Brand new concrete pad

[toddt429]

I am certain this question comes up a lot here. I would search for the responses, however, It is a multi question post and I feel my situation may not be as typical. Forgive me if this was easily searchable, but here it goes;

I just had a brand new 30 x 50 Concrete pad poured 3 months ago. The pad was polished and the mix had no air added to it. My building is getting installed next Thursday and Friday. I know if I don't seal it before moving my stuff in, I will never get around to it. I don't know what would be better in my particular situation. A penetrating sealant or a 1 step epoxy paint (or other options I do not know about).

I was hoping I would not have to etch the concrete since it is new and never used. Since it was outside getting rained on for 3 months I am hoping any dust particles are pretty much as gone as can be.

Do I need to etch?
if so, Acid or mechanical?
what type of sealant is best?
If one can be done without etching and if so, does the benefit of not having to etch out weigh the quality and durability.

The building is an all purpose building being used for tractor and vehicle storage and maintenance, office space, Honey processing room (very messy and sticky) and a grow room to start seedlings.

Again I apologize for my laziness in not trying too hard to search all of this, I just couldn't think of a granular enough search to cover this.

I appreciate any input, opinions and advice I can get. Thank You.

Todd

 

[Shea]

I am certain this question comes up a lot here. I would search for the responses, however, It is a multi question post and I feel my situation may not be as typical. Forgive me if this was easily searchable, but here it goes;

I just had a brand new 30 x 50 Concrete pad poured 3 months ago. The pad was polished and the mix had no air added to it. My building is getting installed next Thursday and Friday. I know if I don't seal it before moving my stuff in, I will never get around to it. I don't know what would be better in my particular situation. A penetrating sealant or a 1 step epoxy paint (or other options I do not know about).

I was hoping I would not have to etch the concrete since it is new and never used. Since it was outside getting rained on for 3 months I am hoping any dust particles are pretty much as gone as can be.

Do I need to etch?
if so, Acid or mechanical?
what type of sealant is best?
If one can be done without etching and if so, does the benefit of not having to etch out weigh the quality and durability.

The building is an all purpose building being used for tractor and vehicle storage and maintenance, office space, Honey processing room (very messy and sticky) and a grow room to start seedlings.

Again I apologize for my laziness in not trying too hard to search all of this, I just couldn't think of a granular enough search to cover this.

I appreciate any input, opinions and advice I can get. Thank You.

Todd

The type of concrete prep required depends on what you plan to apply to the concrete. You need to decide that first. DO NOT apply a 1-part epoxy paint for your particular use unless you want to remove it and put something much better down a year later.

Penetrating sealers typically only require a good cleaning of the surface. Most coatings require etching at a minimum. Can you please explain what you mean about the pad being "polished"? Do you mean power troweled? I suggest reading the article below which will provide a good background of the different options and what they do. You should be able to get a better idea of where you want to go from there.

Making Sense of Garage Floor Sealers | Which is Best for Your Application?

Learn the differences between penetrating and topical concrete sealers for garage floors and workshops. Discover what protection they provide against oil, water, and chemicals.

allgaragefloors.com

 

[RPH]

Decide what the building does for you. Then you can research coatings for the purpose. Welding, working on the car is a vast difference from storing boxes.

 

[toddt429]

The type of concrete prep required depends on what you plan to apply to the concrete. You need to decide that first. DO NOT apply a 1-part epoxy paint for your particular use unless you want to remove it and put something much better down a year later.

Penetrating sealers typically only require a good cleaning of the surface. Most coatings require etching at a minimum. Can you please explain what you mean about the pad being "polished"? Do you mean power troweled? I suggest reading the article below which will provide a good background of the different options and what they do. You should be able to get a better idea of where you want to go from there.

Making Sense of Garage Floor Sealers | Which is Best for Your Application?

Learn the differences between penetrating and topical concrete sealers for garage floors and workshops. Discover what protection they provide against oil, water, and chemicals.

allgaragefloors.com

Good to know about the 1 part epoxy. Yes, by polished I meant ground real fine. The thing looked like a floor buffer. Thank You for the info.

 

[toddt429]

Decide what the building does for you. Then you can research coatings for the purpose. Welding, working on the car is a vast difference from storing boxes.

It's an all purpose farm building. Shop, machine storage, welding etc. So far I think I'm leaning towards a penetrating type sealer.

