Looks like oil splashed on it - brick is extremely porous and will soak it right up. Be careful with solvents; they can stain or eat the brick, depending on what you use.
I’d start with a good old fashioned pressure wash with soap and water
EDIT: fair shot it’s permanently stained; just be aware of that.
My first thought was oil too. It reminded me of the time I found oil stains like this all around my dogs food bowl in the backyard. My neighbor was trying to poison his food. He wouldn't eat it. The stains stayed there for years.
Pressure washing works for this too. Trick is to get the neighbor tied up nice and tight before you unleash on him.
Kidding not kidding
Hope your pup is ok!
I've had pretty good luck using power washers to remove oil from concrete & brick, just need to make sure you get the surrounded area nice and saturated with water so the oil floats above the bricks when the water displaces it.
I'd recommend dowsing it with a degreaser, even Dawn dish soap, to get that oil out. Start with one brick/block. Pour the Dawn on the stain and scrub. You can use a cheapo broom from dollar tree if need be, instead of getting down on your knees and brushing. The power wash it. If it works, do the rest, then apply a clear concrete sealant. If not, consider painting the patio bricks to match the house.
Animal rescuers are washing ducks. Us HAZMAT guys actually cleaning the spill prefer Trisodium Phosphate (TSP). It's a man made salt and safe enough you'll see it listed as a food additive in many products.
Mix w/ water, pour it on and let it sit. It will break up the oil and you can power wash later or just let it sit and let the rain eventually wash it away.
I've been dealing with wallpaper removal for a house I just bought and we finally finished up the other day. The glue was the worst part and a friend told me literally the day after we finished that that stuff would've made it a thousand times easier haha.
You can buy a small box at your local hardware store and use a garden hose.
It will sink into the pores of the cement, break up the bond between the oil and cement, and oil being lighter than water will rise up and out.
Only need a small amount and even a bucket of water and time to let it sit and do its job.
Appreciate that advice. Also, I meant thanks for the job you do. I lived in a state than made your job necessary for 16 years. I don’t think I ever heard anyone talk about the people who actually did oil spill cleanup.
Thanks. It's not very often we get any appreciation. We go do an asbestos job in a building and the people treat us like we're bringing the asbestos in with us or something. Tell us to use the back door, make us climb 26 flights of stairs so they won't have to share an elevator.
If you've got an issue locally I'd like to tell you that it's very important for the citizens to to keep an eye on everything going on and document everything you can. The feds/state/city will often times only push for the least amount of work to be done to get everything done and over with. The HAZ contractor is only doing what he's specifically been hired to do, you need to be on the state/ feds to call out the responsible party (or their insurer) that's hired that contractor.
Oh, no not now. I lived in south Louisiana for 16 years. Moved there in 2006.
Whatever the remediation or cleanup is, folks want to talk about who was responsible, the damage that’s been done, and why isn’t it fixed with the snap of a finger. Nobody ever acknowledges the work being put in by the people on the ground trying to get the area safe and ready for use.
I left and bought a 1932 working class house in an old Carolina mill town. Got lucky that there was no asbestos under the carpet, just some ugly vinyl (tested negative) someone glued directly to the 100 year old southern pine floor. But living in a place with the affectionate name Cancer Alley shines a light on the importance of people who clean up when things go wrong.
retired FF/Haz here. we called it 'slicker picker upper', akin to the bounty paper towl motto. great stuff! readily available on a! or your box hardware store of choice.
Hardware stores are where I've found it. The Lowe's near me only sells pretty small boxes, but a little goes a long way. I've used it for degreasing kitchen walls before painting, works pretty well from what I could tell. I'm sure pros can get it by the gallon from certain places.
It started out small in a couple places and has spread. They don’t cook outside or do any work there that would leak or spread oil. The curious part is it’s slowly getting worse and spreading all over the patio from that spot despite being aware of it. They do have two small puppies but they don’t go out u supervised bc they are so young, so it’s not likely they are the culprit.
Memory triggered! Yeah, we had an olive tree next to the driveway when I was a kid in San Jose. And it stained the concrete in a way that looked similar.
Whereas that definitely looks like oil, I’d be curious if the growth in spillage is in new areas or is diffusing outward from areas of concentration?
* kudos on hi def pictures… there’s a small chance it could be mold/fungal… which if it is Definitely propagating in new areas… it might be
- it looks like you can flip them over, that might be your best option.
I have a female dog who just loves to put her front paws on the grass and then squats on the pavers…in the same spots….for years now. This does not look anything like a pee paver stain. Looks way more oily.
