# Pavers look oil stained after stripping



## greg9840 (9 mo ago)

I hired a local paver contractor to strip the sealer off of the pavers on my covered front porch since it wasn't in good shape and the sealer on my driveway had totally worn off. This way, all my pavers would be unsealed and match. After the first attempt at stripping, the pavers didn't look much different. So they came back the next day and I'm not exactly sure what they did but I did see a bottle of muriatic acid on my front porch, so I would assume they used it in some way. After they finished stripping, my pavers were left with what looks like oil stains. Random bricks have dark spots that look like oil splatter. The contractor is insisting these must have been oil stains already present, under the sealer. But since the sealer makes everything look wet, these oil stains were not visible. I am very suspicious they damaged/discolored my pavers during the stripping process. Can muriatic acid or other stripping method leave stains like these that look like oil stains? Please see picture. I know that re-sealing would probably hide these stains, but I do not want to re-seal because I have a very large circular driveway so it's going to be very expensive to seal it and re-seal it on an ongoing basis. Thanks!


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

Putting aside this question is better for the sister site...

www.diychatroom.com​
So seal it again... problem solved...


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## greg9840 (9 mo ago)

Thanks, but I would really rather not spend the money. I have a massive circular driveway so it's going to be very expensive to seal it and also to re-seal every 2 years. I really just want to know if the contractor is responsible for the oil-look staining and if he was negligent in some way where he should have to fix it or compensate me in some way.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Looks to me as they have not completely dried out. Give it a couple more days.


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## Robie (Feb 25, 2005)

greg9840 said:


> Thanks, but I would really rather not spend the money. I have a massive circular driveway so it's going to be very expensive to seal it and also to re-seal every 2 years. I really just want to know if the contractor is responsible for the oil-look staining and if he was negligent in some way where he should have to fix it or compensate me in some way.



No.

Prove the stains weren't there before everything was sealed.


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## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

Use of this site is restricted to those professionally employed in the building trades.

Your question is better posted at diychatroom.com


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## greg9840 (9 mo ago)

Thanks but they were stripped more than a week ago. I believe they are totally dry. They look like this 24/7.


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## greg9840 (9 mo ago)

Oh, sorry about that. Thank you.


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

greg9840 said:


> *Thanks, but I would really rather not spend the money.* I have a massive circular driveway so it's going to be very expensive to seal it and also to re-seal every 2 years. I really just want to know if the contractor is responsible for the oil-look staining and if he was negligent in some way where he should have to fix it o*r compensate me in some way.*


That's what it comes down to right... you don't want to have to put out money for your issue... you only have to ask yourself if they were responsible, why would it not be everywhere... you asked them to strip it and they did... they can't control the conditions that were present before it was originally sealed...


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## Ed Corrigan (Jul 18, 2019)

KAP said:


> That's what it comes down to right... you don't want to have to put out money for your issue... you only have to ask yourself if they were responsible, why would it not be everywhere... you asked them to strip it and they did... they can't control the conditions that were present before it was originally sealed...


But...but, KAP, he gotsta get PAID!! 

Objectivity is irrelevant.


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## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

OP is the HO.

He’s trying to get out of paying his contractor.


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## greg9840 (9 mo ago)

I'm not looking to hold them accountable if they weren't negligent. I was just wondering if they did something wrong that caused this. I am not trying to screw over the contractor. But at the same time I don't want him to screw me over if he was negligent and if it was his fault my pavers got messed up. I don't know what chemicals he used and I was just wondering if this was his fault. For example, if someone puts down sealer on your pavers and the sealer immediately turns white, you generally know it's the contractor's fault. I was just wondering if this was a similar type of situation where a commonly made mistake would cause this type of oil-look-staining. I thought someone with a lot of paver stripping experience might know. Again, the last thing in the world I would want to do is blame the contractor for something that wasn't the result of his negligence. I'm not that type of person.


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

greg9840 said:


> I'm not looking to hold them accountable if they weren't negligent. I was just wondering if they did something wrong that caused this. I am not trying to screw over the contractor. But at the same time I don't want him to screw me over if he was negligent and if it was his fault my pavers got messed up. I don't know what chemicals he used and I was just wondering if this was his fault. For example, if someone puts down sealer on your pavers and the sealer immediately turns white, you generally know it's the contractor's fault. I was just wondering if this was a similar type of situation where a commonly made mistake would cause this type of oil-look-staining. I thought someone with a lot of paver stripping experience might know. Again, the last thing in the world I would want to do is blame the contractor for something that wasn't the result of his negligence. I'm not that type of person.


Fair enough... you cant strip paint or finish off wood and there be issues... one of the reasons why you seal it is to protect it... but it seems you're not going to do that, so those spots are not the last of it... especially on a driveway...


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

This isn't a strip issue


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