David Angel
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- 12
I have a mass of some kind of green algae on my victorian brickwork. What is the best way to treat? It looks like it can be scraped off but it takes a bit of doing.
Thanks
Thanks
- Thread starter David Angel
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citizensmith
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- Herefordshire
Are you sure thats not lichen? If so then just leave it alone - its not doing any harm.
David Angel
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citizensmith said:
No idea! It has started to cover about 1/4 of the house though and it looks bad to me! People comment on it when they come round and they think it looks like it is damp (although I don't believe it is).
Marcus
Cloudscape
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I agree that some lichens can look nice on stone and brickwork, but I can see why a lot of this 'growth' would make your house look a bit blotchy.
If it's algae or lichen, both are quite fussy when it comes to the chemical balance of their world. I clear my drive of algae with very slightly salty water. This is enough to send the algae packing. (I found this trick after salting some ice to clear it.)
Algae will also be killed by weedkiller. Lichen is fungal, usually combined with photosynthetic algae or bacteria, so try fungicide.
I'd be very gentle with the use of any chemicals - trying a small area and leaving it a few weeks/months to monitor the effects. Bricks, as you probably know, don't like anything to upset their pH.
I must point out that this advice is from a relentless fiddler, who can't resist experimenting. :wink:
If it's algae or lichen, both are quite fussy when it comes to the chemical balance of their world. I clear my drive of algae with very slightly salty water. This is enough to send the algae packing. (I found this trick after salting some ice to clear it.)
Algae will also be killed by weedkiller. Lichen is fungal, usually combined with photosynthetic algae or bacteria, so try fungicide.
I'd be very gentle with the use of any chemicals - trying a small area and leaving it a few weeks/months to monitor the effects. Bricks, as you probably know, don't like anything to upset their pH.
I must point out that this advice is from a relentless fiddler, who can't resist experimenting. :wink:
Lady_Mari
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- 77
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- Up a hill in Suffolk
We had a problem removing lichen from rough rendered walls prior to repainting them one year. We tried various proprietary treatments without success, in the end we borrowed a steam pressure washer that did the trick.
The lichen was greyish white in colour & some of it had a yellow bloom.
The lichen was greyish white in colour & some of it had a yellow bloom.
Raylea
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- Weeley, Essex
Hi,
The darker stuff that is more around the pointing looks like moss and looks like you could remove it with you finger running across and the white is lichen. If it is moss I would try to get rid because it holds moisture to the brick work, I wander if you could try a wire brush, but very gentle and avoid if it starts harming brick work.
Raylea
The darker stuff that is more around the pointing looks like moss and looks like you could remove it with you finger running across and the white is lichen. If it is moss I would try to get rid because it holds moisture to the brick work, I wander if you could try a wire brush, but very gentle and avoid if it starts harming brick work.
Raylea