Home DIY

Marginal gains?

It’s the most disheartening task ever. Even after 10 mins with a wire brush on the same stone the difference is so minimal. Blurgh

What are the bristles on the brush made of? Could you get away with brass or even steel or would it damage the brick?

If you are running a chopsaw or table saw onsite you NEED to have a mains powered unit if it's going to see anything more than light use - on big sites the battery charging station could be a 10 minute walk away. Also battery table and chopsaws are no where near as powerful as the mains counterparts so will struggle with tricky timber or difficult cuts.

Myself and most of the other guys.i work with tend to have 3 of each tool (this list doesn't include small sds drills, comvi drills or impact drivers but does include the likes of drywall screwguns): one battery one for occasional use pottering around site ticking off jobs on a snagging list, 240v mains powered units for general domestic work, 110v for big sites. Obviously if you only do domestic you won't have many 110v tools and if you only do commercial you won't have any 240v tools for work.

Trades that are only on site for a limited time and then go will rely on battery units much more than any other trades because they don't have to worry about PAT testing as much or going through lengthy PAT test records with the PCs health and safety man.

@withered_preacher hey, don’t really know to be honest. I’m not too fussed about the brick faces as I’ll seal them - so far they don’t seem damaged and I’ve been scrubbing endlessly.

Is there a bristle that you’d suggest better for the job? Cheers!

Interesting, one of my brothers is a landscape gardener and the other is a carpenter, both working on big new build sites, they are saying that more people are starting to switch over to cordless even for big tools, apparently they can run a Milwaukee chop saw for the whole day off of 2 12ah batteries with no issues at all. Their reasoning was as you said not having to bother with PAT testing and lugging stuff round, whack it all in some pack out cases and stick it on the trolley.

Not to dishearten you, but we have a 200 year old inglenook with soot stained bricks, we had a sand blasting company in, with the sand blaster mounted on the back of a lorry to give you an idea of the size, he blasted it for a decent amount of time, and the bricks are still pretty black in places...

You can get poultice cleaners which are paste that goes on and peels off taking the dirt with. Used for cleaning dirty stonework on/in historic buildings. Not sure if man enough but could be worth investigating.

My current favourite is this one. It's like cartridge paper, the joints work so well and there's no pre-shrink to worry about. It's nice but pricey. They have a professional range which is cheaper.

https://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/m/MAVNWLPV/

You could paint the whole thing with Gardz before papering or painting that gives you a good chance of getting everything stuck to the wall as hallways are notorious for grease and wax e.g. from handbags ladies!

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is a tough washable paint. It's got a slightly plasticky finish especially when it's fresh but it's properly washable and doesn't fade as fast so you can touch it up.

Sorry to tell you, but this almost definitely won't work.

You need a sand blaster.

Also be prepared for the inside where a fire sits to still be black after being sand blasted.

@Sam_w cheers that makes me feel somewhat better and worse at the same time 😀. I’ll give it some more effort for a few more days in between meetings. Then give up I suspect.

There is an identical mini version of the fireplace in the next room which previous owners refurbished and it looks immaculate. No idea how they did it though!!

No idea how they did it though!!

Sandblasting.

Honestly, don't spend any more time DIY with cleaners and chemicals.

This is the afterwards, it was much worse before, covered in half an inch of tar, but as I said this was with the biggest most industrial sand blaster that basically exists, so short of taking the faces completely off the bricks, not sure it will get any better. Sorry about the lighting in the photo!

1 Attachment

My folks have had a few old farm houses in France over the years. Lime stone means that they're pretty unforgiving when it comes to old soot stains, but the softness means it can usually be blasted off.

But like you said there are some spots, like where an old chimney ran, which just don't clean.

is the chimney still functional? can you burn off the soot with a clean flame like a butane torch? maybe a really really bad idea after you've been slathering it in chemicals for a few days...

there are some spots, like where an old chimney ran, which just don't clean

could this be because the brick is actually burnt there? rather than having burnt stuff stuck to it.

If you hit mortar because you didn't have enough choices about how things line up then you would need to find maybe 8 special plugs in the bottom of your box and start to work out what will hold in the mortar. I use Fischer plugs that have wings to stop them spinning in mortar and I've not had to worry to much since having them. Sometimes you need to go up a couple of sizes which can be inconvenient if you've no choice about the screw sizes. In that case you can gently pack the larger size plug with a smaller plug or matchsticks/split dowels. If that fails you can make a wooden dowel, fat and conical and drive that into the hole creating plenty of pressure around it. A big one of those can hold a cast iron radiator with a painter balanced on it.

Have you tried this sort of thing?
https://www.toolstation.com/wire-cup-brush-with-arbor/p24723

apparently they can run a Milwaukee chop saw for the whole day off of 2 12ah batteries with no issues at all

When both batteries are new then I'm sure you can again a lot of guys I know have the mains units as well as the battery units.
What tends to happen in my experience is is guys buy their shiny new batteries then feel liberated until one of two things happen either the batteries start to get old and ropey - won't hold their charge so the labourer is being sent to the charging station Evey 30 mins (being a labourer he isn't going to be sent on an errand without going for at least one snout - the smoking area might be 10 minutes in the other direction). It gets frustrating and the cost of replacing the big flexvolt style batteries is eyewatering. Or there is a cold snap and the batteries won't hold a charge this brings on many of the same issues I mentioned before the only real solution is to charge batteries and walk around for the rest of the day with a pair of HUUUGE 36 / 54 v batteries in your boxer and thus inviting a non stop barrage of "hilarious" banter that will always begin with is that a........... In your pocket.

@Señor_Bear that’s next on the list! Just need to commit to a day of dust and debris!

@hoefla I like the idea of setting fire to the whole thing! It is functional so that could be an option.

I’ve got hold of the Wexa Lithoflin which is supposed to be good. Then I’ll try some wire brush type drill bits and then if no luck I’ll blast with fire!!

Edit: @hugo7 sorry I missed your sandblasting comment. I guess this is the last resort as I’d like to try and do it myself if I can. Do you know much about SodaBlasting vs SandBlasting as cleaning methods? I.e is one better than the other? Cheers!!

@Señor_Bear that’s next on the list! Just need to commit to a day of dust and debris!

Ensure you’re wearing plenty of protection, those wire bristles are fuckers when they shed

Cheers, I'll bookmark that for when we get round to doing it. Not cheap but better than it marking really easily like it does at the moment.

I use a pair of Enfield Bolts, seem to be cheap and feel well made etc.

My old man used to insist in 110v tools for home use.

Zero practical benefit, and a very attractive target for tea leaves.

Which is why he was regularly cleared out of all of them...

looks perfect thanks!

We dont have any issues with charging stations or ten min walks to get batteries as we only do domestic thankfully.