Cleaning up after drywall finishing

[allinon72]

Just finished up my drywall but now my floor is a mess of drywall compound. All the major globs have been taken care of but the whole floor is still covered in white. I can't effectively scrape the floor because it's very rough and uneven. What method should I use to clean the floor properly?

 

[darkk]

Just finished up my drywall but now my floor is a mess of drywall compound. All the major globs have been taken care of but the whole floor is still covered in white. I can't effectively scrape the floor because it's very rough and uneven. What method should I use to clean the floor properly?

I'm assuming you are talking about a sub floor. Mine is the same way. scrape it as smooth as you can then lay down the finish floor. If it's a concrete slab, just wash it with a stiff brush and rinse it. If it's your finish floor that is all messed up, shame on you.......

 

[allinon72]

It's just a bare concrete floor that's in real rough shape. I need it clean so I can level it out.

 

[jkeyser14]

Get a HEPA filter for your shop vac. Vacuum up as much as you can. Then scrub the floor a couple of times with a sponge and a bucket of water. Don't saturate the floor, just use the damp sponge too lift up the dust.

 

[Milton Shaw]

Might try a floor buffer or wire wheel on a angle grinder. Use a dusk mask and maybe even a shop vac to catch the outflow of dust. Pressure washer would get it but would ruin the sheetrock.

 

[djjsr]

This is a garage floor? If so, how about taping some plastic to the walls for protection and hitting the floor with a pressure washer.

 

[KMR Construction]

put 15lb felt paper down before you compound.........

 

[Zeke]

put 15lb felt paper down before you compound.........

Too late, wouldn't you say?

Water dissolves mud and a little vinegar or concrete cleaning compound should make things good as new. You need to etch that concrete anyway if you're going to put anything on it. Doesn't matter that it's rough already. Needs to be clean all the way down in the porous surface.

 

[factorten]

Use a stiff bristle brush when you're scrubbing it too.

 

[James E]

Drywall mud comes up off of concrete easily with soapy water (or just plain water) and a stiff bristled broom or brush. Most of it could probably be sprayed away with a hose if you could keep the water off of the drywall.

 

[yucholian]

Drywall mud comes up off of concrete easily with soapy water (or just plain water) and a stiff bristled broom or brush. Most of it could probably be sprayed away with a hose if you could keep the water off of the drywall.

I don't know, none of the drywall mud I've used came off this easily. It would get in the pores of the concrete and even after many heavy scrubbing sessions, it doesn't come out completely.

 

[Keep]

Just finished up my drywall but now my floor is a mess of drywall compound. All the major globs have been taken care of but the whole floor is still covered in white. I can't effectively scrape the floor because it's very rough and uneven. What method should I use to clean the floor properly?

If you start with a shop vac, make sure you have the bag inside. If you just run the standard foam filter you will kill your vac. I made that mistake once.

Scrapper gets the big clumps. After that some water and a brush should take the rest off.

 

[James E]

I don't know, none of the drywall mud I've used came off this easily. It would get in the pores of the concrete and even after many heavy scrubbing sessions, it doesn't come out completely.

Hmm. I wonder if they used a different formula than the guys around here. When I had my garage sheetrocked, the guys got mud EVERYWHERE. I had absolutely no problem getting it off of the smooth parts of the slab but even on the rough-brushed driveway it came off easily with just a little scrubbing. ?

 

[Mmfh]

I just cleaned up mine last night, I vacuum all the dust that I could, then I wet it down and let it sit for about a half hour. In that soaking time the mud loosened up and I was able to get the globs with a bucket of water and a scrub brush.

Mine was mostly dust from sanding, not too many globs on the floor.

Mm

 

[Kevin54]

Scrub brush on a long handle, some Purple Power and a 6 pack of brewskies.

 

[gunguy]

A floor buffer with a scrub brush disc attached followed by a rinse and a wet/dry vacuum?

Jim

 

[dcg9381]

It's just a bare concrete floor that's in real rough shape. I need it clean so I can level it out.

I rented a wet concrete "grinder" at Home Depot. They have a moderate grit surface that works for taking off old masonry... I'm sure it'd work for taking off drywall.

Dunno if wet will work if you've got drywall.

Warning: It's a workout and you'll quickly give up if you don't learn to balance the machine. Also needs to be done wet - at least I haven't tried to do it dry...

 

[Bill Bowman]

Probably after 8 years, the OP got the job done.