# Did I just ruin my concrete driveway?



## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Pressure washing may do the trick, although I would test an area first to be sure not to damage the concrete or discolor it any further.


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## JustScrewIt (Mar 14, 2015)

Pressure wash it? Or etch with muriatic acid


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## JustScrewIt (Mar 14, 2015)

Or shoot try some regular ole bleach... It works to brighten up old wood; maybe it'll work here too. I think it's just the tannins in the wood that leached out. Sometimes leaves get into pools and stain the gunnite, but after a little while of being immersed in chlorine water, it fades


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Ayuh,.... Just give it some Time,.... 

It'll go away,...


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

OK, thanks guys. 

I just got done cleaning it. The power washer (and the standard power washer soap) didn't help much beyond removing the surface dirt that was already there.

I did some more research on the net and found a recommendation to use Oxyclean (the laundry stain remover). I made a paste of the stuff and let it sit on the stained areas for 10 minutes or so, then powerwashed it. I did that a couple of times and most of the stains are gone. It looks 99% better.











(It's still a bit wet in this photo.)









I think I'll wait until "spring cleaning" and give it another go to remove the last bit of stains.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Well done, ZZZZZ. Who would have thought the staining would be that bad after such a short time of wood sitting on the driveway. Of course, the rain didn't help matters.......


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

Gymschu said:


> Well done, ZZZZZ. Who would have thought the staining would be that bad after such a short time of wood sitting on the driveway. Of course, the rain didn't help matters.......


Yeah, never in a million years would I have thought that wood would stain concrete like that. 

This is the first time I've dumped wood on concrete. Everyplace else I've lived I had a dirt or gravel driveway, or I was able to dump the wood on the ground near the wood pile.

But I learned my lesson. 2 minutes to throw down a plastic tarp would have saved 2+ hours of scrubbing and washing.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

On a small area try bleach diluted about 20-1 letting it set until you get bored. Rinse and after it thoroughly dries put a little kitty litter on scrubbed with your boot. If that works go for the big guns.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

when we acid-stain conc floors, 1 of the things we stress is NEVER leave wood lying on the floor,,, amazing how many respond 'it was only there overnite !' when they see the stains


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

It is a drive way. It is not supposed to be pretty. Get a stiff brush, some powdered Tide and use warm water to scrub the areas down.

Really you are getting upset over something that will look like that after a few months from normal environment dust.


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

gregzoll said:


> It is a drive way. It is not supposed to be pretty. Get a stiff brush, some powdered Tide and use warm water to scrub the areas down.
> 
> Really you are getting upset over something that will look like that after a few months from normal environment dust.



If you refer back to my original post, I said I DID scrub it with a brush and detergent. (Sorry, store brand, not Tide.) It did almost nothing to remove the stain. That's why I sought advice from this forum.

I am not "upset." I said I was "disappointed." 

The situation is that the previous owners of this house lived there for 25+ years with zero damage or stains on the driveway. Not one drop of oil or transmission fluid or anything. It is, or was, almost pristine. I want to keep it that way for as long as possible.


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## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

I sincerely can't imagine a drive pristine for a month much less 20 years. Must not live up north.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

jimn01 said:


> I sincerely can't imagine a drive pristine for a month much less 20 years. Must not live up north.


AZ must not be up north...:wink2:


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

jimn01 said:


> I sincerely can't imagine a drive pristine for a month much less 20 years. Must not live up north.


I bought this major fixer-upper basically for the value of the land and utility hookups. I think the concrete work alone is worth $5,000. The drive is about 150 feet long, plus the RV pad on the right. (I lied, there is an oil stain on the RV pad.:smile


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

We are all different people....

I'm with you ZZZZZ.... normally your driveway is the "front door" to your home.. Should be clean IMHO.

Wow, keeping concrete clean for 20 years is a seemingly remarkable feat.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

jimn01 said:


> I sincerely can't imagine a drive pristine for a month much less 20 years. Must not live up north.


Tell me about it. You can tell where the city redid sidewalks and curb cut pads for drives on my street. But now they are starting to show normal appearance from the cars driving across them.

Matter of fact, the house next to us Power Washed the drive in early October. A month later, you cannot even tell that anything was done to it.

