Brick shouldn't be sealed. In an area with freeze thaw, water gets behind the sealer and can pop off the face of the brick. It needs to "breathe" to allow water to migrate in and out of it. It's porosity is natural. So is efflorescence.

Ok. So this guy us just trying to sell me a product? He says he works with our type of brick all the time. Thanks for the explanation, Holly.

You mention mortar smears and efflorescence. Are both present on the brick? Is the efflorescence from the initial construction or later? Was the brick cleaned after construction?

Walls of the more porous kinds of bricks must be very carefully detailed and constructed so you should first determine if that happened.

The first step should be to make sure excessive water is not flowing onto the surface of the brick or directly into the cavity behind the brick and that there are adequate weep holes and they are clear.

Is there a general pattern of efflorescence like above or below openings?

agreed. Do not seal it. Sealing it would not prevent efflorescence anyway. The best prevention is the use of quality building products whos natural materails were cleaned of salts prior to production. Mortar products are most common to have some salt in them if the rock and sand was not washed prior to production. Moisture will get into your brick wall, that is the way its designed. It needs a clear, clean path to travel down the air space and drain/wick out.
Assuming your brick as been up for some time now with rain cycles, if you have not seen it yet, there is a chance you may not ever.

It is best to keep the moisture out of the brick but traditional sealants are not the answer.

You, if you decide to seal the brick, need a sealant that is breathable and will allow the moisture to dry to the outside.

We do not have efflorescence. We have mortar smears. The brick has never been cleaned, but really needs it.

Consider that by applying something to the brick you'd be creating a maintenance item, plus should you not like its properties it may not be reversible--like if it changes the appearance of the brick. Even if the effectiveness of this sealer were proven, it would be better to be able to see efflorescence, were it to occur, and know you have a problem with excessive water getting into the wall which you could address.

He suggests that the act of pressure washing the brick to remove the mortar smears will fully saturate the bricks and mortar and potentially cause mold, cracking, or other problems.

Pressure washing at a high enough pressure to remove mortar traces is likely to damage the face of the brick, and fully saturating the brick might actually cause a bloom of efflorescence.

How did they clean the sample section?

They used a brush and light water pressure. It looks really nice, actually. I'm inclined not to seal the brick, but we do need it to be cleaned. The photo shows the cleaned section.

Please do report back what happens. I am glad there is a way to clean mortar goofs off brick as we have some too. Is your brick sand faced (the kind that has sandy particles on top)?

You have chosen a beautiful brick good job you have found a way to clean it.

Carol

Glad that the gentle cleaning worked. Looks nice.

Yes, it is sand-faced. Thank you, we really love our brick, too. I can't wait to see it all clean.

If I am not mistaken a "sand faced" brick is not supposed to be pressure washed period and that the manufacturer only recommends a gentle cleaning.

Sand molded brick is different from conventional bricks. I wouldn't do anything to it without the advice of the brick manufacturer.

Removal of excess mortar has nothing to do with efflorescence so I can think of no reason to seal the brick regardless of the climate.

Hi Threeapples,

Did you get your bricks cleaned using the low pressure, pressure wash? How did it turn ou? Did you find a noticeable amount of sand coating came off? I would love an update, as we are faced with mortar goofs as well on sand molded bricks.

Carol

Hi. I have no update yet, but will surely post back when I do.