...any experience with Fog Coat (stucco?)

[21bla...@gmail.com]

my mother is interested in Fog Coat,
some kind of stucco paint (I believe),
instead of a regular house re-painting

the difference seems to be,
is that the Fog Coat is porous, or breathes,
and a regular painting seals the old stucco

pros & cons anyone?

thanks
marc

[Oren]

"Fog Coat is a spray-applied Portland cement coating which cures to
become an integral part of the stucco surface to which it is applied."

"Ceramic coatings are acrylic paints with ceramic microspheres."

Three sides of my house have the original house paint on the 3-coat
stucco. The paint is elastomeric acrylic latex.

Seems all the above are allowed to breathe. The house construction
allows for ventilation behind the walls (weep screed) Mojave Desert.

I'd paint, but where is this house?

[21bla...@gmail.com]

5 miles inland, from Laguna Beach, California

marc

[Oren]

Paint it.

In Las Vegas I use this:

BEHR PREMIUM� Elastomeric Masonry, Stucco & Brick Paint

Spray it one.

[nestork]

Marc:

Coatings are said to "breathe" when they allow individual water
molecules to pass through the coating, but not liquid water. The
coating does not need to be nearly as porous as concrete to "breathe".
All latex paints breathe, and the reason why is that the acrylic resins
used to make latex paints consists of a very long molecule scrunched up
to form a ball. Imagine a long wire being scrunched up to form a ball.
No matter how tightly you scrunch that wire, there will always be tiny
gaps between the segments of wire through which a fine enough powder
would pass. In the same way, individual H2O molecules will pass through
the spaces between sections of the same acrylic molecule in an acrylic
resin. However, those gaps are smaller than the distance between H2O
molecules in liquid water, and so individual H2O molecules can pass
through the paint, but not liquid water.

Where I live, warm moist air will pass through holes in the interior
drywall (like at light fixture electrical boxes, electrical outlets and
light switches) and form frost in the winter inside the exterior walls
of buildings. Come spring, that frost melts, and there will be water
inside the walls of the building. It's the latex paint on the exterior
siding or stucco of the building that allows that water to evaporate
through the wall. If there were an oil based paint on the exterior of
the house, that water could only evaporate to the interior of the
house.

Exterior house wraps, like Tyvek, are make of a plastic that's the same
way as latex paint in that it'll allow individual H2O molecules to pass
through it, but not liquid water.

So, if this "breathability" issue is a big selling point with your
mother, tell her every single latex paint in the world also breathes,
and those that breathe the best are marketed as "masonary" paints
because they significantly reduce freeze thaw damage in masonary walls
by allowing any liquid water inside the masonary to evaporate through
the masonary paint.

Ceramic microspheres ARE used in house paints to improve both
scrubbability and stain resistance. The ceramic microspheres perform
the same function as extender pigments. That is, they make the paint
film dry to a rougher surface finish, and thereby lower it's gloss.

This Home Hardware paint:

'Home Hardware - 850mL Clear Base Suede Finish Interior Latex Paint'
(http://tinyurl.com/nmkcqcd)

uses ceramic microspheres as extender pigments. On that web site it
says:

"CERAMIC MICROSPHERES Provides a tough ceramic-like finish, for a
beautiful smooth coating that is superior in stain resistance"

In my humble opinion, I don't see any advantage in using a portland
cement based product instead of an exterior latex paint on your mother's
house.

http://tinyurl.com/oxp6ubx




--
nestork

[21bla...@gmail.com]

thanks all, for the feedback

another question comes to mind,
with paint vs fog coat(or similar) - repainting

is there much difference in the repainting time intervals?
or, does one last much longer than the other?

this particular house is about 25 yrs old, never repainted

thanks
marc

[Oren]

I'm only familiar with painted stucco and not some fancy coating. My
house is still original stucco paint ~ 16 years old.

If you have it cleaned properly first and then painted, Mom should get
another 25 years from hers?

The trick, like all paint jobs, is the preparation of the surface.
Make any repairs necessary; then clean it thoroughly.