The only time that I would be worried about cleaning something up, would be if there was a large fluid stain like oil, tranny fluid, Brake or Coolant.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

ZZZZZ said:


> If you refer back to my original post, I said I DID scrub it with a brush and detergent. (Sorry, store brand, not Tide.) It did almost nothing to remove the stain. That's why I sought advice from this forum.
> 
> I am not "upset." I said I was "disappointed."
> 
> The situation is that the previous owners of this house lived there for 25+ years with zero damage or stains on the driveway. Not one drop of oil or transmission fluid or anything. It is, or was, almost pristine. I want to keep it that way for as long as possible.


That will never happen. The house and property would be more of a concern to make sure that they are taken care of. The drives can be let to age.

There is nothing you can do to keep Concrete pristine, when it is in the weather outside.


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## CoyWolf (Nov 10, 2015)

My driveway, I just try not to let the weeds get higher than a foot or so ... lol
I can't even imagine a driveway that you could eat off of.

CW


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

CoyWolf said:


> My driveway, I just try not to let the weeds get higher than a foot or so ... lol
> I can't even imagine a driveway that you could eat off of.
> 
> CW


Same here. Along with making sure nothing is growing up behind the siding, since we had it lowered to about 4" from the ground, when we had the house re-sided, so that the Basement was protected from the Winter Winds.

Matter of fact, you cannot even tell that the leaves were mowed a week ago. Other then what the winds blew away last night. Our drive has a huge pile of them against the berm that starts the yard at the edge of the drive.


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

gregzoll said:


> That will never happen. The house and property would be more of a concern to make sure that they are taken care of. The drives can be let to age.
> 
> There is nothing you can do to keep Concrete pristine, when it is in the weather outside.


The house and the property are my major concern as I work to renovate and remodel this house. 

Most of my neighbors have dirt or gravel driveways. My concrete driveway is a major asset to this house. One of the reasons I didn't hesitate to buy it.

Aside from my neighbor across the street who spent megabucks to install a beautiful interlocking brick paver driveway, my driveway is the best on the street. I just want to keep it that way.:smile:

In Arizona, the weather doesn't affect concrete very much. I think the sun actually helps by bleaching out small stains such as bird poop. And there are no snow plows with crazy drivers who scrape the concrete along with the snow.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

A nice drive is very much a part of curb appeal. If you were to look and ZZZZZ's and mine you would see why.


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## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

gregzoll said:


> That will never happen. The house and property would be more of a concern to make sure that they are taken care of. The drives can be let to age.
> 
> There is nothing you can do to keep Concrete pristine, when it is in the weather outside.


As usual, you have no idea what you're talking about, yet you feel the need to muddle about another thread with your non-sense.

What makes you think you're some kind of expert??





ZZZZZ said:


> The house and the property are my major concern as I work to renovate and remodel this house.
> 
> Most of my neighbors have dirt or gravel driveways. My concrete driveway is a major asset to this house. One of the reasons I didn't hesitate to buy it.
> 
> ...


The sun DOES help keep the concrete lighter than in areas like where I live. A good quality sealer goes a long way in an enviroment like the one I live in as well. Ocasionally, I see a driveway or patio here that's been cleaned and sealed every 2 years or so, and it definately looks much better for it's age.

BTW, don't let anyone get to you here, there's a few people here that will just try to get a rise out of you because they have nothing better to do with their life.......


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

The problem is that you are talking about envy. A driveway will never stay pristine, no matter how hard you want to try. Even with what the neighbor did across the street, is not going to really add any value to the home or property. It just makes for more work, in order to make sure that the paver's are not getting undermined by heavy rains.

A paver drive involves more work to keep in maintained then most people realize. A concrete drive, you just have to worry about making sure that if there are any fluids, especially anti-freeze, that it is not left to stand on the drive.

If I go down the road to where friends of ours live, along with one of my wife's dr's who lives a couple of doors down. No one in that neighborhood power washes their drives every week, or tries to make them look like they are out of a magazine. They just make sure any weeds are taken care of. If it shows signs of wear or cracking, then it is fixed.

