Cleaning Epoxy Flooring question

[Big Barn]

Hello Everyone,

New member here so please be patient. Very informative site by the way! Came to research how to clean an epoxy floor for the in-laws and now I'm thinking of all kind of fun projects for my home. This could be VERY bad!! ;-)

Here is my situation. My FIL collected antique cars and built a very nice pole barn to hold them. After a few years he added on and it's now a fairly large building (held 13 cars plus a LOT of ancillary toys!) . The addition has an epoxy coated floor while the original section has some type of tile. Sadly as my FIL's health deteriorated, the upkeep on the cars and floor fell off a little. Old cars leak all kinds of fluids and now the floor is looking a little beat.

It's time to restore the floors but I have no idea how to go about that. The building is located in southwest Michigan (near the Indiana border). Of course the company that installed it 11 years ago is no longer in business. Here is what I know from the barn contractor.

Epoxy Quartz floor. Double seeded to 1/8" w 4" cove base. Top coated w high gloss urethane color #770.

That's it! That's all I know. I would like to get this cleaned up and restored to it's original condition. The building is climate controlled so actual wear and tear has been pretty minimal. Does anyone have any suggestions or perhaps can direct me to somebody with this kind of expertise??

Thank you in advance.

Dave

 

[Shea]

Urethane is a tough top coat that is very resistant to stains and easy to clean. However, that doesn't mean that you may not have some issues. Brake fluid for example can cause some problems if left on the floor for a long period of time. Tile is very resistant as well.

You didn't mention what shape the floor is in, just that it looks a little beat. Time to clean it up first! Your best bet is to start cleaning the floor with a solution of Simple Green or some type of compatible cleaner to see what you have in terms of a floor finish. Then you can start looking into what needs to be done based on what you find.

 

[Big Barn]

Thanks for the quick response. The floor is in pretty good shape, just dirty and has had a lot of fluids drip on it over the years. My issue is the building is very large (36'x105') so the idea of getting on my hands and knees to scrub it is very unpleasant. I imagine I am going to need to rent a scrubber of some type like they use in dealerships/hospitals etc. But before I do that, I want to get an idea of what products I should use and what I should avoid.

 

[tncatadjuster]

I like simple green, piece of carpet mounted on a floor buffer pile side down and have at it. Rinse with clean water and a mop, allow to dry.
Best of luck, that is a nice floor and worthy of the effort.

 

[Edger]

An auto scrubber with vacuum pickup at the back would be the best. They can be heavy so you will need a trailer to transport it.

Use the detergent much stronger than suggested to get into the dirt quickly, empty the water as it gets very dirty and do a first clean. After drying use the detergent to spot some stains allowing it to soak for 1hr and then go over the floor with fresh water in the tank.

It would be better to hire a contractor to do it for you with some instructions. Tell him that he must not leave streaks and has to hand remove any streaks that do occur. Tell him to spot clean the floor after the first clean, not before. That will cost more but it will be better.

Hiring a machine has problems with transport, equipment being in good working order (brushes, vacuum and squeegee rubbers), disposal of waste water and the learning curve.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Yes an auto scrubber is the way to go, if you have the budget for it.

http://www.acepoxy.com/acepoxy.com/Warehouse_Cleaning.html

 

[Big Barn]

An auto scrubber with vacuum pickup at the back would be the best. They can be heavy so you will need a trailer to transport it.

Use the detergent much stronger than suggested to get into the dirt quickly, empty the water as it gets very dirty and do a first clean. After drying use the detergent to spot some stains allowing it to soak for 1hr and then go over the floor with fresh water in the tank.

It would be better to hire a contractor to do it for you with some instructions. Tell him that he must not leave streaks and has to hand remove any streaks that do occur. Tell him to spot clean the floor after the first clean, not before. That will cost more but it will be better.

Hiring a machine has problems with transport, equipment being in good working order (brushes, vacuum and squeegee rubbers), disposal of waste water and the learning curve.

I would LOVE to hire a contractor to do it for me but this barn is in a VERY small town and I'm having a hard time finding anybody. I will continue to search and thanks to everybody who has responded.