Houses turned white

[dishman]

Further question. If this is caused by high salt content within the bricks, which I assume is due to the manufacturing process or the sourcing of the materials used, surely there is some form of quality control that can reduce said salt content....

 

[JohnD]

there are minerals in the sand. There are solubles in the cement. There is lime in the water. The bricks are very unlikely to be a major factor.

 

[^woody^]

The bricks are very unlikely to be a major factor.

Are you sure? those bricks look pretty white to me.

You seem to be confusing this with lime staining, or just dont know the difference?

 

[^woody^]

Further question. If this is caused by high salt content within the bricks, which I assume is due to the manufacturing process or the sourcing of the materials used, surely there is some form of quality control that can reduce said salt content....

It's officially a phenomenon. Although clays are selected on their soluable salt content, there are several factors which can cause or aggravate the salt to make it appear on the face of the wall. So the same brick with the same salts could effloresce or not depending on things such as how it was stored, how it was laid and how it is exposed. The mortar can also play a part.