Is it sidewalk chalk or something else? This is why some Zoetermeer facades turn white

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The time has come: after months of waiting, you have the key to your Zoetermeer (new-build) home in your hands. Then you suddenly notice that the facade is completely white. What is going on?

You can see the white result in the Oosterheem district, but also in other (new-build) homes in the city. Unfortunately, it is not good news for the residents, because it is (usually) finished flowering.

You often find it on new buildings and for good reason. Marco Geurds of Steenhandel Geurds explains: “Blooming occurs because there is moisture in the bricks. For example, because the jointing is not properly covered by the mason. The masonry contains salts that should not go to the outside of the wall, but sometimes they do. As a result, these salts bind and a white rash is formed.”

White attack on the walls

Marco explains that there are different types of flowering. In most cases, it concerns salt rash, which occurs during or shortly after construction. “If this is the case in your home, you can easily remove it with water, but the white haze often returns. It can sometimes take years to get out of the wall. So it’s quite a big problem,” says Marco. In addition to salt rash, there is also lime or plaster rash, but that is much less common.

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This is how you can prevent blooming

The most important thing to prevent blooming? That is partly due to the construction company and partly to the weather gods; it is important that masonry and grouting are done if it is not is going to rain. The facade has to dry for 48 hours during and after grouting and that is not always easy in our cold little country. That is why it is important that the property is properly covered.

This is what you can do against flowering

Are you that unlucky person with a white haze on the wall? Then you can clean your wall very often with water or have it impregnated by a company. This is the permeation of a material with another substance so that the water no longer penetrates the brick. “And so no more salt comes out. This makes the haze disappear,” says Marco.

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