Waking up to a sight of black soot, clogged smoke outlet, and a fireplace brick turned black can be sickening. Here is how to clean fireplace brick with a pressure washer.
I can understand your worries if you have to cope with a fireplace with bricks that have turned black from the original brown color, possibly with a clogged chimney. But you can get great relief by the time you finish reading this post. You will learn how to clean fireplace bricks with pressure washer.
Power washing your fireplace brick is a bright idea to neaten and refresh the look and restore the beautiful colors of the brick. But you must carry out the pressure washing of the fireplace brick with much care because the effects of fire could have weakened the bricks and mortar.
Here is How to Clean Fireplace Brick with Pressure Washer:
What to know and do before pressure washing your fireplace bricks: long effect of constant fire and heat makes your fireplace delicate than when it was initially built many years ago.
1. First do some manual cleaning of the fireplace by removing ashes, coal, and soot clogs. Clean the hearth, grate, and chimney. Wear hand gloves before embarking on the cleaning task. Make sure you use a face mask to avoid inhaling dust. Close all doors to the rooms to prevent dust from the fireplace.
2. Carry out a thorough inspection of the exterior and interior of the fireplace brick checking for defects such as cracks and missing mortar. This physical assessment is required to understand if you need to carry out some repairs especially like fixing fall-off mortar.
3. If you discover some cracks and crevices in the brick or mortar, repair them before carrying out the washing to avoid water seeping through them. Patch cracks and holes with new mortar.
4. Allow the newly added mortal and other repaired areas to dry for some days. This is required to give enough time to mortar to set firmly and cured into the cracks and holes. This will make it firm enough to withstand the impact of pressure washing.
5. Continually check the repaired areas to ensure they are completely dry and firm before embarking on power washing. This can take about 4 to 7 days depending on the extent of the repairs and the effectiveness of the material used.
Pressure Washing Tips
Now that all repairs have been done and confirmed dry, you are set to go!
- Cover the floor around the fireplace with old clothes or water absorbers to suck up water spills.
- Close all of your doors and windows to avoid water stream and dirt from flying into the coffer of your rooms.
- Cover furniture, decorations, and nearby plants to prevent dust and water mist.
- Prepare your pressure washer for the cleaning task. Set the pressure washer to between 600 and 1000 psi depending on how strong your fireplace bricks are. Use a 40-degree fan tip nozzle.
- When you have prepared your power washer ready for action, first test the pressure on a small concealed area of the fireplace brick. This will help you to determine if the set pressure is right for your fireplace bricks. If the pressure is too high showing signs of damage on the bricks, stop the testing. Adjust and reduce the pressure of the nozzle or move the nozzle further away from the wall.
- Pre-wet the wall before cleaning. If the wall is too dirty, you can add a small quantity of liquid detergent designed for your power washer. Thoroughly mix the detergent well with the cleaning water.
- The best way to power wash your fireplace brick is by washing the wall from the bottom up, not from the top down to avoid streaking. However, the rinsing should be in the reverse, that is, rinse from the top down.
CONCLUSION
You can see that power washing your fireplace brick is not as daunting as many people believe. However, this guide on how to clean fireplace brick with a pressure washer
