Stone retaining walls: how to clean them

Some people just don’t “realize the” prize “that is an old stone retaining wall on their property. Rather than let this piece of history deteriorate, it should be maintained or even ‘fixed’! background of an old stone retaining wall can bring the wall back to life and once again add beauty to your garden and landscape.

You have to be bad to clean! – Old stone walls have years of accumulation of soot and mold. These stains can be difficult to remove depending on how deep the mold and soot have penetrated. There may also be fungal and algae growth, as well as vines or ground cover that take root on the wall. So what to do? Well, you realize that these parasites have to go away! So let’s get out the pressure washer and get ready for cleaning!

Use a medium-size pressure washer – Pressure Washer Ready? OK okay … now … STOP !! The worst thing you can do at this point is turn on the pressure washer and blow all the joints with a high pressure spray!

Also, if you start cleaning the wall without proper soaking, it will only cause the soot on the surface to penetrate deeper into the pores of the walls by absorbing the action, making it harder to clean … so hold your horses! No … the approach that I am going to explain to you is a little more subtle and soft.

Well. Now start the cleaning process by saturating the wall first. This is achieved by gently washing the wall with a wide angle nozzle. Stand back from the wall maybe 3 ‘to 4’ and let the water flow, surround and run down the face of the wall.

Now your wall is completely soaked, allowing the detergent to penetrate deeper into the wall system, removing soot and dirt. In addition, a saturated wall will prevent the detergent from drying out prematurely, allowing it enough time to perform its function.

The trick is to use a commercial grade degreaser. – Now apply a concentrated heavy degreaser purchased from a commercial pressure cleaning supply company. Do not dilute. Pour the detergent straight from the bucket into a garden sprayer and start spraying the wall. Make sure every inch of the wall is covered and try to maintain a ‘wet look’ as you go. This degreaser will cost a few dollars, but this is not the place to skimp. If you want to clean the wall buy the degreaser … simple.

Now it looks even worse! – Ok, now the wall is soaked and degreaser applied, so what do you do? You wait That’s right … wait.

After about 10 to 15 minutes, the wall will start to turn dark amber and then a dirty brown. You will see streaks of dirt dripping down the face of the wall. The wall will look terrible and you will be worried about ruining it! That is good. As soon as you start to feel like a desperate cause and are ready to throw in the towel, you know your job is almost done.

Now that the degreaser has had a chance to work by lifting the dirt, it’s time to shake it up like a washing machine. Using your 15 degree nozzle, start hitting the wall with quick, random strokes and up and down. You are not looking to saturate the wall this time. When you see the soap suds appear from the pressure of the spray, go up and down the wall and continue along its length.

You can do this a couple of times along the wall to get the deepest cleaning possible. This agitation will dilute the degreaser to a lower viscosity and create soap bubbles that will lift soot and dirt off the surface.

Ok … now you can fly it! – After shaking up the degreaser, you can proceed to the final wall power wash step. Starting where you first applied the degreaser, place your wand about 12 “- 16” away from the face of the wall.

You clean by watching the soot rise from the wall as you move the nozzle from joint to joint and stone to stone. You will see the soot and grime disappear as you move up the wall. If a section down the road appears to be drying too quickly, shake again to keep it wet until you can get to that section.

You’ll be amazed at how quickly years of soot, grime, mold, and debris are removed. Stubborn stained areas may require another application.

When you’re done, you’ll back off in awe! That dirty old wall will look new and refreshed and your work will be complete. After all that hard work, sit back and enjoy the beauty that your restored wall provides … after all, you deserve to relax!