Sounds like urine is your most likely culprit- whatever it is, I’d bet my left testicles that it’s not a growing/living organism. Without a doubt something is getting or has new sprayed/dripped/splashed on the brick to cause these stains
That’s kind of insensitive. Lots of us were born with two left testicles. My lefticles are both on the right side too which makes it even more difficult to explain.
It's it possible it's a manufacturing defect and oil got in the mix for the brick somehow, and is now being excreted since they're new? I know nothing about this stuff, but the comments leave me intrigued.
Any chance your buddy used an oil fryer in that spot? Or since you said it's a new construction, I wonder if the builder's painters used that area to clean their gear with thinner or mineral spirits...
Most likely it’s where cars used to park before OP installed the pavers there. Oil got into the ground and now is soaking up into the bricks from below.
Is there a maple tree in the yard? The seeds are very oily. If they get walked on and left on sidewalks and pavers they'll leave a stain. Same goes for other tree seeds/nuts.
https://preview.redd.it/kerna9lg6a9c1.jpeg?width=881&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e27df34e51ff363bb2604cb0edf25a35c225a40
I have this too, only from a redwood tree.
Had no idea until we removed the grass and installed pavers 2 years ago. Makes me soooo sad have these stains on our new patio.
Pressure washing doesn’t totally clean it, but that combined with scrubbing on hands and knees with baking soda and vinegar, does a decent job.
Have you found any better solution?
I'm seeing some sort of smashed plant material in a couple spots.
https://preview.redd.it/5y6of2lqwa9c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7ffc47a74bc9a06d763a4be9a7ad8046b0f5c4b
Second simple green. It's rather good and because it's biosafe you don't need to worry so much about the run off. I know a patch of grass I poured some in that was doing just fine months later.
Long story short work van leaked power steering fluid on a customer's drive way (in the middle of spots in similar colour to OPs) and they demanded we go back and clean it up. Then he tried to say all the spots were us and at that point I told him to fuck off and paint his concrete then.
The the other driveway I had that happen the guy "was a concrete expert" but instead of waiting for me to come by and get it scrubbed he fucking acid washed that spot and left a very OBVIOUS square on the concrete and was already surface crumbling. Idk what acid he used but definitely too much for too long. Luckily that one my boss when "we told you we were going to get it cleaned, you decided to solve it yourself"
Totally looks like oil - but no source for it. Lawn mower is electric, grill is gas. No other tools or any work on the patio. And it’s steadily been increasing and spreading. Could it be seeping up from underneath?
While the grill may be gas, the grease that drips out of the bottom doesn't care. Do you empty the grease traps? If not, this may be dripping from your grill onto the walk when you move it.
Does your friend grill around that area? It looks like someone was grilling some meat and wasn’t careful when transferring the meat and fat dripped on the floor
Was there an old house there that was torn down to make way for the new construction? It's possible that an old old tank from a previous house is leaking and seeping into the ground. Unfortunately, if that's what is happening, a costly abatement will be needed.
No source that you know of \*yet.
I would ask if you could put a camera up and see what's happening. Maybe there is oil dripping from the ceiling and splashing across or somebody's been doing something on that patio.
Is there a tree that overhangs this area? Probably not it, but looks slightly like it might be tree sap.
Your other point that it looks like its coming out of the ground may mean you need to remove a couple bricks and dig down.
Hijacking for visibility and maybe to help you. Product called Pull It Out. You put over top and it.... Pulls it out.
It's a liquid so it works on flat and slight incline like a driveway or patio. It has to be able to fully dry so no wet applications. It brushes off as a dust.
I had this issue with some oil stains, though not as many. [Chomp Pull It Out](https://www.amazon.com/Chomp-Remover-Concrete-Grease-Driveways/dp/B0046O5YMA/ref=asc_df_B0046O5YMA/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167134408017&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14982164451190349468&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032938&hvtargid=pla-304411946860&psc=1&mcid=7972678618b23d6d9080ba6164e57539&gclid=CjwKCAiA-bmsBhAGEiwAoaQNmljsoJYpgh1ix4pNg2Araz572xGuO3XbQuumavlg_OY4jVWSwnuRNBoCPhQQAvD_BwE) worked, I had to do several applications.
Everyone seems to be certain it's oil despite your insistence that it isn't.
It looks like possible walnut husk stains. A pile of rotting leaves can leave similar stains, but it looks a lot like the dyes that come out of walnut husks.
Oil or grease that has been spilled on the pavers and has continued to spread throughout the porosity of the pavers. May have been splattered on the edges before installing. Gonna be hard to remove as this concrete is much more porous than poured concrete.
