Grease, Oil Stains on Driveway, How to Remove?

Sorry - but if a company damaged my property? They would be paying to fix it or clean it up.

Call the general manager and have them come out and clean up what they destroyed.

You will probably have to have a professional service come in and clean this if it is more than just a few spots.

You should call the owner of the company and politely, but firmly, make your point to him/her.
It would have been better to have mentioned it at the time, so don't let any more time pass before you make your complaint. It will just make it easier for them to dismiss you. I believe the company should pay for this clean-up, and you should be prepared to insist on that.

If the company tries to deny your request, you may have some options.
If you paid by credit card, you can ask the credit card company for help with this. If you paid by check, you can stop payment (if it's not already cashed). You can make a report to the state contractor's board.

This is a major pet peeve of mine, and whenever we have contractors to the house, I remind them to park their vehicles on the street, or if they have to be closer to the house, to ensure there are no leaks, or if there is any question about possible leaks, to put protection under their vehicles.

Driveways cost thousands of dollars, and if you have a customized driveway, the costs are even higher. Contractors and their employees should respect your home, and that includes all of the outdoor parts of your property.

Having been through new home construction and also major home renovations, I've learned a great deal about how to interact with contractors. While I realize there are honest and good contractors, I have seen more than my share of lazy and careless ones, as well as their subcontractors, who will cut corners, and try to do things the quicker, easier way, if you let them, if you do not stay on top of your project.

I had an electrician who once dropped a tool on a hardwood floor and made a huge gouge. Had I not inspected the area before he left, he could have easily said that gouge was there. Of course, it wasn't, and I informed him that the boards would have to be replaced. He grumbled that this was going to cost him money, but he knew he was responsible. He did arrange and pay for the repair, but he wasn't happy about it, and I'm sure if I had waited, he would have pushed back and found a way to get out of his responsibility.

What happens is that most people are afraid to speak up, and therefore, the contractors just get away with this carelessness the vast majority of the time, so they just keep doing it.

Call the company tomorrow morning and get this started. And in the future, whenever you have contractors come to your home, think through the project before hand and try to anticipate potential issues like this, so you can remind them to take caution before the project starts. Ask about how they plan to take care of your home and property. Ask what happens in the event of some damage. Take before pictures of the area where they will work.

Good luck and do not feel badly or be intimidated for taking care of your most significant material asset. If you won't, who will?

If it were my drive, the roofing company would be coming back out to clean up.

I'm picky about any vehicles in my drive.

You might try Dawn dishwash and the cat litter is a good idea too.

There are driveway de-greaser products but you should have the roofers do it. They have big trucks with oil leaks, so they are doing this to other customers as well. They probably know it, and frankly, it wouldn't take much effort for them to bring a couple of big flattened cardboard cartons to soak up any drips.

I hope you didn't pay them in full yet - if they give you a hard time, stop payment on the check until they come take care of things. And take a picture of things before and after - send a "before" photo to the roofing company and to a friend so it's documented when you took it (more than just the time/date stamp on the photo).

Hopefully they will be responsible and realize that a bad review on Angie's List or a complaint with the BBB will be worse for them than the cost of the driveway degreaser product and a little labor.

You should call the roofers - even if you are not "angry at them", they might just have some products that will clean it up faster than you trying to do it yourself.

They should have put cardboard down under their trucks. They HAVE to know that their trucks leak oil. It's irresponsible what they did.

Have them take care of this.

A good de-greaser should work pretty well especially if you treat it right away so the grease doesn't have a chance to soak into the concrete.
We've used full strength Spic N Span or Mr Clean with good results.
Pour it on full strength, scrub it with a stiff brush, wait a while (not so long that it dries out) and rinse with water - repeat a few times.
Treating it twice has cleaned up any leaks for us.

Pour cat litter on them to soak up whatever liquid might be remaining. Sweep it up. Then use dish soap and a broom to scrub up the remaining stain.

I agree with contacting the roofing company. I have called contractors back and even a house cleaner once who chipped my toilet tank cover. My neighbor called her roofers back after they were done. She let her dogs out and they got nail punctures in their paws from all the nails that fell here and there. They came out with a big magnet thing and picked them all up. If you have no luck there, my husband has used cat litter (regular litter and not the clumping kind) and then sprayed on simple green cleaner full strength and scrubbed and rinsed. Dawn dish soap, the original blue kind, might work too.

My husband has spilled great and oil in our garage before. The only thing that worked for the smell was cat litter. I would pour it on and leave it sit for days. Then sweep it up. Not sure about the actual stains though.

I've heard that oven cleaner does it too. There may even be products specifically for that at the hardware store - I think our realtor mentioned it to us when we went to sell our old home.

But I'm with the ladies below. I'd be calling them and just explain that while they did a great job, their trucks marked up your drive.

If it was recently you maybe can use cat litter. It will soak up the oil and minimize the stain. Keep it on for several days.

Home Depot or Lows will have a solvent to use. My hubby has used it in the past. But I would definitely call the supervisor and complain.