Cleaning Concrete Driveway

pitterpat

What kind of solution are you using to clean concrete driveways?

Thanks, Pat

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Pat Harris
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Glasshousebltr

Muriatic acid, rubber gloves and a good stiff brush.

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Bob

dirt diggler

muriatic acid to clean concrete bob???





it'll clean it alright ....

Glasshousebltr

Who needs 4 inches anyway.

It's a good thing neither of my ex-wives could use that line.

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Bob

Squrtgun

General dirt,grease,oil,rust?

Muratic is bad,bad,bad without just cause.

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Tmrrptr

It would depends what needs to be cleaned off the driveway.
If nothing really serious the stuff at HD for your pressure washer will do just fine. Wet it down first, then apply detergent, then spray off.

Acid IS dangerous! Not unless you must etch the surface as prep.
r

Trencher

Here are a couple of jobs I did where I just used direct pressure from my machine to clean the concrete.


http://www.geocities.com/allenh1970_4/felder

http://www.geocities.com/allenh1970_3/LaCour


That Felder job wore me out!!!

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Fulcrum Services, LLC
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747

I agree if you have a power washer over 2600psi you should be good to go. You can actually lightly score the concrete.

tom connelly

i would stay away from the muriatic acid. most of your driveways you can get by using an industrial grade degreaser with some industrial grade bleach. If acids are required i would suggest britenol HD or GSR from eaco chem it also kills the mildew and algae for longer lasting results. Prosoco also makes some pretty good basic cleaners. but i prefer eaco chem. we also have several different flat surface cleaners, which if you do enough flat work will definately pay for themselves.

Gutter Clean & Power Wash
Hickory, NC

tom connelly

That would be extremely time consuming, and labor intensive.

Barry M

It really depends on what you are removing. If its just dirt, mildew and some tannin stains you can use a bleach and soap mix. Hot water will help too.

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drywallet

tear it out and re pour

tom connelly

thats a great idea...if your in the pouring business.

tom connelly

muriatic acid will etch your surface. If its not properly applied, you can also have other problems such as rust stains from the rebar, heavy acid burns, and so on. I've seen some really nasty sites. Some of the problems may not all be immediate either, and they may be near impossible to fix. Play it safe, not just for the concrete and the environment, as well as surrounding surfaces; but also for yourself and your customers, stay away from raw muriatic. You can achieve not just great, but better results without it.

sealerguy

Not to mention all that acid in your face. Plain old pressure does a nice job, if you dont have a surface cleaner, double back both directions to avoid zebra stripes.

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williammwill

Hi pat it really depends on wht you are trying to remove from the concrete, any more info?

williammwill

Quote:

Originally Posted by pitterpat What kind of solution are you using to clean concrete driveways?

The correct balance of heat, pressure and chemicals are required for the most effective cleaning of concrete. If there is a deficiency of any one of these i.e not enough heat, then you will have to increase one of the other factors i.e more pressure or stronger chemicals. The correct balance depends on what has to be removed from the concrete. For example, grease such as oil stains will require heat and chemicals, but dirt just needs pressure of 2000 to 3500 psi with no heat or chemicals, However if you can add heat, you can reduce pressure.


many thanks

acmepowerwash

Hot pressure washing is best and will usually do the trick. Detergents and chemicals can also be used for particulary stubborn oil, stains and grime on the concrete surface. As mentioned above, the rotating surface cleaners are your best bet to avoid zebra striping.

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Texas Aggie

I disagree. I've tried both the Zep product sold at my HD and the Krud Kutter product sold at my Lowes (your stores may sell different products). The MINIMUM solution that has worked somewhat well for me is the Simple Green Concrete cleaner. It got more mold/algea off than the other products and got the driveway a little cleaner but not rust or (likely) heavy oil. There are some concentrated products I want to try.

Diamond D.

I can only assume, Pat, has finished the job by now.

But, to throw in my two cents, a good P.W. should take care of most of the general cleaning and since nobody mentioned it in the past 4 years, throw a can of coke on the oil stains and let it work while you use CLR on the rust stains. Then go back and hit the oil stain with the P.W.

Done deal. Clean up. Get paid. Go home.

D.

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