Ivy is a resilient wall-climbing plant that can give your home that English countryside look, but it’s bad news for the structures it clings to. The plant holds moisture that is potentially damaging to your bricks and mortar and provides a place for pests. Here are a few methods for removing ivy from brick walls.
Pull and Snip
Cut the ivy at its main root points in the ground. Pull ivy away from the brick as gently as possible; pulling too hard might damage the brick and cause the vine to break. Remove as many sections of ivy as you can. The more you pull and snip the easier your work will be later.
Scraping
You can use a plastic or wooden scraper to loosen ivy stems and roots, but don’t scrape too aggressively or you’ll damage your mortar. After you’ve gotten the stem and root bits out, several hairy ivy tendrils might remain. Use a dry nylon scrub brush to remove the tendrils. If you have to move to stiffer brushes, test them out in a small area first in case they damage the brick’s surface.
Chemicals And Removing Ivy
Unfortunately, there is no magic chemical bullet for removing ivy from the brick wall. Here are a few chemicals that can help.
Sodium hypochlorite can help break down the hold ivy roots have on your brick walls. In the process, it also kills fungus and molds growing on your bricks.
Muriatic acid can work in a similar way to sodium hypochlorite. It breaks down the roots loosening the hold on the wall. Muriatic acid is very aggressive, you must do a 12-to-1 mixture with water. Not doing a 12-to-1 mix can damage your mortar. Also, wear PPE because Muriatic acid can severely harm your eyes, skin, and lungs.
Pressure Washing Ivy
Pressure washing ivy is the most aggressive way to remove it from your walls. Using the green tip on your pressure washer gun, get within 2-to-3 inches of the brick and start spraying. Be sure to pull back the tip when you go over the mortar. If you are not careful, you can cause thousands of dollars in damage and need your wall tuck pointed.
The Solution To Removing Ivy From Brick Walls…
The best way to remove ivy from brick walls is to combine all of the above steps(Do not mix chemicals).
After you have done all these steps you may still have some residual roots, but be patient. Repeating these steps after a few weeks will get the rest of the roots. Contact us if you need help removing your ivy.