 

[RPH]

Ghostshield products is what I suggest. I have the same setup with the barn. Densifier 4500 and the 8505 sealer. Easy to to do and works great.
Vendors here carry it and are great at getting the right product for you. They are trustworthy people.

 

[toddt429]

Ghostshield products is what I suggest. I have the same setup with the barn. Densifier 4500 and the 8505 sealer. Easy to to do and works great.
Vendors here carry it and are great at getting the right product for you. They are trustworthy people.

Thank You very much. I will look into this and try to find a supplier.

 

[juddspaintballs]

I'm literally in between coats of sealing my stained concrete floor in my house and garage. The floors are new concrete that was finished in August and has been bare inside of the house as we've been working on it. They power troweled the concrete. We used a floor buffer with a sanding disc to knock the hard burnishing off and it accepted stain pretty well.

For sealer, we're using TS210. My wife wanted something that wasn't glossy and I wanted something that would resist oil in the garage. The review by All Garage Floors was pretty good, so that's what we went with.

We Review TS210 Clear Polyurethane Garage Floor Sealer and Coating for Bare Concrete

Why TS210 may be the best no etching required, clear coating and sealer for bare concrete, workshops, and garage floors. We test for durability, oil stain resistance, and ease of application.

allgaragefloors.com

 

[toddt429]

Thank You for describing your project in detail. Sounds identical to mine, only my slab has been outside. I will also look at this product and hopefully make a decision soon. Thanks again!

 

[Garage Flooring]

If you want to do a coating that will last you are going to need to etch or grind. There are some sealers like Ghostshield 8510 you can do without the prep, but they are just that, sealers.

 

[toddt429]

If you want to do a coating that will last you are going to need to etch or grind. There are some sealers like Ghostshield 8510 you can do without the prep, but they are just that, sealers.

Thank You. I normally don't like to put budget (time & money) over function, but I think I'm leaning toward a sealer. It is going to be a shop after all. I'm not a total slob (been trained well) and I tend to clean as I go. Thank You for your input on this. If all goes well and I am successful, another building should be in my future and I will certainly keep this in mind. Thanks again.

 

[toddt429]

Thank You very much. I will look into this and try to find a supplier

Ghostshield products is what I suggest. I have the same setup with the barn. Densifier 4500 and the 8505 sealer. Easy to to do and works great.
Vendors here carry it and are great at getting the right product for you. They are trustworthy people.

So I went with your recommendation and called ghost shield direct. Very nice people. The gal on the phone, who seemed very knowledgable about the product and not just a salesperson was super helpful and didn't try to over sell me. She suggested skipping the 4500 because the density and fine surface of my pad probably wouldn't absorb a water soluble product. She suggested going right to the 8510 product. It is solvent based and she felt it would absorb much better. I was very surprised when she suggested only 1 coat. I was prepared to get enough for 2, but again, she was concerned with absorbtion. Thank you for introducing me to that product and recommending it.

 

[RPH]

Your welcome.
Worked great for me. I used 8505 at the time because 8510 was not out at the time.

 

[akpolaris]

I'm literally in between coats of sealing my stained concrete floor in my house and garage. The floors are new concrete that was finished in August and has been bare inside of the house as we've been working on it. They power troweled the concrete. We used a floor buffer with a sanding disc to knock the hard burnishing off and it accepted stain pretty well.

For sealer, we're using TS210. My wife wanted something that wasn't glossy and I wanted something that would resist oil in the garage. The review by All Garage Floors was pretty good, so that's what we went with.

We Review TS210 Clear Polyurethane Garage Floor Sealer and Coating for Bare Concrete

Why TS210 may be the best no etching required, clear coating and sealer for bare concrete, workshops, and garage floors. We test for durability, oil stain resistance, and ease of application.

allgaragefloors.com

I looked at the spec sheets and did not see any details about individually managing cracks. Is is necessary to treat cracks or expansion joints a certain way? Also, in my situation I would need to move everything from 1 side to the other doing the floor in 2 pours/treatments. Does this stuff blend or mend together well?

 

[juddspaintballs]

It doesn't bridge gaps at all. I ground out and filled my one big crack and left the little ones alone. The stain and the coating both blend with themselves just fine. I had to do part of the garage in two sections because I did the whole house side at once and I had to use the garage as my exit and staging area.