Clean Used Brick
Using old or "used" brick in a project can give it an ambiance and character that is difficult to achieve with new brick. Old bricks have a unique history and weathered appearance that is seldom duplicated with modern manufacturing processes.
Steps
- Obtain your old brick. You may find these at a construction job site where a building is being torn down, a demolition landfill, or from a building or chimney you are tearing down yourself.
- Cull out and discard badly damaged and broken brick you will not need. Cleaning old brick is a difficult and time consuming project, so make sure you invest the time and energy in usable brick.
- Set up a workplace by building a solid table or other surface at a comfortable working height. Putting a large piece of {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} plywood on saw horses may suit this purpose.
- Use a hammer and mason's chisel to knock the excess mortar off the brick. You will want to lay the cutting edge of the chisel right on the seam where the mortar meets the clay of your brick, and strike it with your hammer with a cleaving action. Often, the mortar will pop off cleanly, especially from smooth textured brick.
- Use a stiff wire brush to buff any residue from the face of the brick which will be exposed when it is laid in your project.
- Use an abrasive rubbing rock, available from a building supply store, to scrub stubborn material from the brick. Rubbing stones are rectangular blocks made from an abrasive material with a wood or plastic handle fastened to them.
- Wash your brick with a mild (10% or less) solution of muriatic acid, rinse them, and stack them to dry.
Tips
- An air chisel hooked to a compressor at a lower pressure makes the job much easier than a hammer and chisel. They are fairly inexpensive. Be sure to wear eye protection and a dust mask as they kick up the mortar dust.
- You may choose to use a grinder with a knotted wire brush for stubborn mortar.
- Remember, when your brick are laid up, only certain sides will be visible, so as long as the sides which are jointed to other brick are flat, with no large lumps of mortar adhering to them, they need not be perfectly clean.
- You may be able to purchase pre-cleaned old brick at local brick sales outlets, saving the investment of time that cleaning used brick ultimately requires.
- Look for "replica" brick if this project is too difficult to accomplish. "Old Chicago" is a readily available, authentic looking replica brick.
Warnings
- Wear appropriate safety clothing, gloves, and goggles, especially if you use a grinder or hammer and chisel.
Things You'll Need
- Hammer and chisel; a mason's hammer and brick chisel are much more efficient than a standard claw hammer or cold chisel
- Safety equipment
