Floor Prep - epoxy floor

[bajones9181]

I'm getting ready to lay down some epoxy-coat and I'm trying to figure out what to do as far as floor prep on my 15 year old garage floor. I talked to epoxy-coat and they said since the floor is so old to grind it with a diamond tip instead of just using a floor sander with 50-80 grit. Local rental store has floor sander for $50 bucks a day and a 7" diamond tip floor grinder (not a scarifier) for $150 a day. Don't mind spending $150 but I don't know how to use a grinder and don't want to screw my floor up. Has anyone ever used one of these? Any quick response would be greatly appreciated. I want to get going on this while we are having this good weather.

 

[bmwpower]

I'm getting ready to lay down some epoxy-coat and I'm trying to figure out what to do as far as floor prep on my 15 year old garage floor. I talked to epoxy-coat and they said since the floor is so old to grind it with a diamond tip instead of just using a floor sander with 50-80 grit. Local rental store has floor sander for $50 bucks a day and a 7" diamond tip floor grinder (not a scarifier) for $150 a day. Don't mind spending $150 but I don't know how to use a grinder and don't want to screw my floor up. Has anyone ever used one of these? Any quick response would be greatly appreciated. I want to get going on this while we are having this good weather.

I used one on my floor. They're pretty easy to use. If I was home, I could show you some pictures of the before and after, plus what the tools looks like.

I did 8 passes on my 30x30 floor. 2x left to right, 2x up and down, 2x corner to corner, 2x the other corner to corner. Took off about 1 lb. of concrete dust. I used only one set of stones.

 

[snorvet]

Bajones- I dont know if sanding will work. I tried my palm sander in corners using 40 grit and it made a clean but not course finish. The epoxy-coat website says that the floor finish should be similar to 100 grit sandpaper. My palm sander is smoother than that. I'm looking to rent a shot-blaster

 

[bajones9181]

bmwpower - Do you wet the floor when doing this? If not, is it a dusty mess when grinding? Did you use regular stones or diamond tipped?

snorvet - Let me know if you have any luck finding a shotblaster to rent. I'm in Morris every couple weeks so that could be another possibility if you find one around there. Although I'm sure they are big and would **** to travlel 75 miles with.

 

[bmwpower]

bmwpower - Do you wet the floor when doing this? If not, is it a dusty mess when grinding? Did you use regular stones or diamond tipped?

snorvet - Let me know if you have any luck finding a shotblaster to rent. I'm in Morris every couple weeks so that could be another possibility if you find one around there. Although I'm sure they are big and would **** to travlel 75 miles with.

I didn't wet the floor. It can be dusty depending how long you stay in one spot. I'm not sure which stones I have. Mine look like small bricks.

 

[snorvet]

bmwpower - Do you wet the floor when doing this? If not, is it a dusty mess when grinding? Did you use regular stones or diamond tipped?

snorvet - Let me know if you have any luck finding a shotblaster to rent. I'm in Morris every couple weeks so that could be another possibility if you find one around there. Although I'm sure they are big and would **** to travlel 75 miles with.

I've been talking with Snook Equipment in Morris. Their scarifiers(at least thats what the lady called them) are out on a contractor job this week. I'll check in Joliet today and let you know what I find.