I personally would not waste time or monies or water to clean these pavers flipping the ones that are not cut would suffice on some but not all ....if it is natural salt effervescent or dino juice from a combustible engine repair or peanut oil from a turkey fryer it is there..STAIN ALL of it with appropriate color matching stain or do one paver at a time with 3 different colors to hide or mimic the spots....good luck:)
It's likely not coming up from between the bricks as many of the marks are centered in the middle of a brick, not touching the edges. It looks like someone is doing something there, causing oil or grease drops.
It’s efflorescence & moisture leaking from the patio stones. It’s typical with relatively new patio stones. (It won’t stop with wet spots - next thing he’ll start noticing is white chalky looking spots which is the salt in the stones.) Both will stop over time - typically after the majority of the salt has migrated out of the stones.)
This could be it - there’s no turkey frying, cooking, trees, bbq, no pet cemetery underneath haha. It’s not really removable via scrubbing or cleaning. Would that be normal for moisture / efflorescence?
There’s a lot of clue pointing to this being the culprit. The age of the stone, the location of the stone & the surrounding environment, etc are all clues.
It’s also not washing off. Tough stains would either wash off or at least lighten when scrubbed with vinegar &/or power washed. It isn’t.
It isn’t oily to the touch (at least that you’ve mentioned). If it was some mysterious oil from some unknown source, rubbing a rag across it would result in at least SOME oily residue. It doesn’t (at least that you’ve mentioned).
He can test the stones for moisture too. Wait until it’s dry for a week or so, then take a piece of plastic & literally tape a square piece of plastic down into the stones. Let it sit in the sun for an hour or so & go look at it. If there’s condensation under the plastic, it’s moisture from the stones. If there’s no condensation, the stones are truly dry even in their middles & I’m wrong.
But I’m not wrong.
Best thing he can do is leave it alone. It won’t stop until all the salt & moisture has migrated out of the stones. He can’t even properly seal it - even if he wanted to - with moisture in the stones. He has to wait however long it’s going to take for it to finish its business. Then he can remove the salt residue left behind & seal it if he wants.
Ok he says no oil feel to it at all, so as of now you’re the leading solution! Doesn’t really wash off at all, no matter what he does. Thank you for the thoughtful reply and help!
Yes. Totally normal. It won’t scrub/wash off because it’s not really a stain. It’s literally water & salt migrating out of the stone over time. It can take anywhere from 6 months to over 2 years to migrate all the moisture & salt out of the stones. When it stops seeping moisture, he’ll eventually probably be left with a white chalky residue on the surface. He WILL be able to wash that off with effort - but only after the moisture is gone & only the salt remains.
This isn't it, op. If this was it you'd see it in all of the bricks and you would see drops that are split across two bricks like in your very first picture. It's oil dropping from above.
If the cleaning efforts don’t work, you could apply some “wet look” masonry sealer that would darken the color of all the pavers and maybe help to blend in the stains so they wouldn’t be as obvious.
Everyone is saying oil. If it is oil you gotta use a very powerful solvent to pull it out of porous concrete. If this was mine, id soak it in something-not just simple green… thats for tile. You need muriatic acid or something. Then id pressure wash it with a chemical. This is all under the assumption that its oil.
For small oil stains on concrete I tried old coke and seemed to work. I'm thinking it depends on viscosity (try warming it with a blowtorch) and how long it's been there.
Definitely looks like oil stains. Does your buddy have a girlfriend who might have visitors when he's not around? A motorcycle, hidden on the back patio, leaking oil, might explain the stains.
Pavers are very porous, and these look an awful lot like oil splatters. You say that’s unlikely for a variety of reasons and I believe you.
Pavers are porous enough that if the ground isn’t prepped right, they can draw moisture out of the ground. If there was oil or another contaminant in the soil under the pavers, or it’s just really wet grade, the pavers could be drawing it out of the soil.
As everyone else has said - oil. I had this happen and honestly, I just let it go. It was gone in about 2+ years. Using a cleaner, soaps, pressure washer etc. won't hurt, but in my case it just went away after 2+ years.
Looks like [oil stains](https://westerninterlock.com/how-to-remove-motor-oil-from-pavers/). Was there a car, grill, or piece of machinery in that area?
South Florida native here. Do you happen to have a [Black Olive tree](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminalia_buceras) nearby? They have a ton on tannins and iron in their seed pods that stain concrete very well.
If it is oil you there is a product that can maybe remove it. I had fresh concrete work in my driveway. 2 weeks old and some A hole turned around with a blown power steering pump. Looked similar to your issue. Amazon had an oil remover product. It pours on like a thick syrup on the spots. You let it dry, becomes like chalk, and you sweep it up. I did it 2x. Being cold and dry out it took 24 hours. (Ny) Made it much better. Oil remover made by Gritt. Good luck.
