Thoughts on leaving the floor unfinished

[biscuits]

I'm about to pour a new garage slab that will be 25' x 50' and as flat as possible.

Can you please tell me what I am in for by not treating it? Assuming there are proven ways to get potential oil stains removed, what are the significant issues -- other than personal taste or aesthetics -- that motivated you to treat your floor?

 

[Mike007]

I would think concrete dust might be an issue. And oil stains will most likely be permanent without a sealer.

 

[luvit]

i just wanted a way to wipe-up liquids and i wanted to sweep until the dust is gone.
my plain concrete just never felt clean.. i was always spilling a little liquid and having dusty kitty litter laying on the floor..

 

[54FordPanel]

There's no way I would go to the expense of putting down a new floor, and then not epoxying it.
Epoxying the floor means everything you ever spill on it wipes right up.
Sweeping is easy.
I even mop mine from time to time.
The epoxy is worth every penny.

 

[sooperdave]

can u describe how the garage will be used?

 

[rsanter]

Will soak up liquids and harder to sweep up
I have always the cheaper floor paints with good luck but I have never been going for that showroom look.
The painted surface is easier to keep clean from dust and oil

With a new floor I would look at grind, polish, and an emulsifier. Or just go to a painted surface

Bob

 

[bofg33]

When I had my floor poured alittle over a year ago the contractor suggested a product called Cure & Seal... I'm glad i did it... makes for easy clean up and only added about $85 for the five gallon bucket... My floor is 30x50 and had some left over... You can even get it in a more expensive version the will withstand gasoline and brakefluid for about double the price...

 

[Edger]

No preparation is required for Cure N Seal because it is put onto the damp slab after pouring. That is the only time you do not prepare concrete for a sealer. Here downunder many industrial plants have cure n seal then after construction they clean it and give it another coat. Miraculously it seems to stick quite well to itself and the two coats leave a good glossy finish that is easy to clean.

The downside is that if you want to recoat with anything else later you have to take off the sealer, you cannot just acid etch.

Cure n seal is a good sealer, but it will not stand up to high abrasion or chemicals like brake fluid or petrol (gasoline).

 

[biscuits]

can u describe how the garage will be used?

The garage will be used to park two cars and a truck (tandem) with 25% remaining as a work area to prep and load vegetables for their trip to the market.

At this time, there are no plans for working on cars or welding.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

I just used a densifiier and sealer from Legacy on mine. 5 gallons was cheap, effective and although it did not stop the floor from staining, it was meant to stop the dusting (it did) and strengthen the floor (seems to have done that also). I like welding and cutting too much to have epoxy and the other options I looked at (staining and sealing) would need upkeep every year or two.

I would rather be working on projects on a slightly stained floor than staining and refinishing the floor.

 

[sooperdave]

For what you're doing, I would just go with whatever you like best (looks-wise) and is within your budget. Apoxy sure makes it 100x easier to keep the area clean and smells fresher too.

 

[Falcon67]

It was a ***** to sweep my 24x40 plain concrete. The 24" industrial type broow would continually pick up concrete dust. Anything spilled on it would stain and take a great effort to remove. I had to chip sap droppings off the slab (off the joists) and triple etch those spots to get the surface ready for paint. Oil/fuel stains will go in and never come out, IMHO. The surface is porous and will soak it up. After the epoxy paint, it can be cleaned with a dust mop.

> I like welding and cutting too much to have epoxy
This I don't get - I welded, cut, etc on my old epoxy floor with no thought about it. Already doing that on the new floor.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Densify at the very least.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I guess I would worry about my floor looking like this post from Better Life Technology

You could do almost anything from a small garage floor mat where you park your cars to covering the entire floor in a PVC Garage Floor Tile At minimum I would agree with Legacy Industrial.

You have a great surface to work with. At a minimum coat it. You have some great resources on this site as far as coatings go. Just make sure you take your time and do it right.

 

[biscuits]

Densify at the very least.

Can you please tell me more about what densification will do?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Hardens, dust proofs and makes spills easier to clean up. It basically hydrates the free lime in the concrete that was not hydrated during the manufacturing process. When this portion of this has been hydrated it creates a harder more closed surface.

 

[biscuits]

Hardens, dust proofs and makes spills easier to clean up. It basically hydrates the free lime in the concrete that was not hydrated during the manufacturing process. When this portion of this has been hydrated it creates a harder more closed surface.

Thank you. Can you please share some photos of what a floor that has been densified looks like?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

It looks no different. This is a penetrative product it leaves no trace on the surface.

 

[biscuits]

It looks no different. This is a penetrative product it leaves no trace on the surface.

Is there another clear product that can go on top of the densified slab; creating a clear, shiny, and spill-proof surface?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

If you will seal the floor I wouldn't bother densifying as the sealer becomes the sacrificial layer and the densifier becomes useless.

However, we have had customers do this with success using our HD36 densifier and the HD-6415 Sealer. It is the best acrylic sealer available and will give you the shiny, spill proof part.