LESLIE: Alright, we’ve got John in New Jersey. Welcome to The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
JOHN: How do I get rid of rust on my pavers in my driveway and also how do I get rid of oil on my pavers in my driveway?
LESLIE: Ah, same solution.
TOM: Yeah John, do you have a sprinkler system that’s sort of misdirected and shooting water off onto the pavers?
JOHN: I do but that’s not where I’m having the problem. It’s actually – it was actually from my vehicle; I think from the air conditioning.
TOM: Oh, so you think the air conditioning condensate is draining some rusty water onto the pavers?
JOHN: Exactly.
TOM: Hmm. OK, well the same solution would work for both situations and that is to pick up some TSP, which is available at paint stores or hardwood stores or home centers.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
TOM: Stands for trisodium phosphate.
LESLIE: It’s in the paint aisle.
TOM: Mix it up into a paste-like finish. Trowel it on there. Let it soak for a bit and that should draw as much of the rust and/or the oil out of it.
Now, your pavers, are they red pavers?
JOHN: No, they’re not. They’re actually gray …
TOM: OK, good. Sometimes if you have, you know, real strong, red pavers you could lighten them up a bit with this technique so you might want to try it just on a brick off to the side first. But it’s pretty much the strongest thing we know to pull the stains out.
JOHN: TSP? Somebody had told me that Cascade worked also but I haven’t tried it yet. But I want to try the TSP first.
TOM: Lots of things work if you do it right away.
JOHN: Right.
TOM: But when it sits there for …
LESLIE: But if it’s been sitting there awhile.
TOM: Yeah, exactly.
JOHN: Been sitting awhile. (chuckling) Of course.
TOM: Did you fix the car, John?
JOHN: (chuckling) No, actually it’s parked on the street. (Tom chuckles) Getting ready to trade it in.
TOM: That’ll work. (Tom and Leslie chuckle)
JOHN: Thank you very much.
TOM: Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
Leave a Reply