I have heard that there is some kind of acid you can put on the brick for the outside of the house that will make the brick look new again. The house is about 30 years old and the outside brick is looking dull, so i would like to find something that will bring back the new look. It's a red brick. Thanks Dennis

 

Brick restoration has different types of cleaning situations. Depending on the brick, they all require different responses. Some chemicals used during cleaning are highly corrosive acids (some are classified as S6 poisons).

Call a professional, you are not qualified to take this upon yourself. Not a DIY project.

 

smitty's right: bricks are cleaned with acid solutions. muriatic - the weapon of choice - is highly corrosive - especially to humans. you want to keep it away from, for example, your electrical panel ground wires.

but it's also available at any home depot. it should always be diluted with water. in the case of relatively new bricks like yours, it could be diluted as lightly as 1:4.

we use it to clean new masonry, which has mortar splats, factory "film," and occasional mineral salts on it. we dilute it using an adapter on a pressure washer.

peanut, is this a hard-fired shiny clay brick, or is it soft? are the mortar joints in good condition? is this a wainscoat veneer or a whole-house job? how much square footage are we talking about?

if it's a relatively small project, you can do it yourself with 2 buckets (one clean water, one acid solution) a water hose, and a scrub brush on a pole. be sure to have baking soda or any other heavy base nearby to mitigate spills.