Loading…
29
That 'quick fix' for an oily driveway cost me a $350 repaving job
I was out pressure washing a driveway two years ago in Austin and the homeowner asked if I could just spray some degreaser on the oil stains to 'save time.' I obliged but the cheap degreaser ate into the asphalt binder, leaving pockmarks all over. By the time I realized what happened, the whole surface was crumbling. Now I always test a small patch first (lesson learned hard). Has anyone else had a 'simple' cleaner totally wreck a surface like that?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
dylan_sanchez2mo ago
Yeah but did he tell you what brand it was though? That's the key part (and I'm guessing it was something from a big box store like Zep or Simple Green, not that those are inherently bad). A lot of those "industrial strength" degreasers have solvents in them that just melt asphalt binder instead of lifting the oil, especially if you let them sit too long. Were you using it full strength or did you dilute it at all, because that makes a huge difference on hot asphalt in the Texas sun.
5
charles_baker282mo ago
Right, @dylan_sanchez nailed it with the solvent thing, that's exactly what happens. A lot of those degreasers have stuff like xylene or toluene in them that just destroys the binder in asphalt, especially if it's hot out like it always is in Texas. I bet the homeowner's "quick fix" was just leaving that stuff on full strength for too long, thinking more is better. Even the big box store brands can be bad if you don't read the label and see it says not for use on asphalt somewhere in the fine print. It's a shame because a good citrus based cleaner or a little dish soap would've probably worked fine if you just scrubbed and let it sit for a minute instead of using that heavy duty stuff.
-1