Desperately seeking help to clean pattern imprinted concrete

[slapstyxx]

I'm hoping someone can give me advice on how to clean rubber tyre skid marks off a freshly laid imprinted concrete drive.
Our neighbour spent a small fortune on having a new drive laid a few weeks a go. Then he went away on holiday. Whilst he was away, some kids thought it was a great idea to use it for BMX stunts. Unfortunately the youngster we look after was involved. The brand new drive is now covered in skidmarks. My neighbour isn't too happy...
He says the outfit that laid it can't clean it. They have to "chemically burn off the sealer and reseal it". Inevitably, he expects me to cover the cost. However, he won't let me touch the drive, which seems a tad unreasonable. His contractors were unorthodox, to say the least. They caused a lot of damage, swore incessantly, and were out there using machines at 9pm. Now they won't say whose sealer they used. I'm not convinced that they're the most reliable source of information.
Does anyone have experience in this field please? I feel sure there must be a way to clean off rubber marks without damaging the surface. I'd love to restore relationships and his drive. I have some citrus cleaner that deals with most things; is it really likely cause more damage to a surface that is theoretically designed to be driven on and exposed to the weather?
I'll be very grateful for any advice.
Thank you in advance,
Mark

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

Google it, I found one site that stated that it can take a few weeks for the drive to gain full strength. But the once set, to remove marks its just detergent and a wide angled power wash, then reseal.
But, its not your drive. If kids have caused 'damage' then Id suggest you should abide by what your neighbour wants. But if the neighbour wants a costly independent company to run up the price, then perhaps you point out that others were involved, and you've offered to make the damage good of all the group!
If your neighbour really wants to make an issue, doubt there's nothing you could do to repair the relationship!

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

Having just read my post, apologies for my poor grammar, its been a long night

 

[Burnerman]

Have you tried a wire brush? The rubber is on the top of the concrete, after all.
Does pressure washing touch it at all?
John

 

[Mursal]

As above, but to be honest the cleaning isn't the problem, its your neighbour. How are you going to get working on the drive? And be very careful that he doesn't let you do X, Y and Z to fix it, fully knowing he still isn't going to be satisfied. The guys that laid it, are on a gravy train, with you paying the bill?

Deny all involvement and maybe, just maybe, as a good will gesture you will try and help him clean his drive. Make it clear its not down to you and have no intention to pay a third party to clean his drive. Probably in your opinion it will wash off over the winter, see what the reaction is, to that.

Did they break in or did he leave it open to the world while on holiday?

PS
Keep that young lad/ladette away from motorbikes for as long as you can, they can really do burnouts .............

 

[Diyisfun]

Rubber skid marks disappear of road surfaces (they aren't worn away). I would let the concrete cure properly & try pressure washer or maybe a good bristle scrubbing brush.
If he hasn't got gates on his drive I would say tough on him.

 

[r896neo]

how fresh is fresh? If the sealant hadn't properly cured yet then the contractor is right the marks may not be easy to remove but if this was say a week afterwards then its nonsense.

What is a sealer for if not to protect the drive from stains and marks.

If it was done while the sealant was still curing then don't do anything until you have spoken to experts about this, preferably the technical helpline of the sealant mftr.

You need to find out what product the sealant is, when it was applied and when the 'damage' was supposedly done.

Seriously though don't start pouring things on it because someone on the internet said so. PIC is almost impossible to patch and if the surface is gets damaged by some poor choice of attempted cleaning you will be screwed.

 

[slapstyxx]

Thank you all for your replies and advice.

Update:-

I've approached several sealer manufacturers. Their advice is generally similar, although none is able to say with certainty that a given solution will work because we don't know what make of sealer was used. Three makers say the sealer is more likely to "pick up" marks whilst the drive cures. They also say that they'll simply wear off in time. Two suggest using a citrus based cleaner with mild agitation if necessary, followed by a low power (wide fan) pressure wash. All are adamant that their products, when correctly applied, are designed to withstand pressure washing. Similarly, they all recommend leaving the drive to fully harden (and thus the sealer to cure) for six weeks before doing anything.

I researched the contractor. The company is a limited liability company with a net worth of £336. They claim 19 years of experience, but have traded for only two. Apart from a director listed at Companies House, there were four workmen on the job. That means an average of less than four years each. One, a 23 year-old, told my neighbour he'd been doing these drives for eight years (!), which says the others have little or no experience or the claim is simply an outright lie. The director was previously associated with another disreputable driveways company that went bust a few years ago. They turn up in an unmarked white van, and use an 0800 number that connects via a call handling centre. Frankly, I wouldn't have touched them with a barge pole.

My neighbour dropped by yesterday. Despite pressure, the contractor still hasn't given him the details of the sealer they used. He said he nearly fell through the floor when the contractor told him how much they'd charge to reseal the drive; at least he had the grace to keep that figure to himself. He admitted that he was annoyed to start with, but subsequently accepts that kids will be kids. He just wants his driveway to look less like a racetrack, which is only reasonable.

When we looked more closely at his drive yesterday, it was clear that there are other rubber marks from car tyres and shoes, as well as those left by the kids. Worse still, there are what appeared to be chips in the surface already. My neighbour said they're not chips; they're voids that the contractor failed to fill before they applied colour and sealer.

He was dismayed when I shared my findings about his contractor. He's had to repair the damage the contractor caused (including fitting a new outdoor tap), and he admits that he's reluctant to have them back. He's willing to leave it another week and then let me try the citrus cleaner idea. Both suggestions came from makers of solvent based sealers, and he's pretty sure they used a solvent based product.

Thanks again to all - I'll post another update in a week or so after we've tried cleaning.

Cheers!

 

[r896neo]

did they definately seal it?

Unscrupulous contractors have been know to charge for sealing and not bothered or painted on some mysterious mixture of nonsense like pva and water to pretend its something real