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"It was the worst case of efflorescence and lime run I've seen in 20
years in the masonry-cleaning business," said Jim Staat of James G. Staat
Tuckpointing. Inc.
Mr. Staat's House Springs, Mo., company was in to clean the brand-new
gymnasium at Pacific High School in Pacific,Mo., in 1998. The smooth
orange architectural concrete block gym had lain roofless and exposed to
winter rain and snow from January to the middle of March.
"It was caked on solid," Mr. Staat recalled. "That stuff was a
quarter-inch thick in some places, inside and out."
The Staat Tuckpointing crew got to work right after the gym got its
roof. They warmed the inside walls with portable heating units, and
pre-wet them with fresh water.
Then they hit the thick white crusts with PROSOCO's Sure Klean Custom
Masonry Cleaner.
"It was a straightforward job," Mr. Staat recalled. "We just went
in with a bucket and brush and stripped the efflorescence and lime run off.
The unusual part was the amount there was to strip. We had to hit some
sections several times.
"It was impressive," he said, "the way the cleaner melted the deposits
off without hurting the masonry. The mortar joints still had their
finish after the last stain was gone."
With the inside cleaned, and the weather warming, the Staat Tuckpointing
Crew turned their attention to the outside walls. Occasional cold days
delayed but couldn't stop them. Square foot by
square foot, the workers reclaimed the
building from the crusted calcium. |
