A friend had the front of her house Soda blasted, to clean up the brickwork. As a result, the soda was forced into the, very absorbent, soft red bricks and now keeps 'leaching out' of the bricks, every few days (especially after rain) to leave a white residue on the surface. The blasting guys have been back on numerous occasions to 'paint' the bricks with Malt vinegar which they said would neutralise and remove the soda staining. This looks great until after the next rainfall when it reoccurs upon drying.
Added to this situation is that I have now repointed the wall (see my previous post) and we're both concerned that the repeated vinegar application will react with the new pointing mortar and cause further problems!
Can anyone suggest a way of dealing with the soda in a better way than using the vinegar, or is it only over time that the stuff will 'leach' out? What about sealing the wall? Is that a no-no because it would trap the soda behind?
Look forward to any responses. Will also take this up with some brick cleaning chemical manufacturers and report back.
Cheers. Dean.