Here's my floor... any ideas for short term solution?

MagicMarker · Jul 9, 2015

So I don't have a lot of cash to realistically do the floor properly (epoxy, Rust Bullet etc). I'd like to lay down something just to clean up the look and make it easier to clean for less than $500. I have 462 sq ft to cover and realize whatever I do won't last long.

The previous owner just crapped up the garage. Old paint, oil stains and what I believe are drops of asphalt coating.

Anyone have ideas that won't include grinding?

**EDIT**
>Updated with new thread.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=298129

>Decided to document my garage floor paint/ epoxy project (Most likely Rustoleum). So far hit the the floor with a pressure washer to get it pretty clean and to power off some adhered items (not really sure what they were).

>I hit the floor with Zep Fast 505 Industrial Cleaner and Degreaser and double treated areas that had water beads... It worked quite well. I scrubbed it with a stiff nylon brush head and rinsed.

>Next I need to pick up a Rustoleum epoxy kit to review the directions and do a final cleaning with the etcher and do a final power wash.

>Purchased Rustoleum 2.5 garage epoxy kit, one single kit and all the needs to apply it. I have ~ 462sq/ft to cover and the surface isn't perfectly smooth, so I bought an extra kit in case I need it on the fly and an extra small bag of flake. Since the weather was nice, I painted my garage windows since the existing paint was so old and dingy. The white really brightens them up. BTW painting original windows with moldings is a huge pain.

>Friday will be etching and final power wash for Saturday morning Epoxy application.

>As this is a short term project I wanted to spend as little as possible. So far just spent $180 for Epoxy, degreaser and brushes/ misc. I borrowed my father in laws power washer. Oh.. and of course my time.

rsanter · Jul 9, 2015

Start with a pressure washer that will do 3500psi or better.
You can also lay some chemical out like the Orange cleaner or orange hand cleaner that can kill some of the grease in the pores. Then use the pressure washer to blast it out

Bob

w33b8t1 · Jul 9, 2015

I bought the roll out G-Floor. Covered it well.

Isn't super durable, but does the job.

bczygan · Jul 10, 2015

Spill a container of used oil on it, like I did. Then spread it around to even up the tone.

Based on my spill, it should take about 15 to 20 quarts...

Garage Flooring · Jul 10, 2015

bczygan said:
Spill a container of used oil on it, like I did. Then spread it around to even up the tone.

Based on my spill, it should take about 15 to 20 quarts...

I remember that thread. Did you ever post pics?

Jinks · Jul 10, 2015

rsanter is right. As good a cleaning as you can manage with citric acid/oil absorbent/etc., then a pressure wash. Follow up with something like Rustoleum floor paint. You'll have to stay off it for a while for it to harden & be careful of hot tires lifting it for a while, but it'll make the place look better & resist further staining.

Garage Flooring · Jul 10, 2015

I can hear your frustration in the posts etc. you probably could get the oil out with a combination of products like Pour an Restore and MetalBlast but if I recall that still leaves you with some paint that needs removed. After all that you are still hoping for the best so to speak.

To coat this floor properly you have to get all the contaminents up and likely grind the surface. Otherwise your money and time would be much better spent on a garage tile.

1raptor · Jul 10, 2015

So does oil vanish work or is it snake oil?

MagicMarker · Jul 11, 2015

Ok.. so I had at it today with a pressure washer. At full stream, I was able to get off a lot of small adhered items. There was clearly areas that the water just beaded so I bought some heavy duty degreaser and will give that a try next.

Surprisingly, I had the pressure washer on full stream on the painted areas and the paint barely budged off. Some came off, but the vast majority stuck. I was kind of surprised by that.

If the degreaser works for the beading portions of the floor, I'm going to try and use some Rustoleum something to see what kind of long term effects I'll get. I'll be sure to pictorially document it and review over time.

I'm going into this assuming I won't get great long term adhesion, but factoring in I'll probably end up plastic tiling it later in the future when money allows.

DTE · Jul 11, 2015

I have used Black top sealer ( made for asphalt ) in the past on concrete and have good results. Fairly cheap, covers well , has a good look and in my experience sticks way better than concrete paint.

MagicMarker · Jul 11, 2015

^^ Do you have any photos of the results?

DTE · Jul 11, 2015

I will try to get some this weekend.

Cave Creek Ray · Jul 11, 2015

One thing about black top sealer and oils stains: They are made of the same stuff. Should bond well when you get the majority cleaned up. I found you got the best penetration into the concrete when you allowed it to dry and then put the orange cleaner on. That allowed it to get sucked into the concrete pores. Give it 30 minutes and then hit it with pressure. Three or four of those cleanings and you should find most of it gone.

Only problem is asphalt sealer only comes in one color: black. If you drop anything it will be a lot harder to find it. Does your door face West? Could get gooey in summer with the door open. Also, if your driveway is concrete, you may see some tire tracking across the concrete as the sealer oils your car tires.

Once you put sealer down, you are committed to using it or plastic tiles. Think that one through before coating it. I'd clean it up best I could and hit it with Rustoleum.

