Shotblaster or Grinder

moogoob · Apr 5, 2008

Hi Everyone,

Do I need to rent a shotblaster or grinder for my floors?

I have 10x21 garage in my bi-level home built in 1962. The floor seems level, but is pitted and worn in most places. Crest to trough is probably 1/4 inch, maybe more in a few spots, but not more than 1/2 in.

It has slight contamination with some paint and probably bits of oil as well.

Jabberwalk · Apr 5, 2008

What are your plans for the floor? If you are coating a grinder with 25 grit diamonds will do fine. Some might disagree with me, but I would never use a shotblaster. A pro with experience might do fine, but as a DIY project, you are just asking for trouble. You should be able to hire someone for .50- 1.00 per foot to prep the floor if you want to apply your own coating.

moogoob · Apr 5, 2008

My plans are white epoxy. Probably epoxy-coat based on price.

Is your recomendation based on a shotblaster is not needed, not enough, overkill, or that in the hands of a DIY'er, theres a potential for makeing things worse.

I'm a first timer with concrete, and just not sure of what is the right machine.

I similar types of causionary recomendations with drum sanders when refinishing my hardwood floors. Learning experience... Yes, but they came out better than I could have hoped, and I love my floors more than i could if someone else did it.

Also at $1 sq/ft, i'm pushing up to $200 bucks. thas $200 over my target budget of $0!!

Jabberwalk · Apr 5, 2008

moogoob said:
Hi Everyone,

Do I need to rent a shotblaster or grinder for my floors?

It's going to cost something to rent either machine.

I think it is much easier to damage a floor with a shotblast machine than a grinder. With the slab issues you describe, you are going to have to grind the flor to have any chance of a good looking/ performing floor. If the budget is too tight to prep, my advice is to wait until the job can be done correctly, rather than throw your money away.
Good luck!

moogoob · Apr 5, 2008

hehe.. ithe zero budget is more comedy than anything else. I do plan on prep, but not having someone else do it.

I guess what i'm not sure about is whats more heavy duty.

I dont want to rent a grinder, and it not enough be eat enough cement to make progress.

thanks

Dave88LX · Apr 13, 2008

Good luck if you decide to go with a shotblaster, I couldn't find one ANYWHERE, and I called all over Baltimore and the surrounding area.

Kingham · Apr 17, 2008

Some home depot tool rentals carries both grinder and blasters.

As a pro I've never really like the shot blaster method.. seems to make more of a mess than anything else

we do a combination of spot grinding and acid etching. if really bad we will grind the whole floor down.

that size floor we could grind in about 2 hours using a 7" angle grinder and diamond blade.

I still do an acid etch after grinding and use a nutrulizer/cleaner/degreaser afterwards and completely rinse clean.

ron in sc · Apr 17, 2008

From what I read and been told be people experienced with epoxy application, grinders and shot blasters I think shotblasting is consider the best choice for preparing the floor. It has to do with the profile that shotblasting leaves which makes it ideal for application of a 100% solids epoxy.

Shotblaster or Grinder

moogoob

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Jabberwalk

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moogoob

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Jabberwalk

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moogoob

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Dave88LX

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Kingham

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ron in sc

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