Concrete floor is stupid smooth

[Threadkiller]

I just purchased my first house 8 months ago and I have no idea what im doing as far as home stuff. Onto the question.

My garage floor (oversized 2 car) is insanely smoothe. Like if its wet its like a high school gym floor thats wet and I have almost busted my *** a few times haha. I have rhino ramps and I am missing the rubber foot on one of them. If i try to drive my car up on them the one without the rubber foot shoots like a rocket out and hits the wall even if I crawl onto it.

Is this normal or how its supposed to be? Ive heard of people etching their garage floors? Is that what needs to be done here? Maybe the previous owners never got around to it? Is this something I could take care of myself? I am very handy and mechanical and I have a lot of mechanics tools, and not too many house oriented tools.

The previous owners left a lot of paint and stuff behind in the garage and there are some flakes that I assume are for garage floors. I am not a fan of the look of the flake too much though are there other options?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am clueless.

 

[dandan111]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

I had the same problem, I think everyone in my family fell down at one time or another. Epoxy took care of the problem,its much better.

 

[SMKS]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

Is it bare concrete or does it have some kind of coating?

 

[Threadkiller]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

I had the same problem, I think everyone in my family fell down at one time or another. Epoxy took care of the problem,its much better.

Thats a good tip, thank you!

Is it bare concrete or does it have some kind of coating?

Lol I havent a clue. How would I be able to tell? its gray haha

 

[freedomgli]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

I've never been able to simply drive up onto COTS ramps either because of insufficient ground clearance or insufficient friction between the ramp and/or the floor.

I took care of the ground clearance issue by making my own ramps out of wood. This gets my car up just high enough so I can fit a low profile aluminum floor jack underneath it at the factory approved lift points. And because I made my own ramps, I was able to take care of the friction issue by securing some old floor mats to the leading edge of the ramps. The floor mats have a rubber bottom which grips the floor so that as you drive onto the ramps they stay affixed in place.

 

[fstbusa]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

Thats a good tip, thank you!



Lol I havent a clue. How would I be able to tell? its gray haha

Its probably just power troweled. Mine was the same way when I bought my house.

 

[Oldbear]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

You can paint the floor with epoxy paint and not use the chips. Even cleaning it with a muriatic acid or other etcher would "rough it up" a bit

 

[JakeKohl]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

sounds like you have some sort of sealer on the concrete. If you pour water on it does the water bead up or soak in?

 

[Edger]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

I'm with Jake, I bet it is sealed.

 

[Threadkiller]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

You can paint the floor with epoxy paint and not use the chips. Even cleaning it with a muriatic acid or other etcher would "rough it up" a bit

I actually saw a thread on here about a kid who built a performance garage from the ground up and he used some kind of acid and gave it a cool rusty looking finish. Would muriatic acid do that?

sounds like you have some sort of sealer on the concrete. If you pour water on it does the water bead up or soak in?

I'm with Jake, I bet it is sealed.

I think it does bead up, I will check later tonight.

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

 

[Threadkiller]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

I've never been able to simply drive up onto COTS ramps either because of insufficient ground clearance or insufficient friction between the ramp and/or the floor.

I took care of the ground clearance issue by making my own ramps out of wood. This gets my car up just high enough so I can fit a low profile aluminum floor jack underneath it at the factory approved lift points. And because I made my own ramps, I was able to take care of the friction issue by securing some old floor mats to the leading edge of the ramps. The floor mats have a rubber bottom which grips the floor so that as you drive onto the ramps they stay affixed in place.

Thanks for the reply freedom. I want to rough up the concrete a little not only because of the ramps but also because eventually someone walking in on a rainy day will fall. I almost have a bunch of times already.

Thats a good idea for the ramps though. Thank you

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Re: Concrete floor is stupid smoothe

Acid stain gives color and etches the surface.
It only works on untreated concrete.

This post would probably work better for you if you took some pics and posted them.

 

[bRIZZAd]

Best to share some photos of your floor so everyone can know what you are working with.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

 

[77thor]

Perhaps the concrete was polished...

 

[Rewind97]

Mine is the same way..........supper slick when it's wet. The house was build 50-60 years ago and I bet they didn't put a vapor barrier down under the concrete. I need to do something too. Haven't decided what yet. I don't park any vehicles in it cause it's too small (10'x x 19' W/ 8'-0 wide door).