Removing AC Stain From Brick Patio

[mccabedoug 15]

Spent the long July 4th holiday cleaning, brightening and staining my 16'x20' PT deck. Did my homework and used EFC-38 to clean, Citralic to brighten and AC Cedar Semitrans to stain. First, this was a HUGE project, way more involved and labor intensive than I thought. More than 160 ballusters, 13 stairs and a 16' x 20' deck that is 10' in the air on a weekend with temps in the 90's made for quite a project. It looks great, however.

Anyway, despite using several hundred square feet of freshly purchased tarp, I still managed to get some stain on my nice brick patio. Mostly due to the tarps flipping over in the wind. I tried a Simple Green with a brush, bucket and water approach followed by a pressure wash and I can still see the stains. The bricks are Boston colonial pavers.

Any tips for a homeowner besides replacing the bricks?

[Rick2 42]

Can he try a little deluted HD80 in a hidden spot to see if it will discolor the brick? I know HD80 will remove the stain but it may discolor the brick as well.

[bigchaz 157]

I'm not able to look up the brick link on my phone but you should be able to use some stripper or even the EFC as mentioned above and scrub lightly with a brush and rinse with water. Or we use Goof Off brand graffitti remober (has acetone) or some Easy Off oven cleaner as a quick cleaner when in a bind. The AC isn't hard to take off so you don't need to leave anything on for long.

[James 624]

Keep putting some Mineral spirits or assitone on the stain . Agitate the spot with a brush and that will move the pigment away.

[John Orr 206]

I've had some success using kitty litter/oil dry. Grind it in, sweep it up.

[Rick2 42]

Hey, if you cant get the stain out can you just flip the brick upside down?

[mccabedoug 15]

Keep putting some Mineral spirits or assitone on the stain . Agitate the spot with a brush and that will move the pigment away.

Thanks. I tried mineral spirits on one of the largest stains as soon as I did it (was on a ladder). Seemed to make sense at the time to me too. Now that stain is no longer brown but now it looks perpetually wet. So, I don't think I want to do that again.

[mccabedoug 15]

Hey, if you cant get the stain out can you just flip the brick upside down?

Yup, thought about that too. The pavers have curved edges on the top. The bottom is just square. The link above kinda shows that. Thus, I cannot flip them. I will try mixing up a little of my leftover EFC-38 and try that. If all else fails, I will buy a few bricks if I can find and purchase a small quantity.

[Rick2 42]

There's a little lesson in here for all of us... Be sure you have bricks left over when the job is finished. ie. Order too many.

[James 624]

EFC will do nothing. How much AC did you spill on the brick ? Spirits and Acetone will evaporate away without leaving a stain. DID u use the new white milky Mineral spirits ?

[mccabedoug 15]

EFC will do nothing. How much AC did you spill on the brick ? Spirits and Acetone will evaporate away without leaving a stain. DID u use the new white milky Mineral spirits ?

The largest spill was no more than a couple ounces. However, since I was on a ladder and the wind blew it to the side of the tarp it spread to about a foot in diameter. Again, not much volume spilled, but it covered a few bricks. The other stains were drops of various sizes that evaded / went between the tarps.

The mineral spirits I used was the odorless mineral spririts that I have had for several years.

I would have throught that mineral spirits would leave nothing behind too, but in two of the places I used it, there is a dark stain there now (no brown color). In the places I did not use it, the stain is brown.

[bigchaz 157]

EFC will do nothing. How much AC did you spill on the brick ? Spirits and Acetone will evaporate away without leaving a stain. DID u use the new white milky Mineral spirits ?

EFC will strip an oil...enough to get it off the patio

[mccabedoug 15]

EFC will strip an oil...enough to get it off the patio

I'll try that tonight. If it works, fantastic. If not, I'm out a little cleaner, some water and a few minutes elbow grease. Thanks for the suggestion!

[James 624]

If Spirits and acetone did nothing EFC will do less on a stain on a brick. Simple Green straight should of been enough. You can make a poultice with EFC take some powder and make a slurry with Acetone and wipe it on the stain and cover with plastic. This will draw the stain out. You might have to do it multi times.

Sounds like you have more of an issue or more oil was spilled than you are saying if all of the other attempts didn't work. Getting minor stains off of AC is relatively simple.

[mccabedoug 15]

If Spirits and acetone did nothing EFC will do less on a stain on a brick. Simple Green straight should of been enough. You can make a poultice with EFC take some powder and make a slurry with Acetone and wipe it on the stain and cover with plastic. This will draw the stain out. You might have to do it multi times.

Sounds like you have more of an issue or more oil was spilled than you are saying if all of the other attempts didn't work. Getting minor stains off of AC is relatively simple.

Nope, it was just a couple ounces that spread out when spilled from 10' with a nice breeze to help. I was using a 4" roller to do the ballusters and the pan only holds about 4 oz. Less than half of it spilled when I climbed the ladder and my foot slipped a bit when I reached the top.

FWIW, it was 90oF when this occured and the bricks were almost too hot to walk on. The stain was immediately absorbed (ie, nothing on the surface to wipe off, around 30 sec after the spill). So, the stain now is IN the bricks.

Same goes for the mineral spirits. As soon as I poured a bit on it was absorbed by the dry, hot bricks. Previously, I tried pouring spirits on a towel first and scrubbing but nothing came up so I then poured a little on the bricks and scrubbed with towel. A little came off, but I am now left with a dark spot on the bricks.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.