Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Concrete driveway: Stain? Paint?

My driveway is stained and discolored. I have used chemical cleaners and pressure cleaner and it's still unsightly.

I have seen some colored stains and paints. Anyone have any experience with this type of application?

TIA!

Hi,

please, read the message and answers of the post right below this

Good luck!

My mistake. My driveway is concrete, not asphalt.

Hi,

Post change their position when answered, sorry about this. See this discussion

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139096

Good luck

Thanks, I read that one as well. I'm no longer trying to clean the surface. After several failed attempts to get it looking good, I decided to look at stains and paints.

What type of stains are on your concrete. Acid etch staining is becoming quite popular to change the color of concrete. Contamination of concrete with oil stains will make staining of affected areas impossible. Please advise what type of stains challenge you.

Let's see, we have some oil stains (after pressure cleaning), rust stains, paint and what appears to be bleach stains.

There are commercial concrete and masonry cleaners available. What makes concrete such a challenge to clean is that it is porous. Stains that have been absorbed deep into concrete tend to be next to impossible to remove.

There are commercial cleaners for oil stains at auto supply stores. 100% citrus oil cleaner is used industrially to remove oil and grease stains. Wet concrete, apply cleaner, let set (overnight) and scrub with brush and water. Repeat if necessary.

Rust requires a cleaner that contains oxalic acid. Barkeepers Friend and Zud are two such cleansers. Wet concrete, sprinkle on cleaner. Scrub with brush. Apply more cleaner and let the paste set. Scrub with brush and water. Rinse. Repeat if necessary.

For paint, scrape off excess. Mineral spirits is effective on oil (alkyd) paints. Pour on stain. Let set. Blot from outside stain toward middle to prevent spreading. Repeat. Scrub with masonry cleaner. For latex paint there are dried latex paint removers available. Goof-Off is one such product. Apply to paint stain, let set. Blot. Repeat if necessary. Scrub area with concrete cleaner.

What appears to be bleach stains is where bleach has bleached out the soil on concrete surface, making areas lighter in color than surrounding areas.

Steam cleaning of concrete is often more effective than pressure washing. Check out the following:

http://www.concretescience.net/franchise-sites/howWork.php?location=Central%20Ohio