etching gone very wrong

[Zmw]

You can buy a respirator for $30-$50 at home depot and rent a diamondbrush grinder from there as well. Maybe $120-$150 for the rental + respirator. Call it $200 and 5-6 hrs of your time.

You can wet grind it so dust is minimal. I recommend this based on my grind. Dust was everyone, but wet grinding was much better.

Grind and be done IMHO

 

[j20000]

just finished painting my garage last week so not looking to make any more dust. also spending a lot more money is not what I had in mind. if I am going to shell out any more cash I can just install tile or something else at this point. hard to believe there is not an easier solution to some calcium residue. I have rinsed and power washed so much the water company asked if I need another line installed if you think about it this install has gotten off to a lousy start , how can one expect the rest of it to go like it should ? I was told etching would be no problem ummmmmm not quite .

Dude, the guy that rep's your flooring product is telling you what you need to do to fix your problem, and you're making every excuse not to do what he says. Do you think that you're going to tile your garage for $100?!? It's $100 and a couple hours of your time! You've already spent days pressure washing it, just do what the guys says and stop being a drama queen!

 

[flatstick]

Wow, this made me LOL for real.

Sorry to hear about your problems. I've been researching which floor to go with myself. I am between epoxy and RD tiles. The prep work is what has me concerned. From everything I've read....etching is not as good as grinding, period.

I think at this point, spending another $100 and a few hours to grind would be a worthwhile investment. With all the chemicals you've put on that slab, I wouldn't want to coat it unless I got a manufacturer's rep on-site to test and provide you a written warranty it is good. And I doubt that is going to happen for a small residential project. Hell, it's hard to get them out on bigger million dollar commercial projects. And then the finger pointing starts about who put what sealer on, blah, blah, blah.

My point....try the grinder. It really sounds like your best option. Again, sorry I know this has to ****.

Glad I could make you laugh, the water company has made a few bucks off me the last few days.

rancherbill, the photo you showed is the untouched concrete . I did ask the mason and he said there was nothing added to the concrete at all. I did gte a few drops of pint on the surface and it sticks very well if not wiped up soon. my wife called me and said she did a small patch with sealkrete clean and etch ( had some left over from etching my porch on my old house ) she said that the color is more grey in the area that was full of white residue. hmmmmmmm maybe she is on to something ? guess I can see what it looks like when I get home from work.

 

[flatstick]

Dude, the guy that rep's your flooring product is telling you what you need to do to fix your problem, and you're making every excuse not to do what he says. Do you think that you're going to tile your garage for $100?!? It's $100 and a couple hours of your time! You've already spent days pressure washing it, just do what the guys says and stop being a drama queen!

My grandfather ( god rest his soul ) had a saying that you might want to consider. " if you have nothing good to say, do not say anything " for your information Legacy " assured me " that I could use an acid etch. no reason to try and insult me, that shows the kind of person you are .

 

[Jim B]

The floor in your pictures does not look like it was properly etched. Your acid solution was on the weak side also. Did you spray the acid and just let it sit there? You have to constantly move the acid around with a plastic bristle brush to keep fresh acid in contact with the concrete and do this until the fizzing stops. Then rinse and immediately pressure wash with the strongest tip. In the case of my pressure washer the tip only covered a 1" path. I measured my pressure washing in tanks fulls of gas for the washer not gallons of water. Not all concrete was created equal. I mixed my acid 1:1 to get acceptable results and etched twice using 7 gallons of swimming pool acid (and a lot of baking soda).

Get the grinder Scotty mentioned and be done with it.

 

[Jim B]

In looking more closely at one of your pics I can see a spiral pattern left by one of your pressure washer tips. You didn't pressure wash it well enough. The tip should be about 2" from the floor. Takes a long time!

 

[flatstick]

Jim B , I did spray the acid on and moved it around with a stiff bristle brush. the pics you see with the spiral was my old power washed that was on its was out ( spewing water everywhere and losing pressure ) I ended up going from an electric to a gas power washer. the tip was 1-2 inches from the floor with the 3,000 psi tip in place. I have used at least 5-6 tank fulls of gas so far pressure washing ( for 3 areas out of 4 ) I did re etch agin after work today , spread around , used baking soda , light rinse, then power wash for another 1.5 hrs on two sections. have not looked at it yet .

 

[Jim B]

Your acid is too weak.Just grind it and be done with it.