day one, then it blisters, traps vapour and peels off in patches, and stripping it costs more than the original job. A penetrating repellent lines the pores and lets the wall breathe out while stopping liquid water from coming in. Typical consumption is 0.3 to 0.8 litres per square metre depending on porosity, applied wet-on-wet in two or three passes flooded from the bottom up so the run-off keeps feeding the surface below.
Weather window matters: five to twenty-five degrees, no rain for the following day, no direct blazing sun on the face and no frost in the forecast. Plinths, garden paths, retaining walls and steps get extra attention, since they take splashback and ground moisture from both sides.
What the job includes:
— survey of the surface, moisture check and a written cause for the efflorescence;
— washing, biocide treatment against moss and algae, drying control;
— repair of open joints and hairline cracks before impregnation;
— two or three flood coats of a breathable penetrating repellent;
— protection of glass, joinery, plants and paving;
— water-bead test on a sample area and care notes.
Please note that water repellency is not waterproofing. It resists driving rain and capillary uptake on a vertical face, it does not hold back a head of water, a leaking basement or a broken damp course. Renewal is normally due every four to seven years on walls and sooner on horizontal traffic areas. Typical duration for a private house is six to nine working days including drying.
Cleaning comes next, and I keep acid out of it wherever I can. Acid brightens a wall for a season and eats the binder for good, opening the pores so the next crop of salt arrives faster. I work with moderate-pressure water, soft brushes, alkaline or neutral cleaners matched to the stone, and a biocide wash where moss, algae and lichen have taken hold. Then the base has to dry properly, usually two to four dry days depending on thickness and exposure, because a penetrating product needs open, empty capillaries to travel into.
I use penetrating silane and siloxane water repellents rather than film formers. A film looks impressive on day one, then it blisters, traps vapour and peels off in patches, and stripping it costs more than the original job. A penetrating repellent lines the pores and lets the wall breathe out while stopping liquid water from coming in. Typical consumption is 0.3 to 0.8 litres per square metre depending on porosity, applied wet-on-wet in two or three passes flooded from the bottom up so the run-off keeps feeding the surface below.
Weather window matters: five to twenty-five degrees, no rain for the following day, no direct blazing sun on the face and no frost in the forecast. Plinths, garden paths, retaining walls and steps get extra attention, since they take splashback and ground moisture from both sides.
What the job includes:
— survey of the surface, moisture check and a written cause for the efflorescence;
— washing, biocide treatment against moss and algae, drying control;
— repair of open joints and hairline cracks before impregnation;
— two or three flood coats of a breathable penetrating repellent;
— protection of glass, joinery, plants and paving;
— water-bead test on a sample area and care notes.
Please note that water repellency is not waterproofing. It resists driving rain and capillary uptake on a vertical face, it does not hold back a head of water, a leaking basement or a broken damp course. Renewal is normally due every four to seven years on walls and sooner on horizontal traffic areas. Typical duration for a private house is six to nine working days including drying.
