Ron's Clean crete Photos

Ron Musgraves

Exterior Restoration Specialist
Staff member
I will post my own thoughts about pave clean. for right now i can say there is a use for this product in the market place.



Before Photo
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During
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After
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i did have fun meeting Jon, Kendra & company, also another freind of Jon's i cant remember his name. Maybe i will get to revisit Jon And spend more time.

Thankyou Jim & Travis Zdrazil From PCI products. they distribute clean crete on the west coast.
 
You had the before and during pics what about the after pic. I am very excited to see how good this stuff work.
 

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Opps I guess I did not read the title on each photo sorry my mistake. But how did it look after all that powder was gone?
 

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It did a god job at removing the actual oil stains. But... that's it. For the jobs that I typically do, it has very little benefit.

They use it as a maintenance tool for cleaning parking structures. They do one really good pressure cleaning and then use the product as a maintenance tool for the oil stains. For this appication it would be perfect. But you would still have to clean dirt, gum, etc. every so often as it builds up again.

My thoughts.....
 
Did your finished demo job look as good as the Pave clean literature shows?

When the job was done, did anyone walk through to see how much powder would track away from the treated area? Or maybe drive over it?

(Could see this as a potential problem if people were to track the stuff all through a bank or a restaurant or something. Also track marks on the road in front of the exit.)

Also, could you guys post some numbers on how much product was used, the square footage of the job, and the product prices?

What do they recommend for re-application schedule? (every month? every six months? Whenever it looks dirty?)
 
No water used and if it gets wet it will wash away.

How much was used, since I did not hear what he said exactly I would say about 3 pounds for that job.

I would say no to looking exactly like the pictures you talk about but yes if you consider this is a first time and I am sure if the job was done a second time that same evening it would look more like the pictures you refer to.

Also keep in mind just like pressure washing, each job is different, some easy and some hard and some OMG run from it but this product will dry up the oil.

Yes we walked on it and NO noticable powder stuck to our shoes.

Price, I think it best they post that even though I will say it is not in-expensive, but if you consider how little you would use per parking spot and if you charge the right amount you could profit from it.

Recommended time span for cleaning, every 3 month however they have accounts they do if I heard Jim right weekly but that is the exception.

You will have to educate the customer about what it really does and that even the next day you will see fresh oil down again.

I have a sample and want to try it someplace where I can see what happens when it rains within a day of putting it down.

I will repeat this more then one time, I am not against this product, it has its place in our business, giant parking stuctures would be one for sure.

What I personally was hoping for was to hear that it does the same with grease since the dumpster areas have grease traps and that is where I would use it, but it is not to be.

Perhaps Paul Jennings will develope a like product that will work with cooking oil and grease.

Sq. ft. 192.
 
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AH! MAN

I wish you guys would have had these pics to post sooner I just ordered a container of this suff on FRI since I had'nt seen any pics from any one other than manufacturer figured I would give it a try myself. Oh well live and learn it's only 20 bucks.

Andrew/Safe Clean
 
Pave Clean 101,

By Ron Musgraves:

I’m not and expert on this product but I rate the use of this product high. Two Thumbs Up, the product is intended as absorbent and it does a great job.

Now on to why we perceive that this product didn’t do a great job? Photos do not do this product justice, you need to see the product in action for yourself. I really thought that Jim & his son Travis did a great Job giving the demo. They did more than explain the product to each of us. No they didn’t answer every question but they didn’t bullshit us. Jim said rights from the get go that this is not the cure all for pressure washing. It’s simply a tool in our tool chest.

I want to ask you a question no to do with clean Crete but about that grease can at the restaurant that over flowed and you had 20 too 30 Lb. of grease all over the concrete. What do you do? Some of us use sand and some use kitty litter. We absorb as much of the grease up before we pressure wash. The kitty litter sand or anything else we use is merely a tool.

If you think that this product didn’t do a great job then I think your looking at it the wrong way. It is not going to replace pressure washing. At least not for now. One-day water reclaiming will get tougher and those not ready will be left behind.


Jim & Travis pointed out the places this product would work. I have been pressure washing for 18 yrs and clean crete is not the first product of this type I have seen. I have lost accounts to these types of products. I have also regained accounts when these products failed for whatever the reasons. You’re competing against them. The way I see it is why compete against them, use it as a tool. I told Jim that if I run across anything that I would need this product then I would be calling him and making and order.

Where would the idea locations for clean Crete Be?

