Blue Chalk Lines on concrete

Triple L · 10-08-2007, 03:45 PM

My wife and I have scored and are preparing to stain our entire 2300 square foot house. This is new construction and we have waited until the walls and windows have been installed. I received advise on several scoring methods, all included popping chalk lines to use as a guide for the scoring process. Everything that I read online etc. said not to use red chalk and that blue was best for this application.

I layed blue chalk lines four days after the slab was poured and scored a diagnal pattern across the entire house. It looks great but I cannot remove some of the chalk lines. I asked the paint store and read on-line to see what I could use to remove these faint blue lines. The only thing recommened was TSP. I tried it and it didn't work. If you rub them very hard with a white sole shoe you can eventually wear them off.

Some say that the staining process will take the lines up and some say that they will remain forever...

Does anyone out there have any experience with this?

gschwoyer · 10-08-2007, 05:15 PM

Did you try pressure washing the chalk? I'm a factory authorized installer for a major concrete manufacturer and during training- we were taught not to use any kind of chalk unless the color of the stain was very close to the color of the chalk.

Triple L · 10-08-2007, 05:27 PM

Yes, I did pressure wash the chalk. That's how I got most of the lines off but there are a few others that did not come up.

I spoke with a concrete staining contractor today that recommended that I rent an orbital buffer with a black pad and use liberal amounts of TSP and a wet vac to vacuum up the slury. They told me that this should get them up but that they do this process anyway prior to staining

10-09-2007, 06:50 AM

Try a sodium percarbonate cleaner like Wolman Deckbrite. You should be able to find that one rather easily. Cabot's probably has one too you can get at Lowes. These oxygenated cleaners will foam and deep clean the surface. On a deck it will literally lift layers of dirt out of the wood. Hopefully it'll lift the chalk out of the concrete too. If you can't find any locally look up Restore-a-deck online.

10-08-2007, 03:45 PM	#1
Triple L Newbie Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2	Blue Chalk Lines on concrete My wife and I have scored and are preparing to stain our entire 2300 square foot house. This is new construction and we have waited until the walls and windows have been installed. I received advise on several scoring methods, all included popping chalk lines to use as a guide for the scoring process. Everything that I read online etc. said not to use red chalk and that blue was best for this application. I layed blue chalk lines four days after the slab was poured and scored a diagnal pattern across the entire house. It looks great but I cannot remove some of the chalk lines. I asked the paint store and read on-line to see what I could use to remove these faint blue lines. The only thing recommened was TSP. I tried it and it didn't work. If you rub them very hard with a white sole shoe you can eventually wear them off. Some say that the staining process will take the lines up and some say that they will remain forever... Does anyone out there have any experience with this?

10-08-2007, 05:15 PM	#2
gschwoyer Newbie Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2	Blue Chalk Lines on concrete Did you try pressure washing the chalk? I'm a factory authorized installer for a major concrete manufacturer and during training- we were taught not to use any kind of chalk unless the color of the stain was very close to the color of the chalk.

10-08-2007, 05:27 PM	#3
Triple L Newbie Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2	Blue Chalk Lines on concrete Yes, I did pressure wash the chalk. That's how I got most of the lines off but there are a few others that did not come up. I spoke with a concrete staining contractor today that recommended that I rent an orbital buffer with a black pad and use liberal amounts of TSP and a wet vac to vacuum up the slury. They told me that this should get them up but that they do this process anyway prior to staining

10-09-2007, 06:50 AM	#4
poppameth Guest Posts: n/a	Blue Chalk Lines on concrete Try a sodium percarbonate cleaner like Wolman Deckbrite. You should be able to find that one rather easily. Cabot's probably has one too you can get at Lowes. These oxygenated cleaners will foam and deep clean the surface. On a deck it will literally lift layers of dirt out of the wood. Hopefully it'll lift the chalk out of the concrete too. If you can't find any locally look up Restore-a-deck online.

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Blue Chalk Lines on concrete