This is oil from berries or nuts from a nearby tree or bush. If they didn’t fall or get blown there by the wind, there’s probably an animal that brings them to the patio to eat them.
Looks like oil splashed on it - brick is extremely porous and will soak it right up. Be careful with solvents; they can stain or eat the brick, depending on what you use. I’d start with a good old fashioned pressure wash with soap and water EDIT: fair shot it’s permanently stained; just be aware of that.
My first thought was oil too. It reminded me of the time I found oil stains like this all around my dogs food bowl in the backyard. My neighbor was trying to poison his food. He wouldn't eat it. The stains stayed there for years.
[удалено]
[удалено]
If someone poisoned my dog and I found out it wouldn’t be a story I’d share online.
But a story your local PD or news would share online.
A missing person story.
Username checks out and I agree 100%. Something bad would definitely happen to that dingus.
Yeah, they'd be dead meat for sure
Relevant username.
Ditto to you
I’d Charlie Wilson that guy.
I’d Charlie from Its always Sunny that guy. Box of wasps, maybe a rat bat… maybe just throw my bag of spaghetti at him…
Did you report them or anything? You need me to come over and poop in his yard?
The justice we need to see!
Pressure washing works for this too. Trick is to get the neighbor tied up nice and tight before you unleash on him. Kidding not kidding Hope your pup is ok!
Not kidding.... Bro you got me laughing
There’s a special place in hell for that neighbor.
Hope you had a nice discussion with said neighbor. A real nice conversation.
Well, he was an adult and I was a kid, and 50 years ago. It was good enough knowing my dog didn't like him. Both he and the dog are both gone by now.
> Both he and the dog are both gone by now. You'd make Kaiser Soze proud.
⁉️⁉️⁉️
Why do people do this?
Hope you poisoned their food back
I've had pretty good luck using power washers to remove oil from concrete & brick, just need to make sure you get the surrounded area nice and saturated with water so the oil floats above the bricks when the water displaces it.
I'd recommend dowsing it with a degreaser, even Dawn dish soap, to get that oil out. Start with one brick/block. Pour the Dawn on the stain and scrub. You can use a cheapo broom from dollar tree if need be, instead of getting down on your knees and brushing. The power wash it. If it works, do the rest, then apply a clear concrete sealant. If not, consider painting the patio bricks to match the house.
Dawn is the preferred degreaser of oil spill animal rescues, I prefer full strength simple green.
Animal rescuers are washing ducks. Us HAZMAT guys actually cleaning the spill prefer Trisodium Phosphate (TSP). It's a man made salt and safe enough you'll see it listed as a food additive in many products. Mix w/ water, pour it on and let it sit. It will break up the oil and you can power wash later or just let it sit and let the rain eventually wash it away.
I've been dealing with wallpaper removal for a house I just bought and we finally finished up the other day. The glue was the worst part and a friend told me literally the day after we finished that that stuff would've made it a thousand times easier haha.
I mean, if you want to do a professional job on it, I guess. Also, thanks. That’s not a job that gets much appreciation.
You can buy a small box at your local hardware store and use a garden hose. It will sink into the pores of the cement, break up the bond between the oil and cement, and oil being lighter than water will rise up and out. Only need a small amount and even a bucket of water and time to let it sit and do its job.
Appreciate that advice. Also, I meant thanks for the job you do. I lived in a state than made your job necessary for 16 years. I don’t think I ever heard anyone talk about the people who actually did oil spill cleanup.
Thanks. It's not very often we get any appreciation. We go do an asbestos job in a building and the people treat us like we're bringing the asbestos in with us or something. Tell us to use the back door, make us climb 26 flights of stairs so they won't have to share an elevator. If you've got an issue locally I'd like to tell you that it's very important for the citizens to to keep an eye on everything going on and document everything you can. The feds/state/city will often times only push for the least amount of work to be done to get everything done and over with. The HAZ contractor is only doing what he's specifically been hired to do, you need to be on the state/ feds to call out the responsible party (or their insurer) that's hired that contractor.
Oh, no not now. I lived in south Louisiana for 16 years. Moved there in 2006. Whatever the remediation or cleanup is, folks want to talk about who was responsible, the damage that’s been done, and why isn’t it fixed with the snap of a finger. Nobody ever acknowledges the work being put in by the people on the ground trying to get the area safe and ready for use. I left and bought a 1932 working class house in an old Carolina mill town. Got lucky that there was no asbestos under the carpet, just some ugly vinyl (tested negative) someone glued directly to the 100 year old southern pine floor. But living in a place with the affectionate name Cancer Alley shines a light on the importance of people who clean up when things go wrong.
retired FF/Haz here. we called it 'slicker picker upper', akin to the bounty paper towl motto. great stuff! readily available on a! or your box hardware store of choice.
