I nearly had a stroke tonight. My father-in-law is visiting, and we all filed into the garage to load up into the cars to grab a bite. One of my 4-yr olds (I have 2) knocked over a can of yellow paint. The lid popped off, and as I entered the garage the stuff was raining down all over the passenger-side fender and hood of my pampered, velocity red RX-8. I nearly had a seizure. I immediately pulled the car out into the driveway and hosed off the paint thoroughly. It diluted and rinsed away very quickly. After drying, I noticed a spot in the wheel crease with some light paint smudging. I managed to get that out with a claybar. I think all is okay now (except for the monster puddle of yellow paint in my garage). My son was unfazed by the whole episode. Unreal.

Anyone know the best way to get the paint (latex I think) off the garage floor?

What about pouring out some paint thinner and letting it set for a while, then using a power washer or some sort of high-pressure hose to spray it out to the driveway?

great story b-nez! i feel for your car but you'll understand if i had a little chuckle.

maybe your son is hinting that your 8 should have came home a different color rather than red :)

Behr makes a good concrete paint that is an acrylic. Sounds like you have a good opportunity to get a coat on your garage floor. They have a powder you can add to it that makes is non-skid.

All you need then is a drain and you have the perfect garage :)

Should cost you less than $50.

greese

Faze a 4-year-old? I don't think spilling paint will do it.

Maybe if he dropped his candy bar down the storm drain... now that would probably affect him. :)

Don't be too cross with him... take some pictures and have a laugh about it in 20 years. :D

sorry to hear that
I would die

Not much seems to faze a 4 year old, does it?? My oldest when he was about that age (might have been younger?) decided to put a tin box full of crayons in the microwave for about 10 minutes. By time the sitter found out about it we had one helluva mess in the kitchen. Microwave blew to hell, a rainbow of melted crayola's splattered all over the place, kitchen smelled like death, and the whole time my son laughing his butt off!!! Needless to say we now have a new sitter...
Anyway, glad to here you got the paint off of your car. Good thing you were able to get to it quickly.

if that was me i would run for the hose

Originally posted by B-Nez
I nearly had a stroke tonight. My father-in-law is visiting, and we all filed into the garage to load up into the cars to grab a bite. One of my 4-yr olds (I have 2) knocked over a can of yellow paint. The lid popped off, and as I entered the garage the stuff was raining down all over the passenger-side fender and hood of my pampered, velocity red RX-8. I nearly had a seizure. I immediately pulled the car out into the driveway and hosed off the paint thoroughly. It diluted and rinsed away very quickly. After drying, I noticed a spot in the wheel crease with some light paint smudging. I managed to get that out with a claybar. I think all is okay now (except for the monster puddle of yellow paint in my garage). My son was unfazed by the whole episode. Unreal.

Anyone know the best way to get the paint (latex I think) off the garage floor?


Try the clay bar? :p

good thing you washed it off right away

If I had a four year old son & he did that - I would have to dress him like a girl for week- then take pictures & laugh about it 20 years later.

JK - great story B-Nez

i would have killeld that kid!!!!

Sorry to have this happen to you. For future reference I may suggest to to use a product called LANGKA. This product will remove any new paint (applied within last 30 days). It does not remove you original car paint or clear coat. I use it for chip repair. It comes in hgandy when I screw up fixing a chip, where I can redo it so many times until perfect, you can achieve amazing results, but will come in handy if you have unfortunate accidents like yours. Check these guys out

http://www.langka.com

Mark Qandil

Originally posted by Knerk
If I had a four year old son & he did that - I would have to dress him like a girl for week- then take pictures & laugh about it 20 years later.

Yeah, that'd learn 'im. Me, I'd peel a lime and stick the rind on his head for good measure. :D

B-NEZ i thought stuff like that only happened to me. :)

That sucks. Glad it all cleaned up OK. Just be happy it wasn't brake fluid.

My son would have had a heart attack, but he is 17 yrs old.

Lucky episode. Hope you know where to put your paint now. Or where not to put your 4 year old :)

Bum....I would be yelling at him......but sounds like you were good about that and if so I commend you!! Probably was an accident so after I'd scream I'd hug him and say it was ok. I have a 4 year old and I can see that happening....hmmm....better make sure all the lids are on tight and put them out of reach! Glad it came out ok. I think they have cleaner for concrete......check the Home improvement stores.

Paint over the stuff on the floor.

Beat him! (just kidding)

Seriously, if it was latex paint like you said it shouldn't be that hard to get up. It shouldn't stick to concrete very readily. Try scraping it with a trowel.

I think a red and yellow 8 would look cool

thanks for sharing your scary episode with us. It's something that we can all learn from in the future. I know I did. My future garage would only hold my 8 and...nothing else!

3M makes a good non-toxic paint stripper.

Don't be too hard on the boy, he was just trying to help; he knows yellow is the best color for RX-8!

<runs away>

Good save on the car. You didn't flood it in your panic getting it out of the garage did you...hehe. That would be my luck. Move the car to a safe zone to clean it, and then shut it before warming up.

Originally posted by Eradicator
What about pouring out some paint thinner and letting it set for a while, then using a power washer or some sort of high-pressure hose to spray it out to the driveway?

if the paint is already dry, i don't think the paint thinner will help, since it's latex and already cured..

your best bet is a high-pressure sprayer (1300+ psi) you can get for about $120 at target or walmart.

Find one that has a variety of nozzles. Mine is by Kaarcher and has a concentrated blast nozzle made specifically to clean driveway spots. It worked perfectly to lift off dried paint from previous house paint years past.

Thanks for all your suggestions and moral support. I didn't yell at my son, because I was too busy cleaning the car. We had a brief chat later on about his lack of remorse, but nothing too harsh.

As for the mess...I immediately laid towels over the spill and saturated them with water to keep the paint wet longer. I just spent 4 hours on my hands and knees with a scrub brush, water and that concentrated orange stuff (not the new stuff, but the old kin they used to sell door-to-door). I got all of the half-dried pools of paint scrubbed out, but it still needs a lot more scrubbing. I poured water over it again tonight while I head to bed. I'll finish it tomorrow.

If you want to take the paint off the cement there are all kinds of companies that sell "grafitti remover" which works good. But it you don't wanna go the chemical route, borrow a high pressure washer.