Advice on removing traces of Ivy from my wall

ftsos

I am hoping someone is an expert gardener or knows about Ivy's on MSE forums.

I have recently removed Ivy from my home. I actually liked the Ivy but I realise its not good for my building. Anyway, it's left traces of dried ivy vines on the brick and cement. Is there any chemicals I could use to remove it before painting over it?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks you.

goldfinches

Essentially the answer is going to be some version of no due to the way you've gone about doing it I think.

However, here's why ivy is such a PITA. As ivy grows it puts out little fingers which sort of grip onto anything it can to support itself while it grows, these tend to adhere to any surface especially a slightly rough one.
To remove it what you must do is to cut the main stem as close to the ground as you can and then wait while all the little fingers die back and let go of anything they were stuck to. Once that has happened which usually takes a minimum of 6 weeks but more like 3 months or so then you can easily remove the shrivelled stems without leaving much if any marks on your brickwork or fence etc.
If you try to pull off a stem while all the little fingers are still stuck to the wall or whatever you will end up tearing off fragments of the surface and leaving horrible marks plus having to chip off bits of ivy stem with a trowel which is a nasty job in itself. 
Cutting the stem is the only way I've ever seen work and even then there will be some marks due to how water and dead leaves etc. got trapped against the surface previously. 
I think all you can do now is watch and wait for any bits left to shrivel up and dry out and then brush it down with a stiffish broom head to get all dead and loose bits off before you patch and then repaint.

FreeBear

goldfinches said: I think all you can do now is watch and wait for any bits left to shrivel up and dry out and then brush it down with a stiffish broom head to get all dead and loose bits off before you patch and then repaint.

Depending on the type of bricks, a wire brush may be the best tool. But if the bricks are old and/or soft, then a stiff brush is the way to go.

Side note - If this is a solid brick wall, do be careful about your selection of paint. Most modern paints claim to be breathable, but will trap moisture within a wall. Silicates & lime wash is best for old walls. Save the Weathershield and the likes for cement rendered & cavity walls.

ftsos

FreeBear said:

goldfinches said: I think all you can do now is watch and wait for any bits left to shrivel up and dry out and then brush it down with a stiffish broom head to get all dead and loose bits off before you patch and then repaint.

Depending on the type of bricks, a wire brush may be the best tool. But if the bricks are old and/or soft, then a stiff brush is the way to go.

Side note - If this is a solid brick wall, do be careful about your selection of paint. Most modern paints claim to be breathable, but will trap moisture within a wall. Silicates & lime wash is best for old walls. Save the Weathershield and the likes for cement rendered & cavity walls.

Thank you FreeBear. I appreciate the advice. I had thought of a wire brush before and my wife was suggesting the same. However, the side of me that is dreading the work was hoping that there could be a chemical solution I could use to make my life easier

I have minimal knowledge when it comes to buildings. However, just based on what I have seen of my neighbours property which is a replica, its brick building with I believe plastering on top. Here is is a picture of the Ivy after it has dried = https://prnt.sc/1jrzqag just in case it can help you to see it.

Thanks again.

ftsos

@goldfinches what you say makes sense. I have kit it as close to root as possible near the ground. Someone told me to make cuts to the root base and regularly add salt cover the salt with tape so that the bark absorbs the salt and it acts as a kind of poison and kills the root under the ground. 

I was planning to wait a while before doing the painting etc. However, it's been raining regularly, and my wife is driving me crazy because she says it looks really ugly now and we need to paint it.

FreeBear

ftsos said: . I had thought of a wire brush before and my wife was suggesting the same. However, the side of me that is dreading the work was hoping that there could be a chemical solution I could use to make my life easier

Here is is a picture of the Ivy after it has dried = https://prnt.sc/1jrzqag just in case it can help you to see it.

Ooooo.... That is a lot of ivy to get rid of... Try a jet wash first. A scaffold tower would be useful on the upper half. Working off a ladder when waving a jet wash wand around isn't always a good idea. And if you do need to attack the wall with a wire brush, having a stable work platform is essential - Also, painting at height from a tower is sooo much easier.

twopenny

You can now get very stiff plastic brushes like the wire ones which are gentler, though they take a bit more searching out.
There is still plenty you can get off. All the stems. It's the little clingers that don't like leaving.
A window paint scraper can do it but they are small. If you can get a good quality paint scraper and sharpen the end of the blade that should make short work of it.
The strength of pressure washer to remove it i feel could do more damage than good. This stuff is an amazing creation of nature and only prising it off is the way forward.
You will be left with some tiny tendrils unless you are into really fiddly hours.
I just painted over those. Annoying but it was only me that knew it was there. No one else did.

Monsternextdoor

My last house had ivy growing up it, I used a garden hoe and wire brush gaffer taped to the end of a pole to remove it and the traces of it, took a couple of hours and some graft after killing the root.

Eldi_Dos

@ftos, having seen photo you posted I can understand why you want it done sooner rather than later. The only chemical I can think of that "might" be of use is a fungicidal wash which you put on before painting. Put on three or more applications worked well into Ivy residue with a couple of days between each application and then go with FreeBear's suggestion of scaffold tower and jet wash with maybe a stiff deck brush for scrubbing down.

danrv

I did exactly the same job on my previous house a few years ago.
One third brickwork and two thirds rendered and painted. 
It had grown the full height of the house and the root was over a foot wide and really stuck on.
I cut through that and with some rope and help, managed to then pull large chunks off.
Then hired and assembled a scaffold tower and worked on a square metre at a time. Managed to clean up the painted area pretty good with a wire brush and heat gun.

silvercar

1930s house with what looks like rendered peppledash walls ie bumpy surface. Was covered with ivy when we moved in. Cut the roots, left it a while, attacked with wire brush, still have tendrils stuck to the surface. Shrugged and carried on. Those tendrils have been repainted 4 times over the years and are still stuck firm. Thanks to the bumpy surface they aren’t that noticeable, just something we have to live with.