[nestork]

Well, the Fog-whatever cement coating would likely be thicker, but paint
is a widely used product and is known to be a reliable coating. You
don't have to worry about surprises when you paint as you might have to
with new products that don't have a 50 year track record.

Also, lemme preface by saying that my building is brick veneer and so I
don't have much experience with stucco. But I'll tell you what I do
know...

Maybe wet the stucco on your mother's house and see if it gets darker as
the water is drawn into the stucco. If so, then it's not painted and
what you have is tinted stucco. Confirm by scratching away at a small
1/4 inch square patch and wetting both that area and the surrounding
square inch with water to confirm they're the same colour.

Where I live, if you buy a 5 gallon pail of stucco, the distributor will
tint it to the colour of your choice in the same way a paint store will
tint the paint you buy. If what you have now is tinted stucco, then the
stucco is the same colour all the way through and it should last
indefinitely. There shouldn't be any need to repaint tinted stucco
unless you don't like the colour.

In that case, maybe all you need to do is repaint any wood on the
exterior of your mother's house; like window frames and door casings.
If the stucco is tinted, the only reason you'd want to paint over it is
to change the colour. I know more about paint and little about stucco,
but I see no point in painting a tinted stucco the same colour.

And, of course, a tinted stucco is going to last longer than paint
because of the much greater film thickness. Stucco is a masonary
material and is unaffected by UV light from the Sun and once it's cured,
isn't affected by moisture. That makes it a lot more durable than
paint.

If you have tinted stucco, I'd talk to a stucco contractor about
cleaning stucco. Maybe you can just pressure wash the stucco to give it
a face lift instead of painting over it. I don't know if pressure
washing is likely to harm stucco or not. Just thinking out loud here.




--
nestork

[Oren]

Points taken. Yes a pressure washer can harm the stucco. We do not
know the texture the OP has or even if it is stucco with a dye, not
paint.

TSP (red box) is a good cleaner, so is bleach to kill algae in shaded
areas of the wall. Scrub it and power wash judiciously - top to
bottom. It would need a few days drying time before any paint.

OP: photo links would help.

[nestork]

'Oren[_2_ Wrote:
>
> TSP (red box) is a good cleaner, so is bleach to kill algae in shaded
> areas of the wall. Scrub it and power wash judiciously - top to
> bottom.
>

With proper respect for Oren's knowledge and experience, I have to
disagree on that point.

TSP has more misconceptions surrounding it than any other product I can
think of. KILZ alkyd primer would be a close second, tho.

TSP has the unique ability to dull the gloss of drying oil type paints,
like the old linseed oil based paints (and Tung oil based varnishes)
that were still commonly available up to the mid 1980's. So, back in
the 60's and 70's, it was common practice for people to clean walls with
TSP because doing that would dull the gloss of the old paint, making for
a rougher surface on the old paint. Since roughening the old paint
effectively increases it's surface area, cleaning with TSP would improve
the apparant adhesion of the new paint to the old. (Same adhesive force
per square inch times more square inches of contact area equals better
apparant adhesion.)

Unfortunately, the subject of painting really isn't taught anywhere, and
so as latex paints replaced linseed oil based paints as the interior or
exterior paint of choice, people continued to use TSP to clean walls
prior to repainting them. And, that was mostly because no one ever told
them not to because TSP didn;t have any effect at all on latex paints.
In fact, even now there are people working in paint stores that
recommend cleaning with TSP before repainting, and they won't even ask
if the surface you're cleaning is painted with a drying oil based paint
or not.
There simply is no advantage in using TSP as a cleaner unless you're
cleaning a surface painted with a drying oil based paint or varnish.

If the surface you intend to paint is anything else, then the work
you're putting into cleaning prior to painting is largely wasted unless
you're using an effective cleaner, and TSP just isn't a good cleaner for
cleaning anything. You can buy better general purpose cleaners in any
grocery store; Mr. Clean and Fantastik being good examples.