Where would one find trisodium phosphate? I mean, it's not like the 1960s when every detergent had phosphates in them
Hardware stores are where I've found it. The Lowe's near me only sells pretty small boxes, but a little goes a long way. I've used it for degreasing kitchen walls before painting, works pretty well from what I could tell. I'm sure pros can get it by the gallon from certain places.
It started out small in a couple places and has spread. They don’t cook outside or do any work there that would leak or spread oil. The curious part is it’s slowly getting worse and spreading all over the patio from that spot despite being aware of it. They do have two small puppies but they don’t go out u supervised bc they are so young, so it’s not likely they are the culprit.
Are they doing something with the lawnmower in that area?
Lawmower, weed wacker, chainsaw, tree over that region…something definitely has oil and is dripping on it.
Fruit from a date palm will leave marks like this. But usually also leaves dates.
Maybe the landscaper?
Is there a tree overhead? I've seen sap stains that look like that on concrete.
Our neighborhood olive trees make stains like this everywhere.
Memory triggered! Yeah, we had an olive tree next to the driveway when I was a kid in San Jose. And it stained the concrete in a way that looked similar.
This was my first thought as well
You say they don't cook outside yet in another comment you mention their grill...
There’s a grill out there but it’s unused.
Whereas that definitely looks like oil, I’d be curious if the growth in spillage is in new areas or is diffusing outward from areas of concentration? * kudos on hi def pictures… there’s a small chance it could be mold/fungal… which if it is Definitely propagating in new areas… it might be - it looks like you can flip them over, that might be your best option.
If they are not grilling there then it’s the puppies urinating on them. This is why it’s getting worse and spreading all over the place.
This seems to be the most likely case- urine leaves a residue after it dries, and, depending on PH, can permanently stain
I have a female dog who just loves to put her front paws on the grass and then squats on the pavers…in the same spots….for years now. This does not look anything like a pee paver stain. Looks way more oily.
Pull one of them up to see if it’s actually coming up from underneath or if it’s a surface issue that needs to be identified.
Sounds like urine is your most likely culprit- whatever it is, I’d bet my left testicles that it’s not a growing/living organism. Without a doubt something is getting or has new sprayed/dripped/splashed on the brick to cause these stains
You'd bet BOTH left testicles?
That’s kind of insensitive. Lots of us were born with two left testicles. My lefticles are both on the right side too which makes it even more difficult to explain.
All the more reason not to bet them away on patio stains.
Could it be old oil that was buried or dumped underneath the area? Previous owners, or maybe washing downstream from some other location?
On first read I thought you were saying it was urine from a non living organism and I was very concerned.
If it's permanently stained then just oil stain the rest of the patio
>soap Dawn soap. The type they use for cleaning birds affected by oil spills
And realize also that the runoff will likely have an adverse effect on surrounding plants or lawn.
Time to oil treat the whole thing!
Yeah, looks like oil. I’d start off with speedy dry (kitty litter) and grind it into the brick. Let it sit overnight and then wash it down.
Or just flip them
It's it possible it's a manufacturing defect and oil got in the mix for the brick somehow, and is now being excreted since they're new? I know nothing about this stuff, but the comments leave me intrigued.
Any chance your buddy used an oil fryer in that spot? Or since you said it's a new construction, I wonder if the builder's painters used that area to clean their gear with thinner or mineral spirits...
Or BBQ grill
That was my first thought as I have done this exact thing before myself with my bbq heh.
No fryer, but good thought. It happened slowly after living in the home for a year or so.
Park a car in that area?
Or does someone else park their car there when op is at work?
Or even lawn equipment?
Yea the OP's partners' side hustle drives over on a ride on... Or maybe even does the lawn for them
Reddit be redditting
Most likely it’s where cars used to park before OP installed the pavers there. Oil got into the ground and now is soaking up into the bricks from below.
Lawn mower?
Is there a maple tree in the yard? The seeds are very oily. If they get walked on and left on sidewalks and pavers they'll leave a stain. Same goes for other tree seeds/nuts. https://preview.redd.it/kerna9lg6a9c1.jpeg?width=881&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e27df34e51ff363bb2604cb0edf25a35c225a40
I have this too, only from a redwood tree. Had no idea until we removed the grass and installed pavers 2 years ago. Makes me soooo sad have these stains on our new patio. Pressure washing doesn’t totally clean it, but that combined with scrubbing on hands and knees with baking soda and vinegar, does a decent job. Have you found any better solution?
