LHM destroying the driveway..., ..help

[endorfin]

A month or so ago my XM leaked a large amount of LHM onto my girlfriend's parents driveway (it had a leak from the rubber pipes now fixed)

I rinsed it away with some washing up liquid & water but it now seems to be eating away at what looks like an expensive driveway, its a coloured tarmac'd type drive and the gravel seems to be coming loose.

Is there any way I can stop this process in its tracks or is the drive a goner?

[noz]

Hi endorfin,
I can see why you would want to get this fixed as soon as possible. Nothing like impressing the future inlaws, eh?

I'd nip down to the old car accessory shop and buy a litre of Gunk or similar degreaser and pour it all over the affected area neat. Once brushed in, rinse off with a hose. Most should be absorbed by the Gunk, the remainder should float on top of the water and be rinsed away. Using hot water for the first rinse should aid this process.

Hope that helps.

cheers

noz

[endorfin]

Yeah they're being a bit frosty with me at the moment, I can only imagine its to do with the driveway and not the thin adjoining bedroom wall(!)

I've been doing some googling and it seems that oil, diesel, lhm anything oil based erodes the tarmac...seems the only way is to angle grind the offending patch out and fill in with new tarmac and tamper it down with a vibrating plate or roller.

I reckon I can do this myself, order a repair kit and a visit to the tool hire shop. Only thing is the new tarmac will look like an eyesore not matching the drive & its a big drive...it'd be very expensive to repaint. XM ownership is looking to be dearer than I thought.

Poor old girl is sleeping out on the street tonight

(that's the XM not the gf!)

[Dieselman]

As you have found the oil is dissolving the bitumen in the tarmac. It's a shame it's red because that's more awkward to deal with, but a can of red bituminous paint might solve the problem as it will rebond the chippings.

You can't use any solvent on it as it will just make it worse.

If you do end up repairing the drive just repaint the whole thing to make it blend in. One can of paint and a decent roller and an hour will see the job done a a brand new looking drive.

Might be worth buying some sound-proofing too...