Got a call back from a drive way customer that’s moving. She’s got lots of oil and grease stains in her garage that she would like me to clean from her husband working on motorcycles. I’ve read only a few posts on here about tackling this. Most concerns are dry wall and drainage related.
I’m new at this and so far have only tackled more organic issues outdoors. Any tips or suggestions on how to handle this one would be appreciated. As far as chemicals go I’ve got some F-18 and I’m thinking of picking up some purple degreaser as well. Thanks!
I’ve ran surface cleaners in garages with no issue. If you do have to wand a little spray on the drywall won’t hurt. If it’s painted you have nothing to worry about as long as you don’t soak it.
If there’s a lot of oil stains hot water will make your life easier. I sometimes spike purple power with a little sodium hydroxide so it works better on grease. Better yet, order a good caustic degreaser. I’m partial to BD-200 but I haven’t really tried anything else except for Purple Power. The bd-200 blows it away. It comes from Southside. If there’s visible oil I would first grind kitty litter into it.
Honestly, I’ve had mediocre luck with oil stained garages with my cold water machine. I spray down Red Raider straight on the stains and scrub it in with a stiff brush but not a whole lot happens.
I do let the customers know that minimal changes will happen, they’re happy just to get it cleaned at least.
Here are some photos of what I’m working with. The closing is tomorrow and the seller committed to having this done so I’m going to have to use the chems I have or can source locally. Fortunately in most spots there’s at least 6” on concrete before the drywall. Attached are some pictures of what I’m working with.
Not that better than it was is the standard I’m going for but I think it will work in this situation.
Garage floors never clean up like the customer wants them to. I’ve mostly stopped doing them now because every time I did them in the past, I explicitly told the customer “this floor will look pretty much the same after, and there will be next to no improvement,” and yet when I was done they still complained about the way it looked. If you decide to do it, let them know that there will be no improvement, and you will still expect payment afterwards.
This is all different if you are washing as prep work for a floor coating or something. If they wanted you to prep the floor for an epoxy coating, the danger is them blaming you if/when the floor coating fails. Contrary to popular belief, pressure washing, regardless of temperature or chemicals used, is not good at removing oil from concrete. It just sinks in too far.
Sorry it didn’t go well. Pressure washing simply does not remove oil stains. Maybe if the stain was made a matter of minutes prior, but by the time we get called, it’s too late.
You know the old saying, when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail? The problem is we pressure washing contractors seem to think that a pressure washer is our only tool.
To get a floor like that clean you need the right chemicals and you need an electric floor buffer with the right types of pads. I’ve never done it myself but I have seen it done and it works.
Fortunately I did a good job setting expectations with the customer. She knew it was a mess but wanted to at least give something a try as she promised her buyers. I hate that I didn’t turn out better for them but I really put in lots of effort. It does look better than the pictures show. On the plus side at least the garage smells clean.
Better yet, get a concrete grinder and grind the finish off the concrete so it has a rough bare finish. Then prime it, epoxy it, then add the top coat in matte or gloss.
