Etching concrete floor did I do it right?

[355ss]

I started my garage flooring project 2 nights ago, my garage floor is 1 year old and 1200 sq ft. Last night I etched the garage floor. I mixed up 9 gallons of muratic acid with 18 gallons of water. this solution gave me enough liquid to etch the floor 2 times. I first power washed the entire, scrubbed the floor with degreaser giving more elbow grease to the oil spots, power washed again, acid etched 200 sq ft and power washed again. I repeated the etch and power wash 12 times and finished with a complete wash of the floor. Preping the floor took about 10 hours. I set fans up let them run for 12 hrs and inspected the work this morning. Most of the floor has turned a tan color with nothing but sand showing on the surface, in some patches the floor is still grayish but is now rough. Basically most of the concrete cream was removed by the acid but in spots it still remains so the floor is not a uniform color. And now for the question, do I need to reetch these grayish areas? thanks in advance

 

[Satatic]

I think you did more work then anyone else that epoxys their floor.

 

[ChucksCrib]

Mine did have tan and greyish areas to it too. It sounds to me like you did a superb job prepping the floor

 

[355ss]

Another question how long did you wait until you put the work bench, frig, and cabinets back in the garage after your last coat of epoxy?

 

[bmwpower]

There is sand on the surface? Make sure the floor is completely clean before epoxying.

 

[355ss]

I am going to broom the whole floor, then blow it out with the leaf blower and then rebroom. Right now there is no loose sand but I want to make sure it is done right.

 

[Luckydevil]

Be sure to fill in any cracks before you put down the epoxy becuase they will show through.

 

[rjspitz]

Did you make sure to not let the etching solution dry on the concrete? If you did, you'll have to scrub the hell out of it to make sure there are no loose particles on the floor.

 

[355ss]

I filled in the 2 imperfection in the floor 1 month ago (2 pieces of mulch got troweled into the floor) I have also filled in the expansion joints with a self leveling filler right after we moved in. So I think I have everything covered? Any idea when I can start moving things back into the garage? I don't plan on parking in it for at least 3 days. I would like to move the fun car back in asap, am I able to move it in sooner and park it on cardboard?

 

[ChucksCrib]

My Armour seal said that the product takes 1 week to fully cure. After a week i noticed (by poking it with a nail) that it was still a little soft. So, for me it was 2 weeks before I felt comfortable driving on it. I still haven't moved to tools/benches in yet as I am just starting to paint the walls this weekend.

 

[JohnHenrys48]

I filled in the 2 imperfection in the floor 1 month ago (2 pieces of mulch got troweled into the floor) I have also filled in the expansion joints with a self leveling filler right after we moved in. So I think I have everything covered? Any idea when I can start moving things back into the garage? I don't plan on parking in it for at least 3 days. I would like to move the fun car back in asap, am I able to move it in sooner and park it on cardboard?

I believe that U-COAT IT has a filler that you can paint over, but I called Rustoleum and they recommended not painting over it. The epoxy will harden and if the crack filler is any bit flexible, the epoxy might fracture and lift. Just my opinion, you could blue tape over these areas but removing the tape after the epoxy hardens could be difficult...I think a call to the manufacuture of your procuct would be good.

I waited a week before working in the garage and probably a month or so before parking in it. I've got a #7000 vehicle and there is no evidence of tire marks or lifting.

BTW, I did the same routine as you with the power washer, scrubber, acid etch, power wash and scrub again...many, many, many hours but the prep work is well worth it. Just be sure that all the "powder" from ecthing is fully scrubbed off the surface and you'll be good. Rub your hand over the surface and if there is any evidence of powder or dust, scrub it again and rinse throughly...

 

[428]

Filling before or after best?

Getting ready to Epoxy the floor, it has some pretty good size cracks that need to be ground, filled and smoothed.

Do this before etching and cleaning, after or in between steps.

Sweep, grind, PW, fill, smooth, PW, etch, PW, sweep, coat?

Just trying to figure out the right order.

If I pressure wash before fixing the cracks do I have to wait a day or 2 before applying the filler to be sure it's dry?