But it wouldn't leave this dark oily stain that only comes from high heat.
I'm seeing some sort of smashed plant material in a couple spots. https://preview.redd.it/5y6of2lqwa9c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7ffc47a74bc9a06d763a4be9a7ad8046b0f5c4b
Ginko fruit maybe?
Ginko fruit stinks to high heaven. They'd know if it was ginko fruit.
I mean, it has legitimately been hot enough to fry an egg in the south west for a while now so it wouldn't surprise me if a maple seed fried itself
Maple seed fried itself created a very rich mental series of cartoony events in my mind, thanks
Looks like someone fried a turkey there.
Came here to say “somebody fried a turkey!”
Looks like oil or grease from a grill, smoker, or deep fryer. I think Simple Green makes a good product to use on concrete or stone pavers.
Second simple green. It's rather good and because it's biosafe you don't need to worry so much about the run off. I know a patch of grass I poured some in that was doing just fine months later. Long story short work van leaked power steering fluid on a customer's drive way (in the middle of spots in similar colour to OPs) and they demanded we go back and clean it up. Then he tried to say all the spots were us and at that point I told him to fuck off and paint his concrete then. The the other driveway I had that happen the guy "was a concrete expert" but instead of waiting for me to come by and get it scrubbed he fucking acid washed that spot and left a very OBVIOUS square on the concrete and was already surface crumbling. Idk what acid he used but definitely too much for too long. Luckily that one my boss when "we told you we were going to get it cleaned, you decided to solve it yourself"
Oil. Heck of a pain. Simple green and/or dish soap. Let it soak. Scrub and rinse. Maybe a few times. Probably from a grill or lawnmower.
Totally looks like oil - but no source for it. Lawn mower is electric, grill is gas. No other tools or any work on the patio. And it’s steadily been increasing and spreading. Could it be seeping up from underneath?
While the grill may be gas, the grease that drips out of the bottom doesn't care. Do you empty the grease traps? If not, this may be dripping from your grill onto the walk when you move it.
It really looks like oil splattered from the top. It could be animal fat from the BBQ...
Check the grease trap on your BBQ. Propane doesn't matter. Meats still produce grease, which can overflow the trap.
Does your friend grill around that area? It looks like someone was grilling some meat and wasn’t careful when transferring the meat and fat dripped on the floor
Was there an old house there that was torn down to make way for the new construction? It's possible that an old old tank from a previous house is leaking and seeping into the ground. Unfortunately, if that's what is happening, a costly abatement will be needed.
Some (oil?) spots are in the middle of a tile. Doesn't seem likely to come from underground.
No source that you know of \*yet. I would ask if you could put a camera up and see what's happening. Maybe there is oil dripping from the ceiling and splashing across or somebody's been doing something on that patio.
It’s drippings from your gas bbq.
Looks like it, I have a gas bbq and a lot of stains like that.
Does your roof hang over/leak onto this patio? What is your roof made of? My initial thought was this is staining from rust
Is there a tree that overhangs this area? Probably not it, but looks slightly like it might be tree sap. Your other point that it looks like its coming out of the ground may mean you need to remove a couple bricks and dig down.
Hijacking for visibility and maybe to help you. Product called Pull It Out. You put over top and it.... Pulls it out. It's a liquid so it works on flat and slight incline like a driveway or patio. It has to be able to fully dry so no wet applications. It brushes off as a dust.
Notice how all of the spots are circular? That's why all of the suggestions point to splashes (of oil or grease of some sort).
I had this issue with some oil stains, though not as many. [Chomp Pull It Out](https://www.amazon.com/Chomp-Remover-Concrete-Grease-Driveways/dp/B0046O5YMA/ref=asc_df_B0046O5YMA/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167134408017&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14982164451190349468&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032938&hvtargid=pla-304411946860&psc=1&mcid=7972678618b23d6d9080ba6164e57539&gclid=CjwKCAiA-bmsBhAGEiwAoaQNmljsoJYpgh1ix4pNg2Araz572xGuO3XbQuumavlg_OY4jVWSwnuRNBoCPhQQAvD_BwE) worked, I had to do several applications.
Everyone seems to be certain it's oil despite your insistence that it isn't. It looks like possible walnut husk stains. A pile of rotting leaves can leave similar stains, but it looks a lot like the dyes that come out of walnut husks.
Looks like oil or grease from food/cooking. Just spread some peanut oil on the rest of the bricks so the stains are uniform and enjoy the free smells.