Parking garages & large malls with concrete parking areas. Consider that many parking garages want the oil stains removed. Can pressure washers remove oil stains? NO we can make them safe for the consumers and workers of these locations. Would clean Crete Eliminate pressure washing? NO would clean Crete make spots safe for consumers? YES. Would it be more cost efficient? I don’t have that answer, JIM says yes.

Most retail centers such as large malls are not going to pressure wash individual space and oils spots. However they do want to reduce liabilities. Keeping and absorbent like clean Crete is a great idea. Color matching is done as well. Of course Jim couldn’t match our demo because he had never seen the location before. I like this product they claim its safe and I believe it reduces these centers and parking garages liabilities. It can work in drive through banks and other establishments as well.


I thank Jon, JIM, and Travis for all their time and the professional way they handle themselves. I commend this BBS for Asking the Questions and hope that if your interested you make your own Judgment before you buy. (Great Absorbent nothing else) I think all at the demo would agree.

I think my opinion is just that and opinion. This may not be the product for some.

Finally the questions asked: Jon I believe answered Most.

I had fun Meeting Kendra and the other Contractors it was fun.
 
I agree with the above..........it is a tool, not a cure-all......it has it's place.

I saw a demo back in September. What I would really like to see is a long term test......to see how it looks a few months down the road after a couple of applications.

Don't sell your power washer just yet.......but look into this stuff.....because if you come upon a situation where it would work and dont have it, and your competior does......guess who loses the job??
 
You got a point

YOu know what I was thinking it was going to be a cure all for oil stains. I am glad you pointed it out that it is an asorbent and not the total fix all. I do see a place for it in my tool box like you said. I was just hopeing it would work like it did in the before and after photos they have on there site. And it still might if you do it every week or so. Thanks for your opinion.
 
Ron you said it well. To all, don't assume because I said " let the pictures speak for me that I do not see or like a product". I honestly would need to use it myself more to see if I like it and I have not decided if I am going to do that or not.

Mike Hughes said it would be nice to have a long term test, if you refer to seeing the same job done using only clean crete I would do that if Jim donates or offers a rock bottom price to me on enough to do the same job over and over, the location of the demo.

It is a local business and he would love me doing it for free, I have used his car wash area as a testing place in the past and every little bit I clean he is glad it was done. If only he offered me free milk!

Mike let me know your idea of long term testing please.
 
First off I would like to introduce myself. I am the guy in Ron's pictures pushing the broom. I did the demo for Ron, Jon, Kendra and Julio in Southern California. (Nice shoes huh!!) I have been in the commercial steam cleaning business for 16 years. In addition we have a products division (PCI Products Company) that sells Pave Clean for the entire Western U.S. as well as industrial absorbent products (www.absorbentsonline.com) and consumer absorbents at (www.cleanupstuff.com). "I thought I'd steak in a little advertising." Let me try to answer some of the concerns here about Pave Clean.

I got involved with Pave Clean because of one reason - environmental regulations. Five years ago I gave up parking structure cleaning (we had 4 to 6 steam cleaning units working most weekends) because I did not want to risk my company to hugh EPA fines and I did not want to invest thousands of dollars in reclamation systems, deal with the equipment headaches and add the additional labor (more headaches) to my payroll which is required if you are doing "zero discharge" work.

My first impression of Pave Clean was similar to most. It only covers up. It took me several months of working with it before I realized it works and the temendous potential there is with a "dry" cleaning process to clean up oil. At present we do thousands of parking stalls on a quarterly bases with Pave Clean.
There is a contracter in some other states who do hundreds of drive up locations each month.

Pave Clean absorbs oil-period. It is real fine like flour so it has more surface to absorb the oil and to get into the pours of the concrete. It can be colored to somewhat match the concrete. With several applications it will draw the oil from the substrate and form a barrior for cleaning up new oil drips. It also covers up the carbon stains. No it will not remove all of the carbon stains completely and neither will pressure washing.

If you look at Jon's pictures in his thread the before picture (#1) side by side with the 5 day later picture (#3) you will see that the wet oil spots above the crack are gone in #3 and the ones you see are on #3 are new drips (they are in a different location). It would be interesting if Jon would now take a photo of the same area before and then pressure wash it using his best chemicals, rotary nozzel, spinner, etc. Then take an after picture and also a 5 day later picture. To do this legally in California Jon would have to hook up, plug the drain on the drive, do the job, collect the water, repack his equipment, dispose of the water and provide the customer with proof he disposed of it legally. I believe the stains will still there, prove me wrong. (Jon I am not picking on you because based upon your comments you see the value of the product but it would be an interesting test for comparison).

