Removing skid marks in driveway

[Ben Hatcher]

Last winter some bozo decided that instead of shovel the driveway, he'd just spin the wheels until he got his truck into the garage. Now said bozo has one nice, long skid mark burned into his concrete driveway.

The following methods of removal were tried and failed:

• Wait 6 months for them to wear off
• Power wash using 1650 psi electric power washer
• Angle grinder with wire wheel.

The power washer got off a lot of it, but not all. The angle grinder didn't do much. The rubber seems to be melted onto the concrete.

Any ideas for removing this stuff? My, er, his next idea was muratic acid

[Chuck Wintle]

Last winter some bozo decided that instead of shovel the driveway, he'd just spin the wheels until he got his truck into the garage. Now said bozo has one nice, long skid mark burned into his concrete driveway.

The following methods of removal were tried and failed:

• Wait 6 months for them to wear off
• Power wash using 1650 psi electric power washer
• Angle grinder with wire wheel.

The power washer got off a lot of it, but not all. The angle grinder didn't do much. The rubber seems to be melted onto the concrete.

Any ideas for removing this stuff? My, er, his next idea was muratic acid

i would let it just wear off with time

[Greg Portland]

Last winter some bozo decided that instead of shovel the driveway, he'd just spin the wheels until he got his truck into the garage. Now said bozo has one nice, long skid mark burned into his concrete driveway.

The following methods of removal were tried and failed:

• Wait 6 months for them to wear off
• Power wash using 1650 psi electric power washer
• Angle grinder with wire wheel.

The power washer got off a lot of it, but not all. The angle grinder didn't do much. The rubber seems to be melted onto the concrete.

Any ideas for removing this stuff? My, er, his next idea was muratic acid

I'd rent a high power pressure washer (3500psi+) with a rotary turbo nozzle; the smaller electrics won't have the oomph for this kind of work. Muriatic acid will work but may discolor the driveway. Note that with both methods you'll probably need to do the entire driveway because you'll see the clean patches. With the pressure washer see if the rental place has a "sweeper" attachment... this will clean 1ft+ wide swaths at a time but may not have the power for the tire marks.

[Eric DeSilva]

I'm thinking... Stain the rest black?

[Ben Hatcher]

i would let it just wear off with time

That was my initial plan, but after 6 months and no change, I need a new solution. This is in a suburban subdivision and the driveway is kind of steep so it quite visible. Besides that, I'm the president of the HOA and really should have cleaned this up a long time ago.

[Ben Hatcher]

I'd rent a high power pressure washer (3500psi+) with a rotary turbo nozzle;

Somehow I knew this would be the next step. Oh well, probably better than polluting the earth with acid or kerosene.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a 3000 psi pressure washer with a spinning head and it will cut into the concrete

[curtis rosche]

you could burn it off with a torch. or just paint the driveway white.

[Jamie Buxton]

How 'bout removing skid marks from a hardwood floor? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kC0VfWkAbQ

[Mike Henderson]

you could burn it off with a torch. or just paint the driveway white.

If you locally heat concrete with a torch, especially an oxyacetylene torch, the concrete will spall. That is, the concrete will locally expand and when it expands enough, the surface will break explosively and pieces of concrete will fly out everywhere. The biggest danger is to your eyes but it will scare the heck out of you when it pops. And it will leave a ding in the surface of the concrete.

Mike

[David G Baker]

Mike,
The explosions remind me of the good old days when I did a lot of oxy-acetylene welding on my concrete pad in front of my garage. The first couple of times really got my attention.
Propane and one of the torches designed to burn weeds may do the trick but keep the flame moving or you will get the spalling that Mike mentioned. Not sure of any chemical that will dissolve tire marks on concrete.

[curtis rosche]

you could also make more tire marks in a pattern and call it art, then sell it for a large sum of money and everyone will want you to do burn outs on their driveway thereby solving your problems

[ray hampton]

can you get a permit to have the driveway covered with blacktop ?

[Matt Meiser]

Ugh--don't do that. They move differently, water gets in, cracks it, delaminates it, and makes a general mess.

Why is it that you can't get something like this off, but if you wanted to coat it, 1/2 would peel off in no time flat. Same with paint spilled on the floor?

[Brian Elfert]

Be sure not to get too agressive with a 3000 PSI pressure washer. A zero degree nozzle can actually remove concrete.