By the way, Home Depot will tint the Rustoleum. I bought the creme color and had them add the same amount of "tan" to each bucket. The result was a warmer tan, not so yellow.

Good luck.

Jinks · Jul 11, 2015

MagicMarker said:
Ok.. so I had at it today with a pressure washer. At full stream, I was able to get off a lot of small adhered items. There was clearly areas that the water just beaded so I bought some heavy duty degreaser and will give that a try next.

Surprisingly, I had the pressure washer on full stream on the painted areas and the paint barely budged off. Some came off, but the vast majority stuck. I was kind of surprised by that.

If the degreaser works for the beading portions of the floor, I'm going to try and use some Rustoleum something to see what kind of long term effects I'll get. I'll be sure to pictorially document it and review over time.

I'm going into this assuming I won't get great long term adhesion, but factoring in I'll probably end up plastic tiling it later in the future when money allows.

That's similar to what I did. My existing 2 car had Rustoleum when we bought the house. When we did the addition the new garage/shop space got a similar coat. There were a couple of hot tire lifts in the two car that we avoided by letting the garage/shop floor cure before driving on it.

The Rustoleum is surprisingly durable, but a couple of motorcycle center stands put a few nicks in it. The ultimate problem was a combination of old Rustoleum in the 2 car, & some appearance issue in the new. I opted for Garage Track tiles a little over three years ago. Durable enough for anything I do & with the ability to design the layout it looks a lot better.

The Rustoleum should keep you under your $500 for now, & the deals found here should make the tiles pretty reasonable when you have a little more cash. Send progress photos when you can!

MagicMarker · Jul 11, 2015

Thanks Jinx. I'll be sure to post updates with pics. I'm thinking, based on humidity, I'm going to keep cars off the floor for at least a solid week.

I have a question as to when I can walk on it and push my small tool chest back onto the floor.....

That said I'm going to set up a small LCD and receiver/ speakers for some tunes. Should make for some decent temporary sound.

Jinks · Jul 12, 2015

MagicMarker said:
I have a question as to when I can walk on it and push my small tool chest back onto the floor.....

Just follow the instructions on the product for dry/cure time. Walking & tool chests aren't a problem, hot tires are what lifts the paint. Giving it a week without hot tires should work if you get most of the grease/oil up first.

Pig In A Poke · Jul 12, 2015

bczygan said:
Spill a container of used oil on it, like I did. Then spread it around to even up the tone.

Based on my spill, it should take about 15 to 20 quarts...

I want to see this!

MagicMarker · Jul 21, 2015

Updated... I hit the floor with Zep Fast 505 Industrial Cleaner and Degreaser

MagicMarker · Jul 22, 2015

^^Price is right, but the Sams Club seems to be just an acrylic coating vs. epoxy.... not sure how much of a difference, but $99 is a big difference than $19. Too bad Sams.com is sold out and I don't have a Sams membership... just Costco and BJs.

MagicMarker · Jul 23, 2015

Updates above....

iskuta · Jul 23, 2015

**** This is just my opinion and what I have learned****** When dealing with a floor that has oil on it and wanting to clean it up and make it look nice.
1. if you power wash it you are pushing water into the concrete. It isn't the greatest thing to do before you coat it with an epoxy. You should let it dry out for 24-48 hours depending on the weather. AGAIN just my opinion.
2. Grinding is the best course of action to get the surface ready.
3. with the floor seeing oil prime it with an oil stopping primer. Sherwin-Williams has one, im not sure if PPG or anyone else has one but I'm sure they would.
My only experience with the rustoleum kits was a bad one and it failed. It was before I knew about floor coatings and I listened to the guys at Lowes. Looking back it was going to fail because it wasn't prepped properly. Prepping is the key to epoxy lasting. Also just another sidenote waterbased epoxies are more "breathable" than solvent based. With solvent based epoxies picture putting 4 mil plastic on the floor if you have water in that slab it is going to rise to the top and push at that plastic.That is what happens with solvent based products. they create a barrier that nothing will pass through but with waterbased products they will allow moisture through to a certain point.
I hope this isn't rambling and makes some since. One last time THIS IS WHAT I HAVE LEARNED AND IS MY OPINION.

MagicMarker · Jul 24, 2015

^^Thanks.. always open to hear what everyone has to say.

iskuta · Jul 24, 2015

nothing ***** more than putting in a ton of work to have a project fail. I will be doing my floor in my garage and running through the process of how to do a floor. It should be sometime in September.

MagicMarker · Jul 24, 2015

iskuta said:
nothing ***** more than putting in a ton of work to have a project fail. I will be doing my floor in my garage and running through the process of how to do a floor. It should be sometime in September.

I'm hoping for the best, but am expecting some epoxy fail over a longer period of time. I'm actually trying to think of some ideas to help stave off tire lift with either runner mats, vinyl tile areas or whatever comes to mind. I'll document those ideas as well.

I started a fresh thread about this... see my edit at the top.

Here's my floor... any ideas for short term solution?

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