Road resurfacing has ruined my van.

HazeDoll

I live on a very narrow country road. On Thursday it was resurfaced in heavy rain and on Friday, when there was even more rain, there was a horrible reddish-brown tarry liquid all over the road. I have never seen anything like it anywhere before.

I have spent the last hour experimenting with warm water and everything I can get my hands on to remove the mess from my van.

My van is white and was the first vehicle I have ever owned that has no dings or dents of scuffs of any sort on it. I have had it just seven months and I'm really disappointed that its pristineness has been destroyed like this. No matter what I do it looks filthy.

There was some ordinary dirt on the van but I had to change a tyre on Monday and left a few handprints in the dirt around the wheel. In these spots, where there was no coating of grime, the muck from the road resurfacing has stuck most noticeably. It looks awful.

Is there anything that will actually work to clean it?

Have I any recourse to the council?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058418225/road-resurfacing-has-ruined-my-van

Try WD40 on a cloth or just look on YouTube for plenty of videos on it.

148multi

Oil based wet wipes or kerosene on a rag

HazeDoll

Thanks for those suggestions. I don't fancy dousing the entire van in WD40 but I might have to resort to that. I suppose I could do it panel by panel.

I was under the impression that you should never let kerosene near your car. I've had a quick google and as usual there are contradictory findings.

This stuff is coming in under my gate now. It stinks, it's staining everything and it's running straight into a small river.

the_amazing_raisin

I'd suggest complaining to the council and logging a complaint with the EPA

https://www.epa.ie/our-services/compliance--enforcement/whats-happening/make-an-environmental-complaint/

Not sure it'll do much for your van but hopefully the threat of a hefty fine will make the council take more precautions and not half arse the job as they evidently have

HazeDoll

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123587653#Comment_123587653

I had this page https://www.catchments.ie/taking-action/ open and I was all ready to make my complaint but I lost my nerve. I've made complaints in the past* and I worry that I'm starting to look like a crackpot.

*Slurry being pumped directly into the river by a farmer. Vastly excessive use of weedkiller, by the council, that blew onto my property and affected a hedge as well as turning the roadside into a scorched-earth vista for miles. Dead livestock being left on the roadside for up to two weeks. Farmer setting heather on fire during the fire warning in the very dry summer of 2022.

BrianD3

Its a waste of time complaining to the EPA over something small like this unless the water pollution came from an EPA licenced site which a roadway is not.

You can submit a complaint to the EPA will but they will do fcuk all and will refer it to the County Council. Which will be the same Council whose roads dept/contractor has caused the problem.

You might be better off complaining to Inland Fisheries ireland. They have no qualms about prosecuting other public sector bodies.

blanchwill

Try tar remover? Reflect autocare will have something to remove it

RockOrBog

'Jizer' and a few rags will shift it. Then power wash it after

techman1

Slurry being pumped directly into the river by a farmer

I think you were mistaken in that observation, it is probable that the farmer was sucking water out of the river not pumping slurry in. No farmer in his right mind would do that as it would immediately be traced back

HazeDoll

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123588058#Comment_123588058

I absolutely wasn't mistaken. I have videos of the slurry running down the bank into the river. I also have a video of the river running greenish-brown with a layer of froth on top.

The chap I was talking to in the EPA agreed with me that it was a disgrace. Then he said that sure, by the time they got out to me it would be gone. I pointed out that I have videos. He said that they wouldn't be any use as proof.

I tried to push it with him and he said that the farmer would be sure to find out who reported him. How would he ever find out? He just would.

Orban6

If you want a "pristine" van, don't live on a country road.

You have no recourse.

HazeDoll

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123588127#Comment_123588127

Ah come on now. I don't expect the roads to be swept and polished every morning before I drive on them. I've lived on narrow country roads for just over 20 years, I'm not exactly Marie Antoinette expecting the countryside to be prettified and sanitised before I lay my precious eyes on it.

