Parking Garage woes

[DougBenn]

Ok, so I park in an undergroung garage at work, and I picked a spot where something dripped down from above and on to my front bumper. Didn't wash it off for several days as it appeared to be dirty water from the parking surface above, now the clear coat is etched, feels rough and I can't get this stuff off my bumper. Complained to the building management group , but they didn't see to giva a rat's a**. They said to try white vinegar. This ticks me off.

Anyone else have anything like this happen before?

Still don't know what white vinegar will do to the clear coat or paint.

 

[Gentleman]

Concrete is porus, Before retiring I worked for a hospital that had a multi level parking garage, there were areas when there were stress cracks in the slabs, what would happen on rainy days rain water from being blown in and dripping from vehicles would seep throught the cracks and fall on vehicles on the next lower level, whatver is in the concrete, calcium, I think, got on vehicles and caused what you are describing, the hospital paid for quite a few paint jobs, somehow in their mind it was cheaper to paint cars then seal the garage floor.

Bob

 

[libertydude]

HOLD ON MAN!!!

Stop.. do nothing.. but read on.. I actually had this happen to me.. on a brand new black caddy.. (dont ask I was in a wierd place when I bought the CTS) same thing happened to me.. looked like fresh icing on a glazed doughnut.. I asked everyone.. nobody seemed to know/care.. car wash wanted to WET sand it.. dealer wanted to paint it.. parking garage said.. never saw it before... I owned a detailing center for years.. and I never saw it.. but let me tell you... I tried it all to remove.... NO LUCK.. forget vinegar.. I used laquer thinner.. wd-40.. nothing.. then one day I asked this spanish parking garage dude.. in another garage.. hey ever seen this.. he said oh yeah man, very common when it rains.. it's water thru the cement creates LIME.. I said how do I get it off.. He had some magic in a spray bottle.. sprayed it on hosed it off NO rubbing was off in 15 seconds.. (DE-LIMER) prolly CLR?? I wasn't sure..it was clear and he said don't touch it as he sprayed it on and hosed it off... but a word.. the parking garage guy in your garage KNOWS what it is.. he just wanted no liability.. so get some delimer.. and hose it off.. NOTHING else will work.. me I sold my new caddy.. and NEVER park under garages.. park on top.. water runs downward... Hope this helps!

 

[DougBenn]

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like it is probably pretty eay to take care of. Looks like it is probably lime and I have some CLR in the garage, wish I would have thought of that! Thanks, will let you know how it turns out. Can't be much worse than it is now.


I think I am done with the underground parking for now.

 

[DougBenn]

Update

Had Santeen in the garage not CLR. Regardless, it took the residue off and looks good as new. I can't thank you enough for the help.

A quick spray, soak and rinse. Then threw some wax on it once I dried it.

Learn something new everyday! (Cheers)

 

[libertydude]

AWESOME!

That's cool.. I never park in garages after that.. makes me even more sad is that the parking garages act so 'i don't know what it is' give me a break!

Ever watch some people.. park under a tree to keep car from baking in sun, underground public parking garages to stay clear of eliments.. (probably the worse thing you can do is park under something..) ever see your grandparents cars? perfect.. and they do nothing to them... that's a good rule of thumb..

 

[VTNomad]

Parking

What cracks me up is that around my campus (ETSU) half of the parking sports are under oak or walnut tress. I don't mind walking an extra 100 feet to avoid a walnut crater in my hood.

 

[Corwyyn]

Re: Parking

What cracks me up is that around my campus (ETSU) half of the parking sports are under oak or walnut tress. I don't mind walking an extra 100 feet to avoid a walnut crater in my hood.

Not to mention what the birds in said trees will do to the car.

As far as the water problem, what is actually happening is that the water is leeching out the lime residue from the concrete; I believe it is used as a curing agent in the cement mix. Never seen anything like that out here in the southwest, but we don't tend to get that much rain here and I generally don't have a reason to park in a garage.