But, since people would prefer that the universe make sense to them, in
the absence of any observable effect that TSP had on latex paints, there
had to be SOME reason for people to be recommending TSP as the cleaner
to use before repainting, and I suspect that's how the misconception
that TSP is an excellent "degreaser" came into existance. I have tried
using TSP to clean greasy cooking residue off of a stove cooktop, and it
just doesn't cut cooking grease hardly at all. It's a lousy degreaser,
and I've never found TSP to be a good cleaner when trying to clean up
anything. It's just not good for anything except dulling the gloss of
linseed oil based paints and Tung oil based varnishes.

So, it's really time to straighten this whole TSP confusion out. The
ONLY time it makes sense to use TSP as a cleaner is if you're cleaning a
wall painted with an old linseed oil based paint prior to repainting it
or cleaning old varnish prior to applying new varnish. Any other time,
it makes more sense to use a better detergent so that you end up with a
cleaner wall prior to repainting.

Given that the dirt that's going to settle on stucco is just common
airborne stuff like road dust from gravel roads and mold spores, I think
I'd just use any general all purpose cleaner like Mr. Clean or Fantastic
to clean the stucco. I'd just spray diluted detergent onto the stucco
with a garden sprayer, scrub with a soft bristle push broom to loosen up
the dry dirt and rinse off the stucco with a garden hose. I agree with
Oren that you could potentially damage the stucco with a pressure
washer, and you don't need 1200 psi of water pressure to remove loose
dirt from stucco anyhow.




--
nestork

[Oren]

Tell us when you know stucco: cleaning, preparation and painting. I
would never live in Canada.

BTW, who puts oil based paint of stucco?

[nestork]

'Oren[_2_ Wrote:
> ;3066471']Tell us when you know stucco: cleaning, preparation and

> painting. I
> would never live in Canada.
>
> BTW, who puts oil based paint of stucco?

Oren:

We each have different opinions because we've each had different
experiences, and we each go according to our own experience.

So, we have to be able to disagree with each other in here in order to
each give the OP our best advice.

The OP is going to realize that different people will often have
different opinions. What's important is that he understands the reasons
behind those opinions well enough to walk away with enough knowledge to
form his own opinions. That way, he's comfortable in making his own
decisions.

But, part of that process is always going to be some level of
disagreement amongst the people posting in here because we all have
different experiences that have shaped our opinions.


And, yes, I would like to live in a milder climate, but it's my fate to
have been born in Canada.




--
nestork

[Robert Macy]

What cleaner do you recommend to remove that 'kitchen' residue of
cooking grease film? That stuff seems to only scrape off. On another
note, I'm trying to get that type of grease film [not kitchen origin,
but feels and acts like cooking grease film] off the aluminum fan
blades. I found lighter fluid seems to work, albeit a bit dangerous. I
need something that flushes/rinses it off without requiring
mechanically scrubbing it off. And, Walmart Window Cleaner, almost
works.But is labour intensive.

[Oren]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 01:50:29 +0200, nestork
<nestork...@diybanter.com> wrote:

>
>'Oren[_2_ Wrote:
>> ;3066471']Tell us when you know stucco: cleaning, preparation and
>> painting. I
>> would never live in Canada.
>>
>> BTW, who puts oil based paint of stucco?
>
>Oren:
>
>We each have different opinions because we've each had different
>experiences, and we each go according to our own experience.
>
>So, we have to be able to disagree with each other in here in order to
>each give the OP our best advice.
>
>The OP is going to realize that different people will often have
>different opinions. What's important is that he understands the reasons
>behind those opinions well enough to walk away with enough knowledge to
>form his own opinions. That way, he's comfortable in making his own
>decisions.
>
>But, part of that process is always going to be some level of
>disagreement amongst the people posting in here because we all have
>different experiences that have shaped our opinions.
>
>

I saw no disagreement. Honestly, I've not seen stucco painted with oil
based paint. Only what I mentioned before.

>And, yes, I would like to live in a milder climate, but it's my fate to
>have been born in Canada.

...well, Bless your heart!

