How do you get rid of saltpeter?
Saltpeter is a true scourge for the health of your home, but it is also a real danger to your health.
It is essential to clean up your walls and apply a true treatment against saltpeter to restore a pleasant home and not take any more risks with your health!
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How to recognize the saltpeter?
It is very easy to observe the presence of saltpeter on its walls. It appears as whitish or grayish crystals.
This potassium nitrate crystallizes on contact with air. It is the result of the elevation by capillary action of groundwater that contains many mineral salts.
You can see crumbling walls or plaster, but also flaking wallpaper or mold on the walls.
The dangers of saltpeter
It is essential not to neglect the appearance of saltpeter in your home, since it is responsible for many health problems.
Contact with potassium nitrate will cause chronic bronchitis and rhinitis, but also severe allergies and migraines.
This issue is not to be taken lightly as you will have a hard time maintaining good health in unsanitary housing.
What treatments for saltpeter?
You don’t have to wait for the saltpeter to spread on your walls. You must remove the crystals protecting yourself with a mask so as not to inhale the dust.
Opt for a wire brush to scrub the walls. Then an anti-humidity treatment or one specifically produced to combat saltpeter is applied to them.
To go further and not risk seeing the return of the nitrate, look for the cause of the outcrop.
Get the help of a professional who offers you solutions with a deeper treatment. Draining or creating an airtight barrier are effective solutions.
How to remove saltpeter from the walls?
Remove the whitish deposit from your walls
Do you notice that a whitish deposit is spreading on your wall and that the paint is crumbling? There is no doubt: your house is contaminated with saltpeter.
Before you panic, you should know that saltpeter is a frequently observed phenomenon that can be easily treated. How do you remove the saltpeter from the walls? Answers.
What is saltpeter?
Also know as «rock salt«, he saltpeter it is an efflorescence (when the hydrated salts turn to dust in the open air because they lose much of the water of crystallization) that can be found in concrete, cinder blocks, stone, and sometimes in walls of brick.
It really is potassium nitrate, a saline mineral compound, which in the most severe cases can deteriorate foundations and cladding layers.
His appearance on the walls is then a bad signal: means that the walls are clogged with water and are very wet.
This humidity increases in the long term if the saltpeter is not removed and causes considerable damage.
There are many reasons why the saltpeter: water that passes under the foundation, porous and poorly sealed walls, cracks or too much vegetation in a room. In any case, saltpeter can be harmful to health and cause asthma and other respiratory problems: development of asthma, aggravation of respiratory symptoms…
For all these reasons, it is important to act quickly. There is no need to panic: saltpeter is easy to treat and can be removed without too much difficulty.
How do you get rid of saltpeter from your walls?
Is possible remove saltpeter from the surface of your wall, but it is essential to call a professional to deal with the problem «in depth» (if all the walls in your house have been affected, for example).
Before any intervention, wear a mask, gloves and glasses. Rub the wall affected by the saltpeter with a hard brush.
Then clean the wall with hot water in which you will have diluted the marseille soap in the form of flakes or powder of washing of San Marcos.
Be sure to remove all stains and thoroughly clean the surrounding areas. Finally, rinse the wall with clear water. The whitish deposits they should have disappeared.
To avoid possible recontamination, brush the wall with a anti-salt treatment available on the market.
Don’t forget to follow the advice on the packaging, especially regarding drying time.
If the wall is in poor condition (due to the presence of too much salt), you will have to «repair» it by applying a smoothing or filling plaster, depending on the depth of the damage.
If it is a brick or stone wall, you can use a mortar that reproduces the appearance of the material.
Prevent humidity to avoid saltpeter on the walls
Saltpeter it is not a fatality and is easily removed. However, it must be taken into account that its appearance is linked to the humidity.
Try to find out where the moisture problem on your wall. Check your roof, doorways, and anything else that could cause a water leak.
If necessary, call a professional again.
Also check your ventilation equipment in wet rooms – it must be in operation. 95% of saltpeter cases are, in fact, related to ventilation problems.
If your house does not have ventilation, install vents on your windows and let air circulate under your doors. There must be a space of at least 3 cm between the floor and your door for good indoor air circulation.
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