[Jim T]

Any advice please for:
1) cutting out or perhaps disolving a dead deep ivy root from down along the foundation wall of a house;
2)removing dead old stems from wooden surfaces around the house.

We have tried several things without succes and are considering using a strong acid!

[Gwiz]

carefully, Jim, very carefully......

[richyrich7]

Funny first thing that sprang to mind was brick acid, be very careful as per Gwiz    but then your a chemist  so bit like telling your grandma how to suck eggs I suppose  

[Trillium]

the in-laws had ivy on their brick wall and we had to use a very sturdy scrub brush on the little suckers left behind. Didn't get many out because they'd really dug in deeply.
Sorry, no advice on wood other than replace it with vinyl siding?

[PAH48]

Hi and WELCOME..... Having occassinally worked on the odd 'ouse or 2,
brick acid 'as accidentlly been spilt, not sayin' on pupous or out, but it 'as 'append.
Seriously I have seen it happen, I think its basically" hydrochloric"!!
long turm damage no  :idea:. I realy don't know, all I can say is 'its cost me a few bob in new jeans on many an occassion.  Beware!! Do I realy need to tell a Chemist how to suck eggs :?:
On a very serious note Welcome, Enjoy , I'm sure you will get better more useful advice than mine!!!!  
Bye PAH

[Martin]

I very successfully used SBK Brushwood Killer to get rid of ivy on an old wall a few years back. Mix it with paraffin and paint it on. Pretty tedious work!

Have a feeling I read somewhere that the chemical formulation had been changed in the light of EC regulations...but maybe I imagined that.

[Jim T]

I very successfully used SBK Brushwood Killer to get rid of ivy on an old wall a few years back. Mix it with paraffin and paint it on. Pretty tedious work!

Have a feeling I read somewhere that the chemical formulation had been changed in the light of EC regulations...but maybe I imagined that.

Many thanks to you and all you other guys for your helpful and friendly comments
Any more  ideas or experiences :?:
Jim

[peter james]

yip the same here s,b,k brushwood killer used it more  or less neet for a cupple of tree stump at home that kept regrowing just painted it allover and havent had no regrowth for two seasons now . so i can say it worked for me.one wasan connifer laylandi(sp) to neer the back of the house so it had to go   . p,j,

[wighty]

There is a new formula for SBK which is allowed.  It is now in a box rather than just the bottle so yu can tell the difference.  Deep Root by  Growing Success and Root Out are all going to be banned.

[Calou]

I had a similar problem about two years ago. We had masses of Ivy growing near the house so we pulled of as much as we could till just the stump was left. My dad drilled a hole in the stump and we poured Rondup into it and repeated this process weekly for about six weeks. And so ends the story of the Ivy, never seen it since!

[Jerry]

For removing the ivy stems, and the signs of the stems which have stuck to wood, brickwork etc, try steam cleaning and a scraper. The steam "cooks" the ivy and it scrapes off dead easy. To own up, I actually used a steam iron, on an extension lead - did the trick lovely.

[richyrich7]

For removing the ivy stems, and the signs of the stems which have stuck to wood, brickwork etc, try steam cleaning and a scraper. The steam "cooks" the ivy and it scrapes off dead easy. To own up, I actually used a steam iron, on an extension lead - did the trick lovely.

Top Tip Jerry    I'll have to try that