[nestork]

'Robert Macy[_2_ Wrote:
> ;3066829']

> What cleaner do you recommend to remove that 'kitchen' residue of
> cooking grease film? That stuff seems to only scrape off. On another
> note, I'm trying to get that type of grease film [not kitchen origin,
> but feels and acts like cooking grease film] off the aluminum fan
> blades. I found lighter fluid seems to work, albeit a bit dangerous. I
> need something that flushes/rinses it off without requiring
> mechanically scrubbing it off. And, Walmart Window Cleaner, almost
> works.But is labour intensive.

Robert:

If you're removing hard and black baked on grease spatter from an oven,
the fastest and most effective way I've found to remove it is by letting
oven cleaner soak into it and then scraping it off the smooth surfaces
of the oven with a razor scraper like this one:

[image: http://paceperformance.com/images/F30824404.jpg]

On the side walls of the oven which aren't flat, I've found that a green
Scotchbrite pad (like those solid in grocery stores for scouring pots)
works the best, but it's still a lot more work than scraping with a
razor. (A sharp paint scraper can also be used on the flat surfaces
too, but you don't want to apply much pressure; only enough to get the
black residue off.)

If the grease isn't baked until it's hard and black, then both oven
cleaner and dish washing detergent should work OK.

NEVER use oven cleaner on aluminum because it will dissolve the aluminum
and make it rough.

On my aluminum bathroom fan impellers, I use Simple Green.

I'm always cleaning dirty drip pans from stoves and bathroom fan
impellers, and so I have a pail that's large enough to accomodate each.
I leave the drip pans soaking in oven cleaner overnight and then scrape
any black baked on cooking residue off them with a curved artist's
spatula similar to this one:

[image:
http://cdn1.image-tmart.com/prodimgs/2/22001333/Portable-Artist-Painting-Palette-Knife-Spatula_320x320.jpg?1352166826]

For bathroom (and kitchen) ceiling fan impellers, I soak the imeller in
a small bucket with 50/50 mixture of Simple Green and water in it for a
half hour or so, and then clean it with a denture brush, like this:

[image: http://www.easycomforts.com/easycomforts/images/p336618b.jpg]

..which you can buy at any pharmacy or pharmacy section of any Wal-Mart
or supermarket.

But, you need to understand that unless you're dissolving the dirt with
a solvent of some sort, SCRUBBING is an essential part of cleaning.
Scrubbing mixes the detergent in with the soil so that when you add
water, tiny globules of soil (called "micelles") form with soap
molecules at their surface. It's the soap molecules affinity for water
that keeps those tiny blobs of soil suspended in the cleaning water and
prevents the soil from becoming redeposited on the surface you're trying
to clean. You can't clean effectively with a detergent of any kind
unless you scrub to mix the detergent into the soil you're trying to
remove.

I do a lot of cleaning up after tenants in my building, and the above is
what I've found seems to work well for me.




--
nestork

[21bla...@gmail.com]

thanks all,

here's the house [hope the Imgur link works]

http://imgur.com/kT3GUb6

does that black stuff need to be cleaned off, or does painting cover it?

marc

[Oren]

Dang right it needs to come off. First. What is it? Is this the north
side of the house?

Brush some bleach water on it and report back.

Worse case, a leak has caused mold in the walls, behind the stucco.
What kind of plumbing pipes ... copper, PEX...etc?

Lord forbid I should mention TSP & bleach in water as a first try to
clean stucco. Oh my!

[21bla...@gmail.com]

that's the West side, and it looks very similar on the East side

my guess is the rain hits dirt, and splashes up onto the house,
but i could be wrong

no plumbing at all on that side of house

will try a bleach water solution

marc

[21bla...@gmail.com]

here's the East side

http://imgur.com/NnsgChS

you can see similar black far back on the bottom -
BUT the black on the chimney is a mystery to me

marc

[nestork]

Marc:

Was that concrete walkway just placed recently? I expect so because the
dirt on the house is worse than that on the stucco on the other side of
the walkway.

That black stuff is ordinary mud from the ground across the walkway. If
you look at any house or building that has a flower bed right right
beside the building, you'll see that black soil on the first two feet
above the ground.

