Another newbie moisture question

[runs4food]

I've been reading the forum posts but have not come to a conclusion, so I'll ask some questions...

I live in the California central valley, and when it rains, I get white powder on the garage floor. The powder only seems to form after we pull in a wet car into the garage and it drips onto the floor...when the water evaporates, the white powder forms where the water was.

So, question is, can I coat/paint the floor or will I have a problem?

What would be the best option to coat the floor?

Thanks!

Steve

 

[gabeancounter]

Have you done a moisture test? Taping a 2 foot square of pastic down on the floor and waiting 24 hours. Check to see if moisture is below the plastic?

 

[larryv]

Welcome! You will love this site.

 

[AlphaGarage]

I don't know what that residue could be, certainly every time I transit Hwy 99 or I5 I see a lot of spraying and/or dusting of fertilizers etc, and I'm sure a lot of that ends up on the roads around there. Regardless, they powder should not be a problem with the right coatings.

Just like wall paint, different coating have varying amounts of resistance when it comes to chemical and material spills. Some coatings will be fine if you wipe up the stuff in a few hours, but left too much longer there will be a stain, other coating will clean up with zero stain or negative effects even if the spill isn't cleaned up for months. Likewise some coatings can actually fail (lift and/or delaminate) due to some spills, while the same chemicals won't even leave a mark on better epoxies.

What's best for your situation depends on what you need/want, and your budget. Odds are the best coating for your floor would probably be a high performance epoxy primer, a high build epoxy body coat with ceramic content, and a polyurethane clear coat - one with excellent chemical resistance. Details may vary depending on what the current floor condition is, and your intended use, but for 95% of home and small shop environments that would be my recommendation. And work with a company that has good customer support.