Asphalt Garage Cleanup

Terry Campbell

Terry Campbell

Member
Today I was asked about cleaning a parking garage single level 40 space, it is Asphalt not concrete I will have to sweep it first and it does have small oil puddles that they want cleaned out. Now I'm not sure I even want to mess with it and they don't want to spend a ton on cleaning it up. What would be the best method of getting the oil up being it is an Asphalt floor? Cat Litter maybe and then I'm not sure about washing it, I have only been doing concrete and have never had to clean up Asphalt before.

Just not sure it is worth the hassle.
 
I would just sweep it and maybe hit the oil spots with kitty litter. you could use a wire brush to scrub the kitty litter and break it up a little bit, but I wouldn't, unless the oil spots are pretty thick. Just leave it on for a couple of days, and let it soak in. The same things that get oil up when you are using a pressure washer are the things that will destroy the asphalt over time.
 
I figured the Asphalt being oil based would be bad news and I really don't want to wash oil anyways on Asphalt. Maybe I can try the kitty litter and see how that picks up the oil and go from there if they even do get the head guy to approve of the cleanup. But it needed a good sweeping anyways and I think that will help out some off the mess from being tracked in on the floors.

Thanks for the response Scott.
 
I've cleaned alot of asphalt parking lots for new consruction there would be alot of hydrolic stains and oil stains and of course dirt.

First I would have the parking lot sweept then I would put kitty litter on the stains let them sit for awhile maybe a day .

Then I would start wetting it then change the tips in the surface cleaner to a bigger orfice to lower the psi so no damage to the asphalt surface clean whole think then rinse.
 
Terry Campbell said:
Today I was asked about cleaning a parking garage single level 40 space, it is Asphalt not concrete I will have to sweep it first and it does have small oil puddles that they want cleaned out. Now I'm not sure I even want to mess with it and they don't want to spend a ton on cleaning it up. What would be the best method of getting the oil up being it is an Asphalt floor? Cat Litter maybe and then I'm not sure about washing it, I have only been doing concrete and have never had to clean up Asphalt before.

Just not sure it is worth the hassle.
Click to expand...

Terry great to meet you at the Vegas Round Table, your are a hard worker. The suggestions all sound like good advice.

Could you tell us more about the asphalt. The condition, age, when last seal coated (and type), covered or uncovered, any pics. Some older asphalt can be cleaned differently than newer, and seal coats can be natural oil based and some are synthetic.
 
Terry and Nigel, great meeting you guys at the Vegas Round Table, you guys sure know your stuff and are great people.

Since I do not own a sweeper, I would have it swept out first and put down an absorbent to try to get the rest of the chems for a day or two then clean that up and then give it a good rinse for that cleaner look.

Here whether it is new construction or existing asphalt they sometimes want it rinsed off, usually after a good rain and there is mud tracked all over so you can't use a lot of pressure since it is asphalt, just high volume of water or take your time but charge accordingly.
 
It was nice meeting both of you guys in Vegas ;) that was a good RT and Tony and his family did a Great Job on it and I can't forget Matt helped out on this RT too.

Well the Sweeping part is easy for me LOL with 2 Sweepers and my new one made just for this type of sweeping, the asphalt is not new it has been there a while, I'm not sure when it was last seal coated and it is in great shape. I think they just want the oil spots cleaned up and a good Rinse to wash so of the dust and dirt out, so I won't have to use a whole lot of Pressure on it. I'm going to do a test spot on the oil after I clean it with my sweeper on this floor and see just how good the litter picks it up. The oil has been there a while and is not really fresh oil and the dust and dirt has absorbed a lot of the oil too from the looks of it.

Testing is my best choice here before I do much of anything and I think I'm going to try to get them to sweep this garage out more often and they would not have such a mess being dragged in on their floors.
 
Terry , I think the test spot is your best bet. I only asked about the shape the asphalt is in because I have come across some that have been synthetically seal coated and they stand up to a lot more abuse from a "mild" cleaning, than some cheaper seal coat jobs.

Chris great meeting with you too.
 
This asphalt is in good shape so it should hold up great. I'm waiting for him to call me and I will do a test spot to see how good it comes up. Thanks for the advice on cleaning this up, I need all the help I can get.
 
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