No More Nails Nightmare

[overlandrover]

Well, I say No More Nails, but this particular adhesive is still quite flexible - Plastic Padding, perhaps?

Anyway, the problem here is that the previous residents bonded nine lettered tiles to the brickwork, spelling out the name of the house.

After much effort we managed to chip off the tiles to make way for a new sign which we will secure using screws!

The new sign is smaller than the band of tiles, and there is a line of white rubbery blobs on the brickwork that we can't get off. Brick acid didn't work, and it's going to take a month of Sundays to pick at it with a small knife. Using a wire brush is going to scar the bricks and look unsightly. And painting over the front to the house is NOT an option.

Is there any environmentally unfriendly solvent that can eat through this stuff, preserving the bricks beneath? I've read that turps will help to remove freshly applied glue, but this stuff has been on for years.

Thanks again in advance.

 

[noseall]

was it a rubbery silicone type sealant?

 

[Ratter]

I've had some success in this type of situation by heating the adhesive gently with a blowlamp which softened it sufficiently to scrape it off.

You do have to be careful because it catches fire quite easily and burns with lots of 'orrible fumes.

 

[JohnD]

If it is white and rubbery it may well be builders silicone (used for sealing round baths, double glazing etc).

In which case you can remove it with a sealant remover.

It will probably takle several applicatrions. it makes the stuff go crumbly enough to scrape off.

 

[Richard C]

I'd go with the blowlamp!