To rap this up here are answers to a few questions on this and another board.
DISPOSAL - Dispose of in compliance with local, state and federal regulations. We don't recommend because they vary from location to location. I will tell you there is very little to dispose of. We combine it in 55 gal drums and have it pickup by companies that pick up other absorbent waste from plants. Disposal costs are insignificant.

COVERAGE- Coverage varies based upon amount oil you are cleaning up. You will use more product the first time but less and less each additional cleaning of the area. We used about one eight of pound for the demo (thats what you see being broomed on Ron's photo. On a thousand parking stalls you will use about 500 pounds on the initial cleaning. If doing on a quarterly bases you will use less the half that amount. For monthly drive-ups of a couple of cleanings you will use about 20 pounds per thirty locations with two lanes per location and center stripping them. Note that these are approximate amounts.

WHY DON'T THE DEMO LOOK LIKE THE PHOTOS ON THE DELCO AND PAVE CLEAN SITE? Because I wanted to show how the product attaches to the oil (the solid white spots are that way because that is where the oil is) Remember that this is a product for cleaning up oil. By using more product and doing the entire lane I could make it look like the other photos.

BLEED THROUGH. On initial cleanings you will get bleed through of oil because it is pulling oil from the substrate of the concrete. When we quote cleaning of parking structures, included in the cost is we come back in 7 to 14 days and reapply on stalls that bleed back. You have to let the product work. On real bad locations that haven't been cleaned in years you will continue to get bleed back. If you steam clean a stall or drive up lane and come back the next day you have oil that rises to the top and is wet (and can be slick). With Pave Clean it is not slick. You have to bid with this product just like steam cleaning, you charge more for bigger messes because you need to use more product and time.

Ron, Jon and Kendra answered alot of questions and I thank them for taking the time to see the demo. Please feel free to contact us if there are any other questions. We will also be looking at the board.
 
Couple of additional remarks

Thanks guys for the time you all took to look at PaveClean (clean crete). A couple of things that I just want to add to this chat.

1. PaveClean is an adsorbant and absorbant. It will not release anything once it has been taken up by our product.

2. We have many banks and drive thru's using our product so the applications are varied.

3. Yes, the product will "wash away", but the key is that in oil stained areas it will stay and continue to work into the concrete. The pictures on the website are not re-touched and represent accounts that have been serviced on a monthly or quarterly basis and as time goes on PaveClean will increasingly reduce the work involved with each location.

4. Cost effectiveness is a key to PaveClean. As you continue to use it on a location you will see dramatic savings! We know that the average contractor will use approximately 2lb per lane, with that amount being considerably less as you re-apply to the account.

5. PaveClean is not a replacement, but it is a strong method for cleaning oil and grease. We also have many contractors using it on those dumpster areas and it proves to be very effective in the long run. This is a time proven product and will continually improve and contain these key areas without a lot of time and effort wasted. I like the use of the phrase "an added tool" as that is what we feel PaveClean is to your business.

There is a great concern here for water being used on the concrete and ashpalt surfaces and PaveClean provides a complete answer to those environmental concerns.

Many times over the cost effectiveness and quality of PaveClean will be seen by anyone who works with our product. I want to thank you all again for meeting with Jim and looking at my product. I encourage you all to use our product and give it time to prove its' worth in your marketplace. No, we are not a miracle product, but we are a solution to a growing problem. Many accounts have opted for PaveClean because it is effective.

Thanks again everyone. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me personally @ pjennings@paveclean.com

Andrew....your order went out yesterday and of course I would truly like to talk with you on what specific applications you're looking at. We'll be happy to assist you and of course we can train you in Florida. We're located in Cape Coral and our manufacturer is also our national training center.

Thanks again everyone!

Paul Jennings
 
Jim and Paul thanks for coming here and posting your answers.

I do have one that I am sure many others have also, I did ask Jim and he answered but was not paying attention to his answer at that moment, Kendra can be a um, well cute distraction:) I think I was handing her my camera at that moment!

Anyway, taking the demo as an example, the outer sides would also have to be done to match up everything, would it be best to pressure wash that then return and do the Pave Clean area OR would you say do the whole thing with Pave Clean?

If you say do it all with Pave Clean how long will the dirt and film stay clean looking at the entrance?

I have a parking building I might try to sell on this product, need to count the stalls and then get with Jim, then make an unsolicited bid for it.

I still want something to absorb grease and cooking oil, come on Paul get with that for us please:)

Thanks again for the nice evening and all the other things Jim did for us.
 
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