Floor paint peeling

[hickspn]

Hi everyone,

I am having a problem with the paint on my garage floor peeling, cracking and flaking. http://www.flickr.com/photos/58217865@N07/sets/72157625807518636/

I wasn't sure if the problem was surface prep or moisture in the concrete, so I'm doing the tape/plastic test as I type this.

My question, basically, is what's my next step. I presume that if there's no moisture, then diamond grind and prep the surface properly, and re-coat

If there IS moisture present, what do I do then? Do I grind it down, seal it somehow and then re-coat the floor? I'm trying to get this fixed before I get transferred to a new base in a few months, and I'd appreciate any help you can provide.

Thanks!

 

[thegarageguy]

Your concrete looks very deteriorated and chalky. There is a good chance it has moisture issues. Being that aggregate is showing, a thin mil epoxy may not suffice. I would suggest you contact a qualified contractor that can resurface your floor properly.

 

[Edger]

I think it looks like moisture problems too, you will have to grind anyway then look at these products http://www.aquron.com/our-products/concrete-protection-and-waterproofing/aquron-cpt-2000/ and http://www.protecrete.com/DensifierPlusRepeller.htm either instead of coating or under the coating.

 

[dcs Inc]

Yikes..... Looks as if the installers blessed your concrete with some water while finishing. This leaves a very soft surface. then you applied a non breathing paint which trapped moisture (all concrete has moisture) causing it to delaminate at the aggregate. Anyway, personally I think a topical densifier wont do you much good. A deep grind down to exposed agg to remove the weak surface would be what I would suggest.

If it were just paint coming up, which is the normal then a good densifier/hardener would help but you have the surface paste coming up with the paint also. Poor finishing techniques by adding water to get a closed finish or floating the surface while it's really wet with bleed water on the surface mixing back into the creme are the normal causes.

Either way what happens is the concrete below the surface with the larger agg dries before the surface paste does causing a separation line where moisture will migrate to and eventually cause delamination. You just helped it along with the paint.

A scarifier and then a quick grind would remove the weak surface material and then you can do the densifier or epoxy or what ever. gene ec-Indy

 

[hickspn]

Thanks, everyone, for the rapid and insightful answers. After about 2.5 days, there wasn't a drop of condensation on the plastic. Does this change your recommendations at all?

 

[dcs Inc]

Did you grind the surface clean to do the plastic test?

 

[thegarageguy]

was the plastic placed over the paint or over the exposed and cleaned part of the concrete?

 

[Edger]

I have seen similar problems caused by the concrete surface being too soft which turned to powder under the paint when objects were wheeled over it.
The major cause of that is adding water to the concrete during placement to make it easy to work or incorrect finishing of the top paste with bleed water.
The solution is much the same, grind off to the aggregate, harden and seal.
It looked like a water problem from the pics, but it could also be a soft concrete problem.
If you do not harden after grinding, the concrete paste might still powder under your coating.