Concrete Prep for VCT?

[mitch_04]

I'm renovating my single car garage, 12X24, to become an afterhours business. I am an auto mechanic by trade, but have been restoring cars on my own time for people. I've decided to go with VCT for the cost effectiveness, beauty, ease of installation, and decent durability.

What I would like help with is the concrete preparation prior to installation. From the threads I have found (the search doesn't allow VCT, too short) it seems to be sweep, wash, dry, apply. I have seen a few others who had mentioned other measures, such as sealer.

Could someone please help me with the correct prep prior to tiling?

 

[JimVonBaden]

Clean the floor with a cleaner that leaves no residue, then let dry and apply.

Check my sigline for how I did it.

Jim

 

[mitch_04]

Do you (or anyone) have recommendations for a cleaner with no residue? Didn't see it listed in your thread, but I quick skimmed (at work).

 

[JimVonBaden]

Mine was new, but you can mop with regular floor cleaner (no conditioner in it), then dry thoroughly.

It really just needs to be free of loose dust and water.

Jim

 

[mitch_04]

Would scrubbing the floor with something like Simple Green, then rinsing, then letting dry a day or so be good? Just want to make sure I get out any old oils or chemicals in the floor.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Would scrubbing the floor with something like Simple Green, then rinsing, then letting dry a day or so be good? Just want to make sure I get out any old oils or chemicals in the floor.

Sure, just rinse well! Mine was new, I wet mopped it after a good sweep. 1.5 years, and a LOT of work and abuse, and no tile has even hinted at pulling up.

Keep in mind that while mine was new, it was far from clean due to the drywall and paint work done before the floor went down.

The key is no grease residue and no loose dirt/dust. You will see for yourself how well it will stick!

Jim

 

[TonyG]

I'm bumping this thread for some additional help.

We're in the process of planning a VCT floor for our commercial garage. It's very, very smooth, five years old and has oil stains here and there that I'd like to attack with a solvent first then TSP to finish.

-Would a light sanding of the surface be necessary in addition to the first steps mentioned above?

-The heaviest vehicle the tile will see is a bucket truck weighing 21000#, a straight pull in, no turning of the wheels. Then a variety of trucks 11,000#, 10,000# and 6,000#.

-Will the VCT hold up to the intermittent traffic, maybe two days a week of in and out?

Thanks, Tony