As long as you keep the property kept up and the buildings in good repair and shape. That is where your value is at. Not some driveway.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

,,,,,,,,,,,, & this is probably 1 of jomama's good days


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## makarona (Nov 10, 2015)

I got a black walnut tree in my garden. The outer shell gives dark color juice. My driveway got some black patches from it and in a week or so of raining it went away. Now I got a really black patch in driveway, squirrels eat them and leave shells everywhere, and I expect it to go away.

If it is organic coloring, due to UV light and weather, the pigments should get destroyed/washed away.


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## Tscarborough (Mar 31, 2006)

Take some chopped walnut shells and some mulched oak leaves, mix them up with water and bentonite (kitty litter) to mak a paste and spread it over your driveway for a week or so, keeping it moist. Cheaper than acid stain, and much easier not to screw up. Seal it when done to protect it for a beautiful driveway that is stainproof in the future.


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## hidden1 (Feb 3, 2008)

I agree with keeping it in the best condition if it is a fix up home ..I also renovate a lot and a lady WILL notice that ! 
Appearance does matter to the buyer!
Glad that oxi- clean worked for you.


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

Just for the record, here is my neighbor's driveway across the street. It runs up the hill and around to the back of the house where the garage is. And there is a whole 'nother section of the driveway that circles off to the left in front of the house.

I'm jealous, but I'm a cheap SOB and I would never indulge in such an extravagance. :vs_no_no_no:

But who's gonna tell me that this beautiful driveway did not add significant value to my neighbor's house?


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## blackjack (Oct 21, 2015)

ZZZZZ said:


> Just for the record, here is my neighbor's driveway across the street. It runs up the hill and around to the back of the house where the garage is. And there is a whole 'nother section of the driveway that circles off to the left in front of the house.
> 
> I'm jealous, but I'm a cheap SOB and I would never indulge in such an extravagance.
> 
> ...


It all matters. Adds to the comps in the neighborhood thus increasing the overall value. It also promotes a sense of pride. No one wants to be "that guy" who has the worst, un kept, unmaintained home/property on the bolck....simple maintenance like keeping a clean driveway done regularly is a good home owner attitude to have imnsho...and yes, a sealant would be a great idea. Use a garden sprayer. Makes the job easier.


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## Piedmont (Nov 1, 2007)

I live up north, every fall the oak leaves stain my concrete just like you show and every spring there's no hint.

However, it's cloudy/rains here on average 3 times a week and I'm looking at your driveway wondering how old is it? Our cement looks like that only for the first year, it goes from a gray color to a light brown and a few years after that (and many rains) it gets a bit darker brown, the surface wears slightly so you begin to see sand sized particulates exposed, and pretty much stays forever. Maybe in AZ, with the little rain you get your driveway looks new all year! 

Sometimes, an oak leaf will stain my cement and you can clearly see everything about the leaf in the cement after cleanup. But, it fades/dissolves in a month.


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

blackjack said:


> No one wants to be "that guy" who has the worst, un kept, unmaintained home/property on the bolck...


I am the proud owner of that house. :smile:
The best investment is the worst house on a good block. The previous owner was an elderly widow who took zero care of the house (inside and out) for at least 6 years. I will have one of the best houses on the block when I'm done with the rehab.


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

Piedmont said:


> I live up north, every fall the oak leaves stain my concrete just like you show and every spring there's no hint.
> 
> However, it's cloudy/rains here on average 3 times a week and I'm looking at your driveway wondering how old is it? Our cement looks like that only for the first year, it goes from a gray color to a light brown and a few years after that (and many rains) it gets a bit darker brown, the surface wears slightly so you begin to see sand sized particulates exposed, and pretty much stays forever. Maybe in AZ, with the little rain you get your driveway looks new all year!
> 
> Sometimes, an oak leaf will stain my cement and you can clearly see everything about the leaf in the cement after cleanup. But, it fades/dissolves in a month.


Hard to believe that concrete driveway is almost 30 years old. 

As I said it is in virtually pristine, brand new condition, No stains (except one oil spot on the RV pad), Just two short hairline cracks, one at the top of the driveway where it meets the street, and one at the bottom of the driveway, exactly where they neglected to put a control joint.


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