cleaning up exterior red brick (old paint remanant/debris)

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Sorry if posting in wrong section - not clear where this would go.

I thought a rather simple problem would not take me so much time researching! I am struggling to find someone or some business that specialize in cleaning up red brick. I live in Northern Ireland and that often presents bigger challenges that when I lived in England.

Some idiot who owned this property before me used the outside of their house walls (red brick) in their back garden to clean off paint rollers and brushes. I am planning over the next few months to landscape that space (one of my last jobs in a total renovation). One of the first jobs I need to do is to get the red brick back to some decent standard. It is not painted as such – just dried of discoloured watery paint from old brushes/rollers (that’s my guess anyhow on what has been done) and general grime from the years. The top half of the brick work is good – and looking to return the bottom half to a similar standard.

On looking for businesses is it just a general builder who can take care of this or if it’s a specialist area what are they called – at least then I would know what to look for. I could consider a DIY job if it does not take specialist equipment i.e chemicals and protective gear! The area needing cleaning is not vast – maybe 10/12 sq meters or to get the thing looking right do I need to do it all – what I mean by that if I only clean up the bottom half will there be a noticeable difference in the half not cleaned.

Need help where to start and my options
 
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1st thing i would try would be a pressure washer, if it is emulsion.
 
1st thing i would try would be a pressure washer, if it is emulsion.

I think it is just traces of emulsion over a wide area - more like the remnants of paint left over, certainly not paint like it would be if you just painted the wall. I found a few sites and this one seems good -
http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/

but expensive and if all else fails I will try that BUT first my friend has a pressure washer that she uses to clean up her garden (all paving slabs) and it does a good job. will this do or do i need to hire something more industrial?

hot water or cold best and is there any chemical that can be added to the water to assist the process before going down a more expensive route
 
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1st thing i would try would be a pressure washer, if it is emulsion.

I think it is just traces of emulsion over a wide area - more like the remnants of paint left over, certainly not paint like it would be if you just painted the wall. I found a few sites and this one seems good -
http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/

but expensive and if all else fails I will try that BUT first my friend has a pressure washer that she uses to clean up her garden (all paving slabs) and it does a good job. will this do or do i need to hire something more industrial?

hot water or cold best and is there any chemical that can be added to the water to assist the process before going down a more expensive route

I can vouch for these guys , I use them all the time , they are very much into conservation work so would be able to advise you on the most none damaging way to deal with this.
Its worth giving them a call.

Just a thought but have you tried a scrubbing brush and soap and warm water?

Also , how old are the bricks in your house? soft reds with lime mortar for instance may not react kindly to being pressure washed or an acidic chemical wash.
 
Thanks everyone - given me some great ideas -

house pretty bog standard ex council built house built 1960's - anyone roughly know what type red brick that's likely to be (know I am looking at it but sorry my knowledge of brick products is limited) - what i mean is will it stand up ok to acid based or paint stripper based products from reputable suppliers as indicated already in the replies (following instructions carefully of course) and if needed power washing.

will of course start with the least intrusive approach soap/water and brush (sorry not tried anything yet) and move through the range of options until i find the one that works - an acid based brick cleaner (seems hydrochloride is the main ingredient) and hose/power washer set low to rinse and only a specialist paint stripper if required
 
Sounds like your already on the ball there fella, bricks should be ok but keep an eye on them and the pointing.
 

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