The council has stained my lovely driveway

Toothy1911 · 12 Aug 2020 at 18:47

The council dug up and replaced the tarmac on the pavement in front of my driveway today. Pavement was a little crumbly, and they identified and repaired it without me asking. I was pleasantly surprised! They're going to follow up with some kind of tarmac slurry over the rest of pavements in due course.

However, they've left horrible oily stains on my new drive :mad:

.

Firstly, what do you recommend for cleaning this?

Second, would you say anything to the council. And if so what?

I'm now worried it will get even worse when they slop this "slurry" stuff everywhere.

ttaskmaster · 12 Aug 2020 at 18:56

They stained your drive?

Go stain theirs, then.... Use a squirty bottle and write something (in)appropriate. It's like writing your name in the snow, but more permanent!
Oh, and poo through their letterbox, of course.

They might actually have something to help clean this up once the job is done.

Kenai · 12 Aug 2020 at 19:06

Can't help with the stain but if they slurry in front of your drive, do your best to avoid driving over it for a day or two.

They've just done an an entire street with the pavement slurry near me and within a few hours of them finishing, walking down the road near enough every driveway has tyre tread patterns and churned up spots where people have turned their wheels to get back onto their driveways. Looks absolutely dreadful.

Toothy1911 · 12 Aug 2020 at 19:14

Kenai said:
Can't help with the stain but if they slurry in front of your drive, do your best to avoid driving over it for a day or two.

They've just done an an entire street with the pavement slurry near me and within a few hours of them finishing, walking down the road near enough every driveway has tyre tread patterns and churned up spots where people have turned their wheels to get back onto their driveways. Looks absolutely dreadful.

That sounds awful. Thanks for the tip. I'll be keeping off it for sure! This weather it will stay sticky for a week.

200sols · 12 Aug 2020 at 19:20

If it is oil then you won't get it out, will have soaked right into the blocks now. Over time it will weather away a bit and when it is wet you won't see it..

norm · 12 Aug 2020 at 19:51

Lift the blocks and flip them over is about all you can do. I would get some duck tape and plastic sheeting to protect the rest before any more damage is done however.

You probably are due compensation as it's your property that's been damaged after all but whether you want to pursue it or not.

Toothy1911 · 12 Aug 2020 at 19:56

norm said:
Lift the blocks and flip them over is about all you can do. I would get some duck tape and plastic sheeting to protect the rest before any more damage is done however.

You probably are due compensation as it's your property that's been damaged after all but whether you want to pursue it or not.

Might be able to lift some, but the edge ones are concreted in. Think ill try giving it a scrub with petrol and a bit of a jet wash.

On Holiday · 12 Aug 2020 at 19:57

Call them back to investigate and correct it
I've personally seen this amended on a couple of occasions using high pressure jet or effectively a blow torch depending what it is that's left over.

It may have soaked in but that doesn't mean you can't get the top "clean" again.

Toothy1911 · 13 Aug 2020 at 08:16

Decided to have a go at cleaning. I used petrol and a scrubbing brush, followed by a bit of jet washing.
Seems to have gotten most of it out, which is such a relief.
Just dreading the slurry stage now!

PaDE · 13 Aug 2020 at 08:50

Your blocks have come up nice .... but have you now stained the new tarmac?

d_brennen · 13 Aug 2020 at 08:53

PaDE said:
Your blocks have come up nice .... but have you now stained the new tarmac?

Don't worry, the council contractors will be back to return the favour

bazzabear · 13 Aug 2020 at 09:55

You've done a cracking job there - I didn't think that would come out at all!

Toothy1911 · 13 Aug 2020 at 10:37

bazzabear said:
You've done a cracking job there - I didn't think that would come out at all!

Thanks.. To be honest. Neither did I.
I feel a bit over dramatic now.

MadMan-JaMeS · 13 Aug 2020 at 13:49

Decent washing up liquid will sort out most oils.

Thats why it cleans grease from pans and stuff.

Washing up liquid, hot water and some elbow grease.

LeeUK · 13 Aug 2020 at 19:10

Tell them to keep off your driveway, it's just lazy workmanship. If it had been a wall or a hedge they wouldn't have been able to stand on your drive but they would have still managed to tarmac the pavement perfectly fine.

JRJ · 13 Aug 2020 at 19:49

MadMan-JaMeS said:
Decent washing up liquid will sort out most oils.

Thats why it cleans grease from pans and stuff.

Washing up liquid, hot water and some elbow grease.

Always keep a bottle of Fairy Platinum in the cupboard solely for grease and oil on clothes, saved a few expensive items with that trick.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 14 Aug 2020 at 09:02

dishwasher tablets are even more aggressive on oils etc but you must wear gloves if using them

Toothy1911 · 14 Aug 2020 at 10:39

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
dishwasher tablets are even more aggressive on oils etc but you must wear gloves if using them

That's an interesting idea. Would you make a paste with a tablet and some hot water maybe.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 14 Aug 2020 at 11:21

Toothy1911 said:
That's an interesting idea. Would you make a paste with a tablet and some hot water maybe.

I don't think the temp makes much diff to the aggressiveness of the chemicals
But yeah a fairly thick liquid I guess if your wanting to be able to spread across patches

I assume you can actually still buy liquid dishwasher cleaner, it used to be the norm before the tablets, so it may still be on shelves and that would be easier I guess
When I have used them on items its been a stick item in the bowl/bucket, add a tablet and as little water as possible, leave overnight

Might be easier to try some washing up liquid first see if that works as its easier to get in a usable form for you, but I would say if that doesnt work step it up with dishwasher fluid/tabs

When it comes to the next phase I would personlly protect my drive, just some duck tape and a tarp or similar over the edge of the drive. Should be good to leave there for a bit.
When they do the roads they cover all the manholes etc in a similar fashion to stop the overspray

Psycho Sonny · 14 Aug 2020 at 14:37

200sols said:
If it is oil then you won't get it out, will have soaked right into the blocks now. Over time it will weather away a bit and when it is wet you won't see it..

Really?

I watched a YouTube video several weeks ago where they tested 3 products on a driveway for cleaning several different oil stains from repairing cars. 2 of them worked extremely well.

One of them was plain old washing up powder.

They put some washing up powder over the area. Splash of water then used a coarse brush and went to town. Left it for a while then washed it off.

If I can find the video on YouTube OP I'll post a link.