Sunday, April 23, 2006

Coal + Water = BADNESS!


Dispite all the work which had already been done on the house on corner of the living room the damp problem was refusing to shift we couldnt work out why. So the builder Paul proped the wall on arcos and a steel bar so he could take out some bricks. What we found was rather amusing, pre 1960 the house was modeled in a different way the bit underneath the stairs was a coal store, thought its not been used as that since then the remaining dust mixed with moisture to produce sulpuric acid which has been turning the bricks into sponge. You can see the discolouration of the brick its black.
Ever the chemist my dad rushed out bought bicarbonate of soda and threw it on sure enough it fizzed and bublled neutralising the acid. Posted by Picasa

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