One of my customers flagged me down in the subdivision today and asked about a stain he has on his driveway. He recently had his garage floor epoxied and when they were packing up, they spilled some of the sealer on his driveway.
I looked for any past posts that might help (found tidbits in Parking Garage with Epoxy Floor Issues Parking Garage with Epoxy Floor Issues over in the commercial section, but nothing about anyone removing a sealer spill, mainly just discussing issues when cleaning the surface.
My initial thought when talking to him was perhaps etching the concrete, but itās unclear to me if that would impact the stain to remove it or not. I know that if we were to etch those sections, the entire driveway would need to be etched in order to match, but wonder if anyone else has any other ideas. I thought about gasoline or a propane torch which Iāve seen work with some grease spills, but not sure if anyone else had run into anything like this.
Here are a couple of pics I took today - I washed this driveway about a year ago - not really dirty in other spots, but this looks pretty toughā¦
Heās talking with the contractor about what they are able to come up with, he just asked me to get some ideas of what I thought it might take to get it done. I offered to try a couple of test spots, but he suggested we just let the contractor deal with it for now -versus āowningā part of the problemā¦
I donāt know what it is with these people. I got a call from an elderly guy in the neighborhood that wanted his old nasty painted deck boards āstripped of paintā so he could repaint. A lot of them were so rotted I could put my heel into them.
Unfortunately, some old people donāt hold up well and tend to rot. I donāt recall ever putting my heel into one, but I can appreciate the sentiment Chris!
FInd out what the base is of that sealer. I know nothing about epoxy stuff but for example acrylic high gloss sealer for pavers is xylene based, so you get some xylene, soak it all down and wipe it up.
for epoxy I would think acetone, but who knows. Not all garage floor coatings are the same, some companies lay a base then put epoxy overtop, some use another coating a poly something or other I canāt remember. The contractor knows what they spilled. I would walk if it wasnāt a good friend/relative. If you want to try, I would think scraping, apply acetone, wait a short bit until it loosens, then rag. Getting it out of the pores, man, what a PITA. Good luck to you and post after pics with your process if you try it.
Yeah - will have to see. Weāre gonna wait till the contractor comes back with something before doing anything and making it āourā problem. Depending on what we do, it may look different so would need to do entire driveway. Good point on the type of sealer - Iāll remind him to get the brand/type of epoxy from the contractor.
I think he wants the contractor to pay but hire me to clean it. I wash his house and another house he owns in the neighborhood. This has been a rough year for me so Iām grabbing whatever I can.
We have another company that I dealt with setting up a little bit, so I learned some of ths stuff. I know they use primarily polyaspartic coatings. They grind the concrete down first to get good adhesion, but Iād imagine a driveway would likely be similarly rough to take the product.
They use Acetone & Xylene for cleanup, because I have to buy it for them from my supplier. But I also know the couple spots theyāve spilled in the showroom and their truck are still there, so not clear on how well that stuff works at cleaning it eitherā¦
IDK if any of that is useful, but itās what Iāve got.
Thanks - I totally agree - I donāt want to own that problem. The customer mentioned that they tried some sort of cleaner, which he said didnāt work - then one of the guys pulled the cement grinder out to which the customer said - no - no - not on the middle of my driveway. So my suspicion is they have no clue how to remove it. Iām thinking the contractor might want to turn to a pressure washer to clean it and pay them instead. This is why Iām interested. If some of these suggestions will get it starting to move, maybe I can etch it (and the rest of the driveway so it matches) and get some work out of it. Not sure that etching is the right answer either just thinking out loud.
Thatās a good point. Iāve been grabbing what I can as this year has been a bust for me, although this might be a ābetter to walk away fromā situation.
Never make a bad situation worse by getting deperate (unless it is truly desperate, like āabout to lose my houseā desperate), and even then it may not be adviseable
Funny you should say that - already lost the house - will be outta here by end of October, looking for a place now. As I said, itās been a lousy year. I just signed up with a handyman service this morning for at least the upcoming months. Hopefully will pick up washing again in the spring. Lemme know if youāre hiring - Iām a free agent at this point!
Sorry to hear that. Do you mind if I ask a few questions?
Do you do wood at all? Do you paint? I donāt know your area, but I have had nothing but complaints from people about not being able to hire painters. I donāt want to go inside peopleās houses anymore, but with my knee getting a little dodgy I am thinking about nixing the outdoor wood and moving inside.
On a side note, HVAC is booming. The driveway sealers are making bank, maybe hook up with one and do their prep and clean so all they do is spray. I sometimes help out a painter or two by doing their prep work.
Good luck to you. If it is any consolation, I have had 3 new people in my super small area start PW businesses. One is washing by hand.
Yes - I paint, mainly interior with drywall repair, and have been ramping up the handyman work all year with the lack of pressure washing jobs. I really donāt mind washing wood, but staining/painting decks it is not something I really enjoy. I have spoken to a few painters here, but most do their own pressure washing and prep.
I like building furniture and would really like to find a place where I could set up my woodworking shop again - I will miss having a shop this winter.
Iām in North Georgia. Iāve had some large repeat customers this year, but there is a lot more competition here this year than last and I think Googleās proximity algo messed me up a bit as well.
I just met with a handyman franchiser today and will consider doing some work with them which will, if nothing else, provide a steady source of work at least and allow me to fill in gaps between what I can get on my own. I really do love washing with that 8gpm though - the best word I can use to describe the noise from the turbo nozzle on that thing is āangryā!
sorry brother! But, definitely wouldnāt take this one on, since that is past thenā¦