What happens is that the wind whips up the loose soil and deposits it on
the building, or the rain causes droplets of dirty ground water to
become airborne, and the wind then deposits those droplets onto the
surroundings, causing them to turn black. Grass in that area would
prevent that from happening.

You're probably just getting mostly weeds growing on the other side of
the walk way because the area is always in the shade from surrounding
buildings, and so if it wuz me, I would remove everything growing there
and just put down landscaping bark, landscaping rock or anything else
that will prevent the mud from spreading onto the surrounding sidewalks
and buildings. Inquire further, but I don't think even shade grass
would grow well with that much shade. If shade grass will, then plant
shade grass there.

To clean it off, I'd just dilute some acidic cleaner like CLR or
Limeaway 50/50 with water and use that to remove the dirt and the top
thousandths of an inch of stucco. Just get a nylon bristle scrub brush
and wear rubber gloves on your hands. Afterward, rinse off the dilute
acid with a garden hose. If you plant shade grass or cover up that bare
mud on the opposite side of the walkway with landscaping bark or rocks
that black stain shouldn't come back.

I expect that yellowish discolouration is mold or mineral deposits from
the soil causing a stain. If dilute acid doesn't take it off, try
bleach. But, in my opinion, that stucco seems to be in reasonable
shape, and I'd be inclined to just clean it rather than paint it.




--
nestork

[Oren]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 11:27:07 -0700 (PDT), 21bla...@gmail.com wrote:

>On Thursday, May 23, 2013 9:52:26 AM UTC-8, Oren wrote:
>> On Thu, 23 May 2013 10:17:28 -0700 (PDT), 21bla...@gmail.com wrote:

...

>my guess is the rain hits dirt, and splashes up onto the house,
>but i could be wrong

I see no dirt, at least none on the walkway.

>
>no plumbing at all on that side of house
>

Whew! What are the dark spots on the stucco above the left window, on
the top stucco / foam pop-outs around the widows.? Has someone looked
in the attic for a leak? Do not yet rule out water damage, just
saying'.

It may just be something from a large tree (shade)

>will try a bleach water solution
>
>marc

http://i.imgur.com/kT3GUb6.jpg

Try bleach on both... shady sides?!

http://i.imgur.com/NnsgChS.jpg

Dirt will not bounce that high on a gas faux fire place insert
(stucco) chimney.

I see no dirt there on the ground, either.

[Oren]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 20:56:31 +0200, nestork
<nestork...@diybanter.com> wrote:

>
>
>That black stuff is ordinary mud from the ground across the walkway.

Mud can't jump this high.

<http://imgur.com/NnsgChS>

His other opposite wall.

[nestork]

The black stuff on the chimney looks to me like soot. I don't have any
experience with leaking chimneys, but I'd be concerned that there may be
flue gas leaking out of your chimney at or just below ground level on
that side. Would there be any kids or homeless people hanging around
that place at night that might be starting fires there. If not, I'd dig
down on that side of the chimney and see if the flue gas is leaking out
of the chimney just below ground level.

The flue gas from you gas fired water heater, furnace or boiler won't
enter the chimney at the bottom. Instead, it'll enter the chimney about
2 or 3 feet above the bottom of the chimney, and there will be a "clean
out" cover you can remove to remove anything that falls into the chimney
and drops to the bottom. They do that PRECISELY SO THAT things that
fall into the chimney (like bricks, dead vegetation and birds) don't
plug up the chimney and create a dangerous situation.

I'm concerned that your chimney may be plugged, and that your flue gas
is leaking out the side of it instead of drafting up the chimney. Do
this: Remove the clean out cover below where the duct from your gas
water heater, furnace or boiler connects to the chimney and stick a
mirror in there. Angle the mirror so that you can see up the chimney
and see if you can see the "light at the end of the tunnel". If so,
that's the sky and it means your chimney is clear.

If, when you remove the clean out cover, you see that the bottom of the
chimney is plugged up with stuff (like sand or even pieces of brick and
mortar), then you've got a dangerous situation there because it could be
that the side of your chimney has collapsed inward and is plugging the
bottom. You need to check for that "light at the end of the tunnel"
ASAP to ensure that flue gas can draft up the chimney normally.

