How Do I Cleanup Heating Oil Spill In Basement?

[Ibrahim Hughes]

I had some scraps guys come in and remove a couple of very old oil boilers (furnaces) from my property (it's a gut rehab I'm just starting). They obviously failed to drain them and now I have a reddish pool of liquid on my basement floor smelling up the whole house. I'm assuming it's heating oil due to the above ground oil tanks at the other end of the basement.

In any event I need to get the spill up before removing anything else out of the basement like the hot water heater and old galvanized plumbing. Don't want any possible sparks from moving the heater and pipes to cause a fire. Anyone have any tips on how? It's not a large pool so I was hoping that I could buy some special towels to soak it up and then clean the floors with some kind of soap. Or rent a wet/dry vac from home depot but I don't want to bring it back and they penalize me for using it to vacuum up hazardous waste or something.

Any ideas?

[Matt Devincenzo]

Kitty litter will soak it up and you can scoop it off the floor with a dust pan or shovel. After you get the heavy stuff up you can put more kitty litter on it and really crush it in with your feet and that will help pull the last of it out of the concrete.

[Matt Vaughn]

Matt D is right on. That's exactly what the pro's use. I would add that you may want to pick unscented kitty litter. Alternatively, fine sawdust works almost as well.

Once you've done as he suggests, I'd mix Dawn with very hot water and scrub out the remaining stain that's absorbed into the concrete.

[Pat L.]

& if Dawn fails try Simple Green.

[Ibrahim Hughes]

Thanks much for the info veveryonbe!@Matt Vaughn

[Matthew Paul]

Heating oil isnt that combustable , thats why the smell lingers it doesnt evaporate quickly , its an "oil" dont worry about sparks . Dawn detergent works the best , scrub it in straight , then add hot water a bit at a time and scrub.

Call your heating oil company , they have a product they can sell you that will negate the smell.

[Ibrahim Hughes]

Thanks much Matthew!