How to get rid of saltpetre
How do you get rid of saltpeter?
Saltpeter is a true scourge for the health of your home, but also a true danger to your health.
It is essential to sanitize your walls and apply a real treatment against saltpeter to recover a pleasant home and not take more risks with your health!
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How to recognize 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 capillary action of groundwater containing many mineral salts.
You can observe the crumbling of the walls or plaster, but also the peeling of the wallpaper or the mold on the walls.
The dangers of saltpetre
It is essential not to neglect the appearance of saltpetre in your home, as it is responsible for many health problems.
Contact with potassium nitrate will cause chronic bronchitis and rhinitis, but also severe allergies and migraines.
This problem should not be taken lightly, as you will have difficulty maintaining good health in unhealthy housing.
What treatments for saltpetre?
You don't have to wait for the saltpeter to spread on your walls. You must remove the crystals by protecting yourself with a mask so that you do not inhale the dust.
Opt for a wire brush to scrub the walls. Then apply an anti-humidity treatment or one specifically produced to combat saltpeter.
To go further and not risk seeing the return of the saltpeter, look for the cause of the outcrop.
Get the help of a professional who offers solutions with a more in-depth 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 the paint is crumbling? No doubt about it: your house is contaminated with saltpetre.
Before panicking, you should know that saltpeter is a phenomenon that is frequently observed and can be easily treated. How do you remove saltpeter from walls? Answers.
What is saltpeter?
Also known as "stone salt", saltpetre is an efflorescence (when hydrated salts become dust in the open air because they lose much of their water of crystallization) that can be found in concrete, concrete blocks, stone and sometimes brick walls.
It is actually potassium nitrate, a saline mineral compound, which in the most severe cases can deteriorate the foundation and the coating layers.
Their appearance on the walls is then a bad sign: it means that the walls are clogged with water and are very humid.
This humidity increases in the long term if the saltpetre is not removed and causes considerable damage.
There are many reasons why saltpeter can occur: water passing 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 the saltpeter on your walls?
It is possible to remove saltpeter from your wall surface, but it is essential to call a professional to treat the problem "in depth" (if all the walls in your house have been affected, for example).
Before any intervention, wear a mask, gloves and goggles. Rub the wall affected by saltpeter with a hard brush.
Then clean the wall with hot water in which you have diluted the Marseille soap in the form of flakes or St. Mark's washing powder.
Be sure to remove all stains and thoroughly clean the surrounding areas. Finally, rinse the wall with clear water. The whitish deposits should have disappeared.
To avoid possible recontamination, brush the wall with a commercially available anti-salt treatment.
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 saltpeter), 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, a mortar can be used to reproduce the appearance of the material.
Preventing humidity to avoid saltpeter on the walls
Saltpeter is not a fatality and is easily eliminated. However, one must bear in mind that its appearance is linked to humidity.
Try to find out where the moisture problem in your wall came from. Check your roof, doorways and anything else that might cause a water leak.
If necessary, call a professional again.
Also check your ventilation equipment in wet rooms: it must be operational. 95% of saltpetre cases are in fact related to ventilation problems.
If your home is not ventilated, install vents in your windows and allow air to circulate under your doors. There should be a space of at least 3 cm between the floor and your door for good indoor air circulation.
You can also find some alternatives to remove them with some types of wall patches that you can find online at WalMart, Costco, Sams Club, Chedraui, Carrefour, Amazon or MercadoLibre.
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