Mortar haze, stucco splatter, paint overspray, sticker adhesive, and red clay ground into concrete that was poured three weeks ago. Some of it washes off, some needs acid, and some of it is permanent.
A house that has just been built has been a worksite for months. Every trade that came through left something behind, and none of it is the kind of dirt a normal wash is designed for. Weather deposits sit on a surface. Construction residue is bonded to it.
Around Flowers Plantation, Archers Lodge, Corinth Holders, and Wilsons Mills there is a lot of this work, and the pattern is consistent: the buyer walks the house, sees a haze on the brick and specks on the windows, assumes it will wash off, and finds out at the twelve-month mark that two of the six problems are now permanent.
| What it is | Where you find it | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Mortar haze and smears | Brick and stone, worst at ground level and around openings | A masonry cleaner, usually acidic, applied and neutralized. Not pressure. Fresh haze comes off readily and cured smears fight back. |
| Stucco and joint compound splatter | Concrete, windows, siding below a stucco elevation | Softening and mechanical removal. It looks like paint and behaves like thin concrete. |
| Paint overspray | Glass, hardware, brick, concrete, and gutters | Solvent and a blade on glass, solvent alone elsewhere. On glass this is time sensitive. |
| Sticker and label adhesive | Windows, appliances, tubs, glass doors | Adhesive remover and patience. Do not use a blade on a coated pane. |
| Caulk and sealant smears | Trim, siding joints, window frames | Solvent matched to the sealant. Silicone and latex want different products. |
| Red clay in new concrete | Driveways, walkways, garage aprons | A dedicated clay and rust product. Clay in fresh concrete goes deeper than it does in cured concrete. |
| Cement slurry and drips | Driveway, walkway, brick below the mortar line | Acid, carefully, and on fresh concrete this is a judgment call about doing more harm than good. |
| Sawdust, drywall dust, and general film | Everything, including gutters and window tracks | Ordinary washing. This is the easy part and it is what most people think the whole job is. |
| Nails, screws, and offcuts in the gutters | Gutter troughs and downspouts | Hand clearing. Metal debris in a gutter rusts and stains the face of it from inside. |
A slab poured a few weeks ago is not the same material as a slab poured ten years ago, and treating it the same way is the most common mistake on a new build.
If red clay has already gone into a new slab, it is worth treating sooner rather than later. Clay bonds to the open pore structure of fresh concrete and the longer it has, the deeper it sits.
Before anybody cleans anything. Overspray on a window and a mortar smear on brick are punch list items if you catch them and yours if you do not. A cleaner cannot tell the builder what was there.
Offcuts, nails, wrappers, and shingle grit come out of the troughs first, because everything you do below this point gets rinsed by whatever is still up there.
Mortar work comes before glass, because masonry cleaner and rinse water go down the wall and across the windows.
A standard soft wash for the construction film, plus specific attention to any splatter.
Overspray, adhesive, and the film left by everything above. Screens come out and get done flat.
Lower pressure than you would use on a cured slab, clay and rust treated with product rather than force, and no sealer for at least a month.
Builders do a final clean, and the quality of it varies enormously. What a final clean usually covers is the interior and the obvious: a sweep, the stickers off the main windows, a rinse of the driveway. What it usually does not cover is mortar haze on brick, overspray on the less obvious glass, clay already in the concrete, and the gutters.
Two practical points. Anything you find inside the warranty period is worth raising before you pay someone else to fix it, because it may be the builder obligation. And anything time sensitive, meaning overspray on glass and mortar on brick, is worth handling quickly even if you are still arguing about who pays, because the argument will outlast the window in which it comes off easily.
We do post-construction cleanup for builders and general contractors across Johnston and Wake County, and the useful version is being on site at the right moment rather than at the end. Masonry cleaning goes best within a short window of the brick going up. Glass wants doing after the painters and before the walkthrough. Concrete wants doing after the last truck has been on it.
For a run of houses, one crew scheduled against the build calendar is a great deal less trouble than a different sub for each trade. We also handle commercial and multi-unit handovers the same way.
If you have just closed on a new build, the best time is now, before furniture goes in and before the first heavy rain drives clay into the slab. Tell us the pour date on the driveway when you call, because that determines how gently the concrete gets treated and whether sealing is even on the table yet.
Call (919) 698-3669, or send photos of the brick at ground level, one window, and the driveway, and we can tell you which of the six problems you actually have.
“Long driveway with years of clay stains. It came out even end to end with no stripes anywhere.”
“Did a great job on our pavers and driveway. Got out sap and pollen I did not think would ever come up.”
“One of the most professional and organized companies I have worked with. Driveway looks incredible.”
Everything on the outside of a building, what method each surface actually wants, how often it needs doing, and the handful nobody thinks about until something fails.
Read the guide →WindowsMost of what people call dirty glass is three different problems with three different fixes, and one of them permanently etches the pane if you leave it long enough.
Read the guide →GuttersA pressure washer empties a gutter fast, which is exactly why people try it. It also dents the trough, drives water behind the fascia, and packs the downspout tighter than it was.
Read the guide →We fly the roofline and show you the footage on the spot. You see your own gutters, joints, and downspouts on the screen instead of taking our word for it. It costs nothing and you are not committing to the cleaning.
Free for homes and businesses across the Triangle and Johnston County. No obligation to book any work afterwards.
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