[Ged]

hi all

just had a call from someone wanting a large oil spill removed from their tarmac drive. well infact they want an estimate to produce for a claim against the garage who caused the problem.

i have removed oil from concrete and block paving successfully with a powerful degreaser but think pressure washing tarmac plus degreasr might be a recipe for disaster. any advice greatfully received .

all the best


ged

[DP]

Yup it is as you  have guessed, using the same combination on tarmac will destroy the tarmac, I know because I’ve done it years ago.

You can do it using an alkaline detergent cold water and low pressure, agitating with a deck scrubber but need to flush all the detergent away as it will whiten the area and dry the surface badly if you don’t, although you will always run the risk of some discolouration.

Providing the integrity is still there you can also contract a tarmac company to re spray the surface to re colour the entire area.

Technically already destroyed, insurers will normally go for a test patch and small fee if you want to go for it. However unless its really bad the client will often just keep the money and put up with it.

There may be other ways which I am not aware of, but hope this helps.

[Paul Forster]

The oil is likely to have made its way down the layers.

 The only option is to cut around the edges with a cut off saw, chip out the roten tarmac, coat the edges with bitumen emulshion and re lay using 'warmed' up cold lay. If you heat cold lay up with a gas torch first you can get a level of compaction as good as the surounding surface (tamp down with an old board folowed by either a compaction plate or a punner).

Disel oil is normaly used to clean truck beds etc after tarmacing work and as sutch will disolve tarmac if spilt.

Paul

[Ged]

thanks chaps

think i'll pass on this one.

Cheers

ged

[preston powerblast]

Good decision.
heavy duty chemicals or even hot water effect the binding agents in tarmac and it ends up in big holes all over the place.
Tell them if its an insurance job they will be needing to get the tarmac lads in.
I find with a lot of insurance estimates they are only after getting a bit of dosh.