advice needed on washing garage floor before epoxying

[muzazah]

Hi All,

New to the forums here. I am looking for some advice from folks who might done epoxying in their garage or have knowledge in the matter.

I am ready to wash and prep the floor but have a concern with one side of the garage wall which has wood frame and drywall. I am concerned that when washing the floor water is going to seep under and potentially cause water damage. I dont want to inadvertently cause water damage and so was wondering how this needs to be handled.

What did others do in similar situation?

Do i just not wash around the edges and squeeze the water out of the garage from the center?

Thanks in advance.
Ken

 

[theoldwizard1]

You are over thinking it. Don't worry about the bottom plate. If the drywall is painted it can handle some splash. Just don't hit it is with your pressure washer.

If you use soap, do a double rinse. Wait at least 24 hours before epoxy.

 

[Shea]

Just purchase the real cheap plastic painters drop cloth from your local home improvement center. It's around $2 for a 12' roll. Tape it to the lower 1/3 of the wall and you will be good to go.

 

[muzazah]

You are over thinking it. Don't worry about the bottom plate. If the drywall is painted it can handle some splash. Just don't hit it is with your pressure washer.

If you use soap, do a double rinse. Wait at least 24 hours before epoxy.

Well thats a relief to hear. So you are saying its OK for water to seep in from the bottom edge of the dry wall and go under? As long as i dont get the wall wet (which I wasn't planning on anyways). I was thinking I am going to get water inside the wall and cause mold or other types of water damage.

thanks,
Ken

 

[benwah]

What measures of surface preparation are you taking?

 

[muzazah]

What measures of surface preparation are you taking?

These are the prep steps I am taking:

1. Power wash the floor with sunjoe surface washer attachment
2. Squeeze all the water out
2. pre wet the floor and etch wash
3. Rinse the floor to remove all etch power
4. seal the cracks
5. clean floor again
6. Paint

 

[gcretro]

When you say paint, you mean epoxy right? What epoxy kit are you using? I am planning to diy too my 2 car garage.

What are you using for sealing any hairline cracks?

 

[Millwrong]

In this weather, I wouldn't worry about water. At least make an attempt to avoid directly spraying where you don't want water to go, but a couple open doors and a fan will have everything dry fairly quick!

 

[Jaguar Fan]

I'm doing this from memory, but I recall my first epoxy job in a two car garage about 15 years ago. The washing was fine. HOWEVER, during the etch phase, I discovered the fumes from the etch actually damaged the painted drywall down near where hit hits the concrete curtain a few inches above the floor surface.

Thus - definitely use that inexpensive plastic during the etch phase as well.

 

[nadogail]

Sounds like a good plan.

 

[rsanter]

When I bought the house the garage was really nasty as they let their cats live in the garage.
I used a 3500psi pressure washer on the floor and blasted the hell out of it.
I blasted it at least 10 times as the pressure kept driving **** out of the pores of the concrete.
I acid washed 2-3 times to get the floor as clean as I can get it.

Sweep excess water away and use compressed air to blow water from cracks/crevices that you don’t want water to sit