Thinking it was good idea, I had a service come out to do the floor, and the below photos are after first pass of grinder, muriatic acid, and powerwashing. Am very disappointed with how they handled it (very sloppy and poor prep work, acid splashing ruined some other aspects of my freshly painted garage walls) and I kicked them off the job. Now I gotta figure out what's next in terms of options, and the budget is really limited to doing things myself going forward--which is ok by me.
Some spots of concrete are flat and the grinder just didn't cut through the surface, strangely enough (or the operator was lazy). Other parts of concrete have very bumpy aggregate, and it would take an 1/8" to a 1/4" or so to remove it to make smooth. The challenge with that is I'd have a very uneven floor in certain parts, assuming I could get a grinder that'd take that much off.
The muriatic acid definitely ate through some of the paint, and it flakes and scrapes off, so I'm thinking a powerwashing is due but using a surface attachment (I have a 3k psi powerwasher) so as to contain the spray and mess and go at it again. The old paint (a concrete latex from Benjamin Moore, put down several years prior by former homeowner) in its current state will just not act as a good binder for epoxy or anything for that matter, or at least that's what I think.
Assuming I can get most of the paint off, especially in the little valleys of aggregate, I'm thinking of a couple of options:
1) Skim coat with self-leveling concrete, then apply concrete paint or epoxy;
2) Leave surface texture as is and apply a strong primer and hope for the best in applying a concrete paint or epoxy; or
3) [other?]
Any tips or suggestions appreciated.
p.s. ignore the small dark brownish-colored stain on the concrete--that's some sort of impossibly and crazy hard resin that's on there. whatever it is, it's hard as anything. take a hammer to it and it doesn't even chip.
Some spots of concrete are flat and the grinder just didn't cut through the surface, strangely enough (or the operator was lazy). Other parts of concrete have very bumpy aggregate, and it would take an 1/8" to a 1/4" or so to remove it to make smooth. The challenge with that is I'd have a very uneven floor in certain parts, assuming I could get a grinder that'd take that much off.
The muriatic acid definitely ate through some of the paint, and it flakes and scrapes off, so I'm thinking a powerwashing is due but using a surface attachment (I have a 3k psi powerwasher) so as to contain the spray and mess and go at it again. The old paint (a concrete latex from Benjamin Moore, put down several years prior by former homeowner) in its current state will just not act as a good binder for epoxy or anything for that matter, or at least that's what I think.
Assuming I can get most of the paint off, especially in the little valleys of aggregate, I'm thinking of a couple of options:
1) Skim coat with self-leveling concrete, then apply concrete paint or epoxy;
2) Leave surface texture as is and apply a strong primer and hope for the best in applying a concrete paint or epoxy; or
3) [other?]
Any tips or suggestions appreciated.
p.s. ignore the small dark brownish-colored stain on the concrete--that's some sort of impossibly and crazy hard resin that's on there. whatever it is, it's hard as anything. take a hammer to it and it doesn't even chip.
