Hellfire: Pressure wash before degreaser and acid etch?

[Stefan S]

Should I pressure wash before applying a spot degreaser/scrub then pressure rinse again before applying the acid etch?

I was worried about driving the grease deeper into the concrete. The area is existing concrete and I’m not sure how it was sealed there is not a lot of grease but the floor is pretty dirty from 30 years of use.

I have simple green and zep citrus degreaser on hand.

As always this place is great and I’m thankful for any help as this is my first time.

As a last resort I have a 7” grinder with diamond wheel but I’d like to avoid doing the whole area 26x26 if it’s not strictly necessary.

 

[SolarColumbia]

It is usually recommended that you clean it before grinding to remove contaminants.

 

[bullnerd]

Did you look on their site?

I think they have a pretty good procedure for the process.

I used to have the link saved, but i don't see it now. It was posted here before.

I'm about to do the same.

 

[Stefan S]

I spent sometime out there today and I’m going to have to grind it in order to satisfy my ocd. There is no existing coating but a lot of the stains etc are not budging with a pressure washer and brush.

I can rent pretty conveniently from sunbelt but I’m not sure what to get. Any ideas which one? I have a diamond cup wheel on a grinder for the edges

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

If you can’t get porous via etching...you can grind.

Looking to make it porous, not expose aggregate.

10” Edco grinder with 30-40 grit diamonds will do it.

Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[Stefan S]

If you can’t get porous via etching...you can grind.

Looking to make it porous, not expose aggregate.

10” Edco grinder with 30-40 grit diamonds will do it.

Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

Thank you - I’ll try a small etch area to test porosity. Does it need to be perfectly clean like a fresh poured floor? There’s areas where that just ain’t happening unless I grind.

 

[Stefan S]

Re: Hellfire Application

Decided to go ahead and grind it. Rental center let me try the Diamabrush before getting edco and it made pretty quick work of the top layer. The machine was easy to use and to labor intensive. It took me about 5-6 hours to do two passes in opposite directions. I still need to hit the edges with my cup wheel but I’m pleased with the rest. I did go to two different Home Depot to find a Diamabrush in decent shape.

They didn’t have the dust shroud so I tried running the machine damp which created a slurry that sucked to clean up so I abandoned that put on a respirator and let the silicosis fly.

Now that it’s cleaner vacuumed and ground down I’m concerned with the cracks which are 1/16” mostly stretching to 1/8” in some isolated spots. I’m placing another order to grab some more hellfire from legacy industrial bought 4 gallons but fear that may be cutting it close and wondered what else I should grab to repair these?

 

[Rockcam]

Scotty, I have a 4" or so vertical concrete section around the garage that the framing sits on. Clearly not going to grind that - do I need to attempt to acid etch that or will it adhere ok for that application? Thanks.

 

[bullnerd]

Looks good after the grind Stefan!

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

No, the verticals you can skip the prep, the material will not be tested by traffic there.

 

[Stefan S]

Chased the cracks today... it went really easy. Tomorrow I’ll lay in the epoxy

 

[bullnerd]

Good luck, looking forward to seeing it.

I need the moto-vation to get mine done! lol!

 

[Leevon]

Best of luck, can't wait to see the results! I'm wanting to do Hellfire in a 1200 sf new garage, not much out there on the product right now.

 

[Stefan S]

Best of luck, can't wait to see the results! I'm wanting to do Hellfire in a 1200 sf new garage, not much out there on the product right now.

Thank you - tomorrow morning is the big day. Starting at