There seems to be a small plastic box of some sort inside that sooted up
area on the wall. Was that added recently?

In your yellow pages under "masonary contractors" you should find some
bricklayers that specialize in rebuilding chimneys because they do need
periodic maintenance. I'd e-mail that same picture to some bricklayers
that specialize in chimneys and see if they agree that black stuff looks
like soot from a leaking chimney.

Besides finding out if your chimney is leaking, I'd try cleaning that
black stuff off with bleach first cuz there is a chance it could be
mold. However, it looks very much like soot to me, and immediately
after having that chimney fixed, I'd clean the discoloured stucco with
diluted acid as well. The acid won't dissolve soot, but it will
dissolve the surface layer of stucco that the soot is sticking to,
allowing much of that soot to be released into your cleaning solution.
Maybe try scrubing much of it off with a stiff plastic bristle brush
first.




--
nestork

[Oren]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 23:50:50 +0200, nestork
<nestork...@diybanter.com> wrote:

>I'm concerned that your chimney may be plugged, and that your flue gas
>is leaking out the side of it instead of drafting up the chimney.

How so? This is a heat source used in emergencies, not as a routine
home heating idea. OP can tell us.

It ain' no stinkin soot. that rose onto the chimney on one side and
not the other.

You went from mud to soot.

[21bla...@gmail.com]

i don't think it's soot either

here's the other side [of the rarely used chimney]
way down there at the end

http://imgur.com/z68U1vl

i tried some diluted lime away, and although it's a little better,
it's going to take alot of scrubbing.
Will try bleach water next

thanks
marc

[nestork]

The reason why a blocked chimney is dangerous is because if the flue gas
isn't drafting up the chimney, then there it may not be being removed
from the house, and it might be accumulating in the house. In that
case, where a flame is starved of oxygen, then instead of the fuel
burning to form CO2, it'll keep burning, but producing more and more
carbon monoxide gas instead. And, carbon monoxide is a colourless
odorless gas that's poisonous. It kills by attaching itself to the red
blood cells in your blood, making them unable to carry oxygen, and the
person effectively suffocates. It takes a long time for the body to
make new red blood cells, so if a person is unconsious from inhaling too
much CO, they're likely going to suffocate anyway even if they've
already been removed from the CO-rich environment.

OK, I looked at this picture: http://imgur.com/z68U1vl

And I don't see anything in it to indicate the black discolouration up
the side of the chimney is NOT soot. In fact, if the ground has settled
under that concrete walkway, much of that black stuff on the wall COULD
BE soot too.

And I disagree that this chimney is rarely used, even if this house is
in Equador. If you've got a gas fired hot water heater, then the flue
gas from that heater almost certainly goes up this chimney.

Marc:
Before you do anything else, go down into the basement and take the
clean out cover off the wall to gain access to the bottom of the
chimney. Stick your mirror in and confirm that the chimney IS CLEAR.
We can talk about what that black stuff is and how to clean it off the
stucco later. If your chimney is blocked, then you don't want to be
using it at all, and that very well MIGHT mean shutting your gas fired
water heater off, and that means cold showers until this problem is
fixed.




--
nestork

[21bla...@gmail.com]

no basement

the water heater is in the garage, far far away

a large space heater vent is below the window in this picture
[you can zoom in, by clicking twice on these photos]

i will check out the chimney though, it does sound important

my mother just bought a CO alarm, yet to be installed

thanks
marc

[nestork]

21bla...@gmail.com;3067138 Wrote:
>
> no basement
>
> the water heater is in the garage, far far away
>
> a large space heater vent is below the window in this picture
> [you can zoom in, by clicking twice on these photos]
>
> i will check out the chimney though, it does sound important
>
> my mother just bought a CO alarm, yet to be installed
>
> thanks
> marc

Marc: you say that large sheet metal hood below the window is a vent
for the space heater. Where I live, flue vents would never be allowed
within a few feet of a window like that because of the possibility of
flue gas being sucked in through the open window (if the clothes dryer
was also running, say). Is that vent an air INTAKE vent? If so, where
does the flue from the space heater exit the house?

