heating oil fumes

ktj

Hi, We have an old metal heating oil tank in a stone outhouse at the bottom of the garden. The tank has not been used for years and we presumed that it was empty. However it must have had a bit of oil left in it 'cos it's rusted through in the back corner and some oil has seeped out and soaked into the concrete floor and a couple of the breeze blocks of the wall. There is no actual liquid oil around and it doesn't look like much leaked out, but you can smell the stuff that has soaked into the floor and breeze blocks. Where the oil has soaked in is a bit inaccessible so if we just leave it does anyone know if the smell will eventually go and how long this may take? We use this shed as a potting shed so I'm just wondering if the smell will have gone by the time I'm wanting to get on with my seed sowing if not is there anything that we can spray onto where the oil has soaked in to help get rid of the smell. Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any help. kje.

Ebe_Scrooge

I must admit I'm not sure on this - I'm assuming the oil has soaked into the porous concrete ? If so, it's going to be very difficult to get it out completely.

You could perhaps try covering it with salt, brush it in with a stiff brush, leave it a couple of days then brush / hoover it off. This *may* leech a bit of the oil out.

I think if it's soaked in, you're going to be left with a stain, but the smell should disappear over time - especially if you're able to leave doors / windows open to get a good draught blowing through.

Sorry, that's probably not too much help, but just my thoughts