Is it safe to use muriatic acid to clean mortar off of my brick patio ? Will the runoff kill the grass?
Question:I had to do some extensive mortar repairs to my brick patio, and I was somewhat sloppy about it, now I have a lot of mortar "stains" on the brick. If I use muriatic acid will it also eat the mortar in the joints? Will the runoff kill the grass? What ratio of water to acid should I use? Any help would be greatly appreciated.Thanks!
Answers:
Acid washing is about the only way to clean it up. The runoff can damage your lawn so you must flush the grass with a lots of water after you are done.
You can buy a bag of lime and throw some on the grass to help neutralize the acid. Just don't over do that or it can cause as much damage.
Use rubber gloves and a full face shield when acid washing. You really don't want to get any on you.
When I do acid washing I pour a small puddle of acid then double the puddle size with water. I use a plastic bristle push broom and work it around.
You could buy some patio cleaner. Acid is what it is, and will kill the grass, but in time it will come back. Have you tried using a bolster to remove the lumps of mortar. Then you can finish it with patio cleaner and scrubbing with a deck brush. End by using a jet spray to wash the patio down, this will also neutralize the acid in the patio cleaner.
if its not too bad mix it 75%water and 25%acid. mix it in a bucket and use a long handle acid brush, any hardware should have them...wet everything down first , then scrub with acid , then rinse thoroughly...any tough spots rub with a piece of brick and scrub again...rinse again...flood the grass with water when done...
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