Or, does the space heater use indoor air for combustion and actually
exhaust through that vent under the window?

You'd do well to remove any pavers at the base of the discoloured area
on the side of the chimney (where that electrical cable is) and check to
ensure there's no holes where flue gas can be getting out there.

The electrical cable in that photo and what appears to be a plastic box
of some sort mounted on the wall aren't discoloured. Do you know if
these were added recently? What I'm thinking is that perhaps before the
cable and plastic box were there, some homeless people used that
location to have a fire to keep themselves warm at night, and the black
discolouration on the stucco is a soot from their fires? Has your
mother owned this house for long and has this black discolouration shown
up recently? Maybe some neighborhood kids have been sniffing gasoline,
and decided to set some of it on fire there (?)

If the space heater doesn't send it's flue up that chimney, and the gas
fired water heater is in the garage, and there's no other gas burning
appliances putting flue gas up that chimney, then I have no clue what
that black discolouration is. I looks very much like soot to me. If
bleach doesn't remove it, then it's not mildew or mold, so it's not
living. It's too high up the wall to be mud. And, it looks for all the
world like soot.

So, I think it's soot, but if it didn't come from the space heater, it
must have been from an outdoor fire.

Try bleach straight out of the jug on it and see if it does anything to
that black stuff. If it doesn't then we're sure it's not alive.




--
nestork

[21bla...@gmail.com]

> you say that large sheet metal hood below the window is a vent
>for the space heater.

i was just guessing, looking at the photo

you're right, it doesn't make any sense

we all make mistakes

marc

[Oren]

The vent below the windows is MOST likely a clothes dryer exhaust
vent.

nestrok,

Given the location of the OP, framed and stucco house, this is not a
typical fireplace that you would see in other parts of the country.
The chimney is not constructed of bricks, etc.

The chimney is framed lumber with a gas fire place "insert". They are
seldom used in the desert, except for emergencies (long lasting power
outage, etc.) or ambiance for romance <G>.

Here are a couple of photos for examples of how they are built.

Interior framing (outside would be similar:

<http://www.jmeissner.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/FireplaceConst.jmeissner.com_.png>

The insert uses a metal flue, some have a power vent.

<http://www.brick-anew.com/skin1/images/fireplace_blower_disperses.jpg>

Water heaters are typically located in the garage with the flue
through the ceiling and roof. Separate from this insert flue.

IMHO, this is not soot.

[21bla...@gmail.com]

actually, I made [another] mistake -
that IS the vent for the gas space heater.
It's NOT below the window:
if you zoom in from this angle, you can see it better...

http://imgur.com/NnsgChS

it's in a closet, in that bedroom, not below the window

sorry
marc

[Oren]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 16:08:01 -0700 (PDT), 21bla...@gmail.com wrote:

>i don't think it's soot either
>
>here's the other side [of the rarely used chimney]
>way down there at the end
>
>http://imgur.com/z68U1vl
>

There sure is a lack of sunshine between those two houses. What are
the 6-7 feet apart? Most likely this is some type of growth. Even on
the sidewalk, but not wear the rain hits next to the house. That area
is cleaner.

>i tried some diluted lime away, and although it's a little better,
>it's going to take alot of scrubbing.
>Will try bleach water next
>

Go heavy on the bleach and use a nylon hand brush. Clean a small area,
then post a link to show use the results. If it works, I'd use a
garden sprayer and soak the wall top to bottom. Then gently wash with
a power washer.

>thanks
>marc

We can later talk about TSP as a cleaner :-\

[Oren]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 18:52:36 -0700 (PDT), 21bla...@gmail.com wrote:

>i will check out the chimney though, it does sound important
>

Marc,

Please clarify if this a gas fireplace insert and not a real fire
place. I cannot imagine Laguna Beach (?) would allow the burning of
wood.

>my mother just bought a CO alarm, yet to be installed
>

An additional measure is to turn off the gas valve for the faux fire
place. They are seldom used around here for heating purposes. Then in
some rare emergency.

>thanks
>marc