State Specific Question About: NEW YORK (NY)

Hi ,

I was informed by my HOA inspector ( not my tenant) our rental driveway is full of oil stains from their vehicle. Other than a pro power wash is there any sure product that will actually work on drive way oil stains ?

Watch out for EPA issues if you pressure wash oil and solvents into the street. If you got caught doing that in the beach town where I live they would probably call out the National Guard - for sure a Haz Mat fire dept response - and they will then happily bill you for the cost, plus every fine they can think of.

Technically you will need to have absorbent dams like for oil spills to contain any runoff and you would have to collect and dispose of any fluids at a haz mat center.

Meanwhile Tijuana dumps 40 million gallons of sewage a day into the ocean...

Im not sure where you read that cement changes oil into soap but I can assure you.... it dont. Cement powder on top of an oil spill does nothing other than make the powder stick to the oil, nothing more than common every day dirt will. The difference is, the cement will get wet and *kinda* harden and make the existing concrete look "new".... for a while. Since the cement powder is not mixed properly, it has almost no strength and will soon wear away. The good news is it takes some of the oil with it when it scrubs away. Some more of the oil also has seeped into the existing concrete so by the time the powder wears away, the stain looks much better.

All in all though, cement powder on an oil stain dont work. It just covers it up for a little while.

Oven cleaner is pretty harsh, expecially for leaving it on over night. Another common solution people talk about is using muratic acid but thats pretty harsh also. Both of those attack the concrete and weaken it. People usually dont want to weaken thier concrete in the interest of having a clean driveway but maybe the HOA would require something that drastic.

I usually just use a mild dish soap like Dawn. Keep it wet, it needs water to work better. Soak it for a few days and wash it, pressure washer prefered. You will still see the stain but it should be light enough to pass.

I recently tried Dawn dish liquid on some large oil leaks on an asphalt driveway. It did not help much. I used a small bottle on two areas about 3 feet in diameter. I then used a pressure washer. Some of the oil came up, but most of it was still there.

I did this before I had a company come in to seal the driveway. They put a primer coat over the spills before applying the sealer and said it will help, but the oil might still bleed through later.

They said the only true way to fix it was to saw cut the drive and replace. They said the oil could have penetrated several inches and the cleaners won’t be able to pull it out.

My tenant is now on written warning to protect the driveway from future leaks or be billed for a cut and patch if the damage causes the asphalt to start cracking and coming apart.