Anyone had the bricks on their facade cleaned?

[lalalonglegs]

I'm thinking about having this done (three storey London terrace) but have no idea what the cost might be so was wondering if someone could give me a ballpark figure before I get some quotes and die of shock.

Good luck with that! Have tried to get quotes for a 3 bed house I own, but cannot get anyone to call me back! All the firms seem to be concentrating on the London market at present....maybe wait until no-one commissions work there any more and grab yourself a bargain!!I would also say that most sandblasting reviews/forums concentrate on how you end up compensating next door neighbours for car paintwork etc rather than the price :-(

Be careful- if it's a historic property do not get it sandblasted as you will ruin the bricks and could introduce damp.

I wouldn't say it was historic - just a fairly ordinary (and very grimy) Victorian built from London stocks.

Would echo OliviaB's warning. We have London terrace and were advised not to get bricks blast-cleaned as they then become permeable which leads to all sorts of problems with water ingress. Our builder painted them brick colour and they look fine.

I think getting the pointing redone can really smarten up brickwork but wouldn't get them sandblasted or water blasted.

I have a degree in surveying and we were taught that cleaning brick or stone often causes problems. I personally wouldn't recommend it.

Oh no - the house is almost black it's so filthy and two houses along the bricks have been cleaned and it looks lovely. I don't really want to end up with damp though, hey ho. Thanks for your thoughts.

Try Mahon Brickworks - they are really good.

You can clean it- just don't sand blast it. There are cleaning systems called joss and doff which are conservation friendly (and victorian would be classed as historic!)

Just please don't sandblast- it will ruin the bricks. Also if you do repoint, don't do it in cement, use lime mortar instead

Thanks for the information. Is repointing a given? I just want to make the house look nicer - I don't want to have the whole thing repointed too .

Not a given at all!