HELP! Neighbor oversprayed my side BIG TIME (roof, washer, Home Depot)
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My neighbor got her imbecile son-in-law to touch-up sections of her wood dog-eared fence with some kind of red oil stain this past Sunday morning. The imbecile used a pump sprayer (Hudson sprayer) to apply the red oil stain. As a result he covered about 90% of my concrete slab next to our wood fence with red drips including the roof and front side of my metal shed including the doors. He also managed to stain my river rocks between the slab and the wood fence and my landscaping lights. The material he used is tough as nails. My shed was in perfect condition so I attacked that first. I had to use a heavy duty degreaser with a lot of force. Paint thinner, mineral spirits or Goof-Off would remove the finish color of the shed so I couldn't use those products. Honestly, I can't believe he didn't catch that he was over spraying so badly between the wood slats and over the top or that he didn't look over the fence just to know what concerns there may be before painting a shared fence.
I managed to remove some of the stain drips on the concrete with professional strength Goof-Off which comes in a metal gallon. The bad thing about this stuff is that it's a chemical and it stinks real bad. I don't like messing with these harsh chemicals.
I have about 100 square feet of concrete left to clean plus a few drops here and there. Can someone recommend me a product that's eco-friendly for this type of job? Would a pressure washer be strong enough for removing tough red oil stains? The neighbor will be reimbursing me for my expenses so screw her. For the river rocks the best thing to do is just turn them over and regular Goof-Off will remove the drops on my black plastic landscaping lights.
-Cheers.
Last edited by MountainBiking; 10-16-2014 at 01:02 PM..
Call your insurance company and see if they will cover the cost of repair, tell them exactly what happened and ask them if they can or will go after your neighbor for reimbursement.
Then hire someone to do the clean up for you.
I agree. Call your insurance. They may not fix your rocks, but the patio might be covered under your homeowners as well as any additional structures on the property. This pretty much equates to vandalism, IMO.
Have you approached the neighbor about this already?
Yes. When I got home on Sunday (the day this happened) I went over to her house and told her the bad news. She did confirm her son-in-law stained the fence in the morning. I was out on my long bike ride. She came over to take a look. She was stunned and she apologized profusely. She said she would reimburse me for the damages. It won't be a $20 receipt from The Home Depot and I will charge her for my time as agreed upon.
Your best bet might be to hire someone professional from the outset.
At a minimum I would go to a paint store (I recommend Sherwin Williams) and describe the situation. Then ask them what the best remedy is. I almost wonder if you should skip the chemicals and just pressure wash everything. SW should be able to recommend someone for that & tell you how strong of equipment they can use before causing damage. That said pulling anything from concrete or stone is going to be brutal if you can't pressure wash it off. Atleast with the shed you can get good enough and try and hit it with a coat of paint to cover.
I would hire a professional as well - they might be nice neighbors but when money is involved, all bets are off. She/they can't dispute your time, hourly fee, etc.
Did you ask the neighbor for the product that was used so you have some idea what its made of so you can properly find out what to use to remove it? You could be spending so much enegery when the product says to mix Bud Lite with a can of Del Monte Apple Sauce (unsalted of course) and that will make it just dissapear. Pro, DIY, or gettinga dvice from the paint store, they will all want to know what product was used; otherwise thay have to just make educated guesses (that can be wrong).
yep I would call the insurance company and I feel for you we all always have the one nimrod neighbor .
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and she apologized profusely. She said she would reimburse me for the damages. It won't be a $20 receipt from The Home Depot and I will charge her for my time as agreed upon. 