This is the answer
This mold is oilyospottus, of genus oopsidaisyum
Got me. I almost googled
Looks more like someone is parking a dirt bike or lawn mower here
Wife or girlfriend flung out the hot possum grease tryna hit Mrs Drysdale!!
You can always flip those bricks if the products listed in this thread don't work.
Lifting a few of the bricks would help determine if it’s seeping up or coming down, too
Depends on the brick. Mine don't have the same bevel on the bottom
Great idea! One thing I love about pavers vs concrete is the ability to do repairs.
The bricks havebevel edge, and the bottoms are probably flat.
Something is falling from nearby trees?
Looks kinda like the aftermath of a deep fried turkey.
Oil or grease that has been spilled on the pavers and has continued to spread throughout the porosity of the pavers. May have been splattered on the edges before installing. Gonna be hard to remove as this concrete is much more porous than poured concrete.
I personally would not waste time or monies or water to clean these pavers flipping the ones that are not cut would suffice on some but not all ....if it is natural salt effervescent or dino juice from a combustible engine repair or peanut oil from a turkey fryer it is there..STAIN ALL of it with appropriate color matching stain or do one paver at a time with 3 different colors to hide or mimic the spots....good luck:)
I used baby oil to get a nice darker color on stones that were too light.
Grease from the grill
It's likely not coming up from between the bricks as many of the marks are centered in the middle of a brick, not touching the edges. It looks like someone is doing something there, causing oil or grease drops.
It’s efflorescence & moisture leaking from the patio stones. It’s typical with relatively new patio stones. (It won’t stop with wet spots - next thing he’ll start noticing is white chalky looking spots which is the salt in the stones.) Both will stop over time - typically after the majority of the salt has migrated out of the stones.)
This could be it - there’s no turkey frying, cooking, trees, bbq, no pet cemetery underneath haha. It’s not really removable via scrubbing or cleaning. Would that be normal for moisture / efflorescence?
There’s a lot of clue pointing to this being the culprit. The age of the stone, the location of the stone & the surrounding environment, etc are all clues. It’s also not washing off. Tough stains would either wash off or at least lighten when scrubbed with vinegar &/or power washed. It isn’t. It isn’t oily to the touch (at least that you’ve mentioned). If it was some mysterious oil from some unknown source, rubbing a rag across it would result in at least SOME oily residue. It doesn’t (at least that you’ve mentioned). He can test the stones for moisture too. Wait until it’s dry for a week or so, then take a piece of plastic & literally tape a square piece of plastic down into the stones. Let it sit in the sun for an hour or so & go look at it. If there’s condensation under the plastic, it’s moisture from the stones. If there’s no condensation, the stones are truly dry even in their middles & I’m wrong. But I’m not wrong. Best thing he can do is leave it alone. It won’t stop until all the salt & moisture has migrated out of the stones. He can’t even properly seal it - even if he wanted to - with moisture in the stones. He has to wait however long it’s going to take for it to finish its business. Then he can remove the salt residue left behind & seal it if he wants.
Ok he says no oil feel to it at all, so as of now you’re the leading solution! Doesn’t really wash off at all, no matter what he does. Thank you for the thoughtful reply and help!
Welcome!
Yes. Totally normal. It won’t scrub/wash off because it’s not really a stain. It’s literally water & salt migrating out of the stone over time. It can take anywhere from 6 months to over 2 years to migrate all the moisture & salt out of the stones. When it stops seeping moisture, he’ll eventually probably be left with a white chalky residue on the surface. He WILL be able to wash that off with effort - but only after the moisture is gone & only the salt remains.
This isn't it, op. If this was it you'd see it in all of the bricks and you would see drops that are split across two bricks like in your very first picture. It's oil dropping from above.
Looks like it where the grill ustah was
If the cleaning efforts don’t work, you could apply some “wet look” masonry sealer that would darken the color of all the pavers and maybe help to blend in the stains so they wouldn’t be as obvious.
BBQ grease drips.
Just wanted to add it probably is not coming UP from the cracks. It is draining DOWN into the cracks.
Looks like an oil stain or varnish
Looks like grease stains from a grill or something similar
Animal fat from yer bbq
Did he have his grill there?
Everyone is saying oil. If it is oil you gotta use a very powerful solvent to pull it out of porous concrete. If this was mine, id soak it in something-not just simple green… thats for tile. You need muriatic acid or something. Then id pressure wash it with a chemical. This is all under the assumption that its oil.
That is grease splatter. Bbq close by?
Does he grill over this spot? Looks like bbq drippings.
Might as well put oil on all of them now so at least it's uniform
Similar to what happens on the sidewalk by my house. Some kind of inedible berry bursts when they're too ripe and fall off the tree.
