beam cleaning break through , perhaps?

[robgil]

Ok so i am there with my bucket of soapy water and my tooth brush with my plant mister to rinse with clean water when i come across some old plaster type stuff on a beam.
scrub scrub scrub and i think i am doing the timber more harm than good.
Then i remember a product called 'cement away' that i used to clean some floor bricks.
I apply some to my tooth brush , wet the wood down first then scrub the plaster type stuff away. it all bubbled up as it does and the plaster type stuff was gone pretty quickly, however, the spot on the beam that i cleaned was spotless , really , it was glowing.

Have i stumbled upon something here? is this type of chemical wash an alternative to sand blasting? It took no effort at all to clean the wood and the wood seems to have been unaffected by the acid.

i am waiting for it to dry out so i can better assess the job but it looks promising.

any thoughts guys?

 

[robgil]

This is the stuff ,

http://www.extensive.co.uk/product.php/22/Cement-Away%20-%201L/

no idea whats in it , it wont divulge that information on the label.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

It's not brick acid or similar is it Rob?

In which case be careful - you might be doing lots of harm to your beam's patina.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

This is the stuff ,

http://www.extensive.co.uk/product.php/22/Cement-Away%20-%201L/

no idea whats in it , it wont divulge that information on the label.

A very strong acid for the removal of stubborn cement residue, efflorescence and heavy builders dirt. For newly laid and older non-acid sensitive tiles such as porcelain, ceramic, quarry, terracotta, slate and sandstone tiles

That seems to tell you what you need to know! :shock:

 

[robgil]

Thats the only problem FF, it will remove the patina as well.
Personally i wont be using it on all my beams for this very reason but as a substitute to sand blasting it could be a good idea , for people who want clean beams.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Thats the only problem FF, it will remove the patina as well.
Personally i wont be using it on all my beams for this very reason but as a substitute to sand blasting it could be a good idea , for people who want clean beams.

FF? FF? FF! :roll:

:wink:

 

[robgil]

Ooops , sorry FW.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

No problem - I was just worried you'd sully FF's excellent reputation by associating him with my drivel! 8)

 

[robgil]

Ha ha, i might tap into his vast wealth of knowledge to enquire if this product will clean my pesky trees and shrubs at the bottom of my garden.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Good idea. I must admit I'd be worried about how much patina you'll lose.

 

[stephenh]

It's :

Hydrochloric acid, muriatic acid or spirits of salts , take your pick they are all the same thing, - at a particular dilution, not concentrated but take care with it and make sure you neutralise it afterwards.

 

[robgil]

Good idea. I must admit I'd be worried about how much patina you'll lose.

me too , thats why i am using a soft tooth brush to clean them although the beams im working on have very little patina except the king studs on the corners as this part of the house was rebuilt with elm in the 1700's, the problem i have got is the walls were cemented over at some point in time and although this kept the beams protected it also covered them in cement dust so ordinary scrubbing to remove this will damage the face of the wood.
The rest of the beams are coated in sadolin fence preservative so i have to approach them from a completely different angle , the good news is under that brown fence preservative on some beams is a coat or twenty of lime wash which will make cleaning the sadolin off them pretty easy.
I like my black soot stained beams too much to settle for cleaned spotless ones.

It's :

Hydrochloric acid, muriatic acid or spirits of salts , take your pick they are all the same thing, - at a particular dilution, not concentrated but take care with it and make sure you neutralise it afterwards.

would vinegar do this?

 

[stephenh]

"would vinegar do this?"

No - vinegar is acetic acid - you need an alkali not another acid.

washing soda? baking soda ? maybe - when used on bricks etc. we usually just use lots of water but this is not appropriate in your case.

Sorry, I'm not a chemist so don't know the common household alkalis that well.....ammonia ? perhaps not as that would darken the oak ( as in 'fumed oak' )

 

[Flyfisher]

My ears were burning so I thought I'd better login. Then I read the words "reputation", "FF" and "excellent" in the same sentence and realised that FW had finally flipped. Lest there be any doubt, let me confirm that I have very little experience of cleaning anything much really, as Mrs FF would readily attest.

However, there is one thing I'm wondering about Robgil. You said that your beam was covered in "some old plaster type stuff", which you cleaned off with some chemical warfare agent whereupon the beam was spotless. Are you referring to just the area of the beam previously covered in the "old plaster type stuff" or all of the beam?

 

[robgil]

nope ,now ive got a clean patch. i was thinking i could use some fire soot to darken it back down a bit though. the plaster i think was cement snots left from when the wall was cement rendered , basically they nailed horizontal battens to the studs then used a steel mesh to hold the cement in place so a lot of the cement squeezed through the mesh and ended up bonding to the studs behind.