This not everyday grime. It's a horrible sticky mess and nothing I have tried so far can shift it properly. I have seen roads resurfaced before but I've never seen these puddles of manky smelly mess left behind.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123588153#Comment_123588153

Pretty sure you aren't supposed to lay a large amount of tarmac in heavy rain. The water gets into the bitumen and it won't set properly I guess

So it's probably leaking out of the road surface now and that's the runoff you're seeing

I'd say that's seriously weakened the road surface as well so it'll be wrecked within a year

I find it very frustrating when councils half arse jobs like this. I get that they need to be scheduled well in advance and it's difficult to account for weather, but they've literally just wasted a load of taxpayer money and will need to fix it again sooner than expected

HazeDoll

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123588264#Comment_123588264

It's a bit of a funny one. I'm almost certain that the chap who supervised this actually lives on this road. When I rang the council about the way they had napalmed the hedgerows on both sides with weedkiller I eventually got a call back from an unhelpful and taciturn man. It was only when the conversation was over that I realised that the person to whom I had been speaking shares an admittedly common name and a charmless manner with a local. Weirdly I have seen a streetsweeping machine, the kind of thing that you see beetling around a city in the early morning, going very very slowly along this road. I have never in my life seen a streetsweeper on a rural road before this. My security cameras caught it going past my gate at about 11am and back down just before 4pm. It was a lovely day and I suspected at the time that somebody had found an excuse to bunk off work.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123587591#Comment_123587591

You are right about panel by panel.

Get comfortable on a bag of rags or a cushion and just concentrate on one area.

When you have that done take a break and repeat on the next panel.

If you don't want to use kerosene try petrol.

Wash the whole van when finished

con747

OP, farmers have to clean up any muck or similar they leave on a roadway outside gateways and such if it could cause an accident afaik and I live in the sticks but never seen it happen. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen though. The farmer who owns the field opposite me uses a hedge cutter on a tractor to keep hedges in line but the odd time he uses weedkiller in a knapsack to spray the low grass.

As far as the new surface goes get used to it! I drove professionally all my life and every summer it was either remove tar or get a new windscreen after new surfaces were laid. The pristine van won't last long in Ireland i'm afraid!

fatbhoy

I seem to remember a very similar thread about this a few years ago. I think the person claimed off the council. It might be worth searching for that thread.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123588412#Comment_123588412

Then light up a lovely fag before you step back and enjoy the view.

XsApollo

if you want to keep your van pristine, get some good quality tar remover , fallout remover and clay bar.

Find a detailing website to get the good stuff like,

Autopia Professional Detailing Products.

There are detailing threads on here also that will guide you on what to do.

Lewis_Benson

Bring it to a good car wash service (not a petrol station diy or automatic wash) and explain to the lads there what it is, they'll be able to remove it.

PsychoPete

Get some tar remover, spray it on the panel,wipe it,wash the van and job done

HazeDoll

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have a few options before I give up and resign myself to owning a permanently dirty van.

I got some tar remover online, I just have to wait for it to arrive. I'm not convinced it'll do it but I'll give it a try. There aren't flecks of black tar on the van, instead it looks like it got a bad spray tan.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123588792#Comment_123588792

You're a ⛽ gas man 🚬

XsApollo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123589348#Comment_123589348

a clay bar will get it off, but you need to detar it and use fallout remover before you clay bar it, otherwise you can possibly just be rubbing the stuff you didn’t get off beforehand into the paint creating scratches.
also if the particles are that small that it looks like a spray paint the tar remover will probably just melt it away.

JIdontknow

do you have any pictures of the colour on the van?

HazeDoll

This is what's left after I washed it with warm water and washing up liquid. Looks like I haven't touched it.

HazeDoll

The lawnmower died because of course it did so I had a bit of time. This is the effect of WD40 followed by washing up liquid and warm water. I'm happy enough with that but it'll take me ages to clean the whole thing.

blanchwill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123590088#Comment_123590088

Have you tried a decent tar remover?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123590088#Comment_123590088

Did you try any of the lads doing jet washing to see if it comes off easier?

Tazzimus

A good tar remover will melt that off.

A good one, not some cheap one.

Washing up liquid is not great for washing your vehicle either, it'll strip any protective costings that may have been on it off. Use car shampoo.