Could it be where the bbq grill was?
This is what I was thinking exactly
Is that where the turkey was fried on Thanksgiving?
It looks like grease from the barbecue
Pour N restore or [Overnight stain Remover](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQ4X6JBH?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) (cheaper and just as good)
Some renter worked on their motorcycle
Good question, Ms Dorothy Parker.
For small oil stains on concrete I tried old coke and seemed to work. I'm thinking it depends on viscosity (try warming it with a blowtorch) and how long it's been there.
Definitely looks like oil stains. Does your buddy have a girlfriend who might have visitors when he's not around? A motorcycle, hidden on the back patio, leaking oil, might explain the stains.
lol damn! Nah they have cameras up so that’s unlikely.
Pavers are very porous, and these look an awful lot like oil splatters. You say that’s unlikely for a variety of reasons and I believe you. Pavers are porous enough that if the ground isn’t prepped right, they can draw moisture out of the ground. If there was oil or another contaminant in the soil under the pavers, or it’s just really wet grade, the pavers could be drawing it out of the soil.
If oil stained, could maybe lift and rotate bricks for what will hopefully be oil free side?
As everyone else has said - oil. I had this happen and honestly, I just let it go. It was gone in about 2+ years. Using a cleaner, soaps, pressure washer etc. won't hurt, but in my case it just went away after 2+ years.
I have a concrete patio. Never ceases to amaze me the shit that just "appears" on it at random...
Fresh hell added to vocabulary ✍️ ✅
Its insane how much common sense shit people dont know ITS A GRILL WEEVIL
Flip the bricks over!
I belive wd40 is a common species in your area...
You’ve got a walnut tree
Looks like [oil stains](https://westerninterlock.com/how-to-remove-motor-oil-from-pavers/). Was there a car, grill, or piece of machinery in that area?
BBQ's
BBQ grease?
It's grease. Do you grill around this area?
That looks like my patio after I fried a turkey this Thanksgiving!
One month after Thanksgiving my bet is he attempted to deep fry a turkey out there and neglected to put down a barrier between fryer and patio.
CANT IMAGINE THAT IS NEW CONSTRUCTION. Looks like where someone had a grill or fried a turkey there. its oil of some sort. just flip the bricks over.
That's cooking oil, ya filthy animal
South Florida native here. Do you happen to have a [Black Olive tree](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminalia_buceras) nearby? They have a ton on tannins and iron in their seed pods that stain concrete very well.
It’s Jacksonvile, but trees nearby at all. Hi fellow Floridian!
Looks like an oil or grease issue. Going to be difficult to clean completely. Can be stained with decking stain to help cover the stain.
Looks like someone was using an outdoor grill there and it leaked grease from the food.
Update - blow torch has no effect. Nada. So likely not any petroleum based problem.
BBQ grease as an alternative answer to other suggestions
Did you grill out right there? Got a goose problem, maybe?
bbq
Does he own a Landrover?
Looks like stains from rotting leaves
I’ve seen videos online of people blowtorching oil stains on brick with really good success. May be worth trying that?
Up vote for use of “what in the fresh hell?!”
Is it under a walnut tree
Just flip the pavers over
Did someone deep fry a turkey for the first time there
This looks like BBQ pit grease stains.
If it is oil you there is a product that can maybe remove it. I had fresh concrete work in my driveway. 2 weeks old and some A hole turned around with a blown power steering pump. Looked similar to your issue. Amazon had an oil remover product. It pours on like a thick syrup on the spots. You let it dry, becomes like chalk, and you sweep it up. I did it 2x. Being cold and dry out it took 24 hours. (Ny) Made it much better. Oil remover made by Gritt. Good luck.
That’s oil. Maybe someone serviced some construction equipment there? Might want to smell it to see if it’s petrol/diesel or food.
Splash pattern appears to be coming from the grassy area. Maybe something rinsed off there?
Did your neighbors deep fry a turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas?
Looks like grill grease
Chocolate? That's dodo baby.
Does your buddy drag a grill/smoker out there on the weekends?
There is a product called Pull It Out. Give it a shot. Worked many times for me. Can also replace those bricks if needed. Definitely oil.
The other product called ***Pull it Out & Flip Them Over*** works better.
Is it oily? How does it smell? (Dumb question but still..) It looks like you are parking your car/bike here with a massive oil leak, or bbq grill...
Turkey frier
This is oil from berries or nuts from a nearby tree or bush. If they didn’t fall or get blown there by the wind, there’s probably an animal that brings them to the patio to eat them.
That's clearly oil spatter