CaCO3

Or Calcium Carbonate to be precise. I've concluded this stuff is THE most stubborn substance to remove. You might be more familiar with its alias name of "hard water." Now I'm sure everyone has an image of hard water stains on their shower door. Well lets try to imagine a scenario of perhaps leaving your shower running for 3 years straight and never cleaning it. Crazy? Yes, yes it is. What you are left with will be 3 years worth of build up of calcium carbonate all over your shower, yuck! This is exactly what became of our courtyard fountain. Visualize that scary octopus guy from Pirates of the Caribbean. The one with all those nasty growths and barnacle like substances clinging to it...

....Yes, that is exactly what this fountain looked like, yuck! My solution to this problem elbow grease A LOT of it. However, after hours of chiseling away centimeter by centimeter (no exaggeration) I decided I needed some reinforcements. This sounded like the perfect job for a known CaCO3 nemesis...Muratic/HydrochloricAcid hehehe. This stuff is super toxic...it fumes all on its own!
So with my plan of attack ready I decided to go ahead and make way. I do not have a before picture but here is a small pic that I found to be similar to the CaCo3 on the fountain...magnify this by 100.






After hours of the elbow grease method I surrendered to the chemical method....
This is the fountain post elbow grease, with one side being treated with the acid.







Wikipedia/Safety: Concentrated hydrochloric acid (fuming hydrochloric acid) forms acidic mists. Both the mist and the solution have a corrosive effect on human tissue, with the potential to damage respiratory organs, eyes, skin, and intestines (is this scaring you yet mom)? Personalized protective equipment such as rubber or PVC gloves, protective eye goggles, and chemical-resistant clothing and shoes are used to minimize risks when handling hydrochloric acid.......hence this crazy getup.







You cant mess around with this stuff, I was well protected.







Still working away, but I definitely made progress. Now we will have to paint and tile it, so that hopefully this substance will be extinct from our courtyard...forever:)