please help

[gordh19]

i have no idea what is going on with the brick on my house. Just bought my first house last August. The bricks near my concrete step get a weird white substance on them. First noticed it when it was -40 C but some has remained. this is on the south side of the house.

have a look at the pics and please help
it is not ice or frost, it is dry to the touch but does not flake or rub off

[HayZee518]

white powder

compounds used to melt ice such as calcium chloride or sodium chloride [salt] may be culprit. with some wind the substance could blow on the bricks and dry out. have you tried pressure washing the brick? use plain water.

[gordh19]

wait and see

gave it a wash and scrub with brush, will see what happens.
your esxplanation is entirley possible as i have salted the hell out of those steps all winter.

[mrcaptainbob]

Discolored bricks...

I frequently pass by a house that was refurbished a few years ago. The entire outside was redone. Nice, new brick on all walls, new metal roof, too. The inside is not finished and the house has not been lived in for at least four years. This year there is a white coating in places, similar to your pictures. Strange how it showed up in splotches. Even as high as the second floor.

[Nestor]

It's called "efflorescence"

GordH:

What you have is a case of "efflorescence" caused by warm moist air from inside the house getting into the brick wall and forming frost. As that frost melts, the melt water is partially absorbed by the bricks. The water migrates through the brick dissolving clays and minerals from the brick as it passes through the brick(s).

When that water reaches the surface of the brick, the water evaporates, leaving the clays behind as a white deposit called "efflorescence".

Efflorescence doesn't really do any harm, but it does indicate that warm moist air is entering the wall at some point on the other side of the wall where you see that efflorescence. Look for an electrical outlet or perhaps a baseboard in that area where you need to seal off warm air flow into the exterior wall.

Since the efflorescence consists of water soluble clays and minerals deposited as a salt on the exterior of the brick, you can clean the efflorescence off with water, or just let the rain do it.

If you have a basement, also check to make sure warm moist air from the basement isn't getting into the exterior walls from there. If necessary, get some plastic bags, fill them with pieces of fiberglass batt insulation and stuff them between the joists in your basement on that side of the house to act as both a vapour barrier and insulation. The vapour barrier afforded by the plastic bags the insulation is packed in will help prevent the migration of warm moist air into the exterior wall in that area.

[homemaker]

I wish I can help . I had bit same problem but I have hired a person who solve my problem :

[gordh19]

well please let me know how it goes and what they do to fix the situation.

Thanks