Concrete Water Stains

[LeeHarrison]

I felt the car care side of the forum was probably the best place to add this, so hopefully one of you kind chaps (women don't clean their cars do they  :peek: ) will be able to help.

 

I have not yet seen the car but the phone call from my customer was along the lines of.....

 

The Superb was parked in an underground car park, the lovely british weather opened up and some how the concrete level above has either become porous or there's water drainage channels... anyway upon returning to her car it is covered in a greyish water (possible lime content in the concrete?).

 

She did take it straight away to the local car wash (not on my advice though) and they gave it the once over. Everything appeared fine with no visible marks but her husband checked it earlier and says that there are 'watermarks' on the front bumper - everywhere else is good as gold. A reaction between the plastic and 'water' maybe?

 

He did say that he has spoken to Halfords and they suggested some colour magic. The question is will a normal polish and elbow grease get these gone?

 

He's popping in early next week for me to have a look at it but thought I could do some homework in the meantime.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and pics can be supplied once he's been in.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Lee

[Sparkly]

There are better qualified peeps than me to answer this but is the bumper painted colour coded to the body? If so I wouldn't have thought ith should have reacted any different than the other bodywork as the contaminated water still has the lacquer/clearcoat and paint to get past.

Perhaps the bumper received more isolated splashes that dryer and have left the watermarks in the clearcoat, just like a severe version of waterspotting on cars washed but not dried in hard water areas of the country.

If that's the case then I would expect a polish (hand good/machine better) would be the best first port of call.

I'm no fan of colour magic so would personally go for a better quality fine finishing polish or a good all in one like Auto Finesse Tripple, if it has to come from Halfords then Super Resin Polish wouldn't be a bad starting point for a hand polish, the abrasives will help the Watermark and the AIO's have fillers to further improve the appearance. If customer doesn't seem confident on hand polishing make sure you recommend the additional purchase of a good foam applicator for application and some supermarket microfibres for buffing. I know my dad uses cut up T shirts and dish cloths to great swirly effect

Well that's a start, let's see what others think. Touch wood if the rest of the bodywork is ok this shouldn't be a biggie, plus the customer gets a bottle of polish to tidy up the car in future.

[Auric Goldfinger]

I would have thought letting the dealer look at the paint work first would be the way to go, just in case there as a paint problem. Someone having a go themselves first might just cause a few Warranty issues.

[LeeHarrison]

There are better qualified peeps than me to answer this but is the bumper painted colour coded to the body? If so I wouldn't have thought ith should have reacted any different than the other bodywork as the contaminated water still has the lacquer/clearcoat and paint to get past.

Perhaps the bumper received more isolated splashes that dryer and have left the watermarks in the clearcoat, just like a severe version of waterspotting on cars washed but not dried in hard water areas of the country.

If that's the case then I would expect a polish (hand good/machine better) would be the best first port of call.

I'm no fan of colour magic so would personally go for a better quality fine finishing polish or a good all in one like Auto Finesse Tripple, if it has to come from Halfords then Super Resin Polish wouldn't be a bad starting point for a hand polish, the abrasives will help the Watermark and the AIO's have fillers to further improve the appearance. If customer doesn't seem confident on hand polishing make sure you recommend the additional purchase of a good foam applicator for application and some supermarket microfibres for buffing. I know my dad uses cut up T shirts and dish cloths to great swirly effect

Well that's a start, let's see what others think. Touch wood if the rest of the bodywork is ok this shouldn't be a biggie, plus the customer gets a bottle of polish to tidy up the car in future.

 

Cheers, Sparkly. Yes it is colour coded but ideally I do need to have a look at it. From what has been said by the customer, it is only the bumper. I've got some SRP ready and waiting. 

 

Cut up T-shirts, let the swirling begin 

[Sparkly]

I would have thought letting the dealer look at the paint work first would be the way to go, just in case there as a paint problem. Someone having a go themselves first might just cause a few Warranty issues.

Can applying polish cause warranty issues? think a lot of guys on detailing world are in trouble then.

Of course no reason not to show it to the dealer but equally if it was mine I wouldn't expect water marks damaged because of where I parked to be covered by warranty. I guess there could be a suggestions painting wasn't right but unlikely.

Be nice to hear how this turns out

Edited 19 October, 2013 by Sparkly

[Auric Goldfinger]

Can applying polish cause warranty issues? think a lot of guys on detailing world are in trouble then.

Of course no reason not to show it to the dealer but equally if it was mine I wouldn't expect water marks damaged because of where I parked to be covered by warranty. I guess there could be a suggestions theming wasn't right but unlikely.

Be nice to hear how this turns out

 

I was leaning more to Paint damage on a car rather than just Detailing

[Sparkly]

Post above was supposed to read 'painting' edited now.

Please ignore my comment on Warranty Mr G, knew what you meant and quite correct, I was just being a div'!

[Madafwo]

I get this a lot with the work car park.

Best method I've found for removing the staining is using detailing clay, make sure the bodywork is sufficiently lubricated and you shouldn't cause any damage to the surrounding areas.