HAPPY HANDYMAN: Drive Up will give you the cleanest garage floor in the neighborhood

A few years back at the International Hardware Show, we found a product that will take oil out of concrete - at least thats what they said.

All the cleaners up until then really didnt do a very good job. So I told the show rep to send us a gallon and we would try it out. He also said that the cleaner would work on asphalt, and that it comes in 55 gallons drums for convenience store parking lots.

I gave that gallon to Trudy to use in her garage. She had bought a house that was 20 years old and had existing oil stains in the garage and if the product would clean her stains, it would clean any oil stain.

She used Drive Up in a small hand sprayer and sprayed the stain. She sprayed the stain every 15 minutes for a hour. Then the last time she sprayed the stain, Trudy gave it a quick scrub with a broom and rinsed with water and it worked! Not only did it work, it worked great.

We have had great success with Drive Up and you can too. The nice part about Drive Up is that it is non-caustic and you dont have to worry about damage to surrounding landscaping. It made Trudys garage smell like an orange grove. So you dont have to worry about wearing a mask.

Now while we are on the subject of cleaning, there is another product that we have had for a while that is called Rust Remover. Its made by Goo Off. But why we like it is that it removes lime deposits without scrubbing. No other product can say that. So if you have white stains on brick from the sprinkler, this is the product to use. Once all your stains are gone from the concrete, then clean all the surface with 30 Second Outdoor Cleaner. Now with the surface clean, protect it Drylock Wetlook. It will give you a surface that will resist staining and you be able to clean easier. You can do this in a weekend. You will have the cleanest garage floor in the neighborhood. And who wouldnt want that?

Now to the email

Question: I bought an older home at a great price. The only thing wrong is the sliding glass door is really heavy and jumps when you try to open and close it. I dont want to install a new door because the opening is not standard and besides being difficult to open and close, it is just fine. So do you have any ideas on how to make this a better door?

Answer: I had the same thing happen to me at a lake house I bought. The door opening was bigger than any door opening I have ever seen. It jumped and dragged and made using the door a big ordeal. So we cleaned the track (it was real dirty) and sprayed a lubricant like no other. Its called Tri Flow. Its very different than other lubricants because it doesnt attract dirt and dust. Its the dirt and dust that will keep the track from rolling smoothly. Tri Flow is PTFE Teflon based and we like to call it liquid ball bearing. You can use it on mirror doors, sliding glass doors, drawer slides, hinges and anything else that is giving you problems. Now if the track is bent, you can install a new cap over the track. Just straighten out the old track with a pair of pliers and snap the new stainless steel track right on top.

Question: Johnnie, a while back you talked on the radio about an alarm for detecting leaks. I am trying to remember what the name is so I can get one for my attic hot water heater. The same thing happened to me that happened to you. But, I am not letting it happen again. A $5,000 leak was a little expensive. I am putting these alarms on every sink and toilet upstairs.

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HAPPY HANDYMAN: Drive Up will give you the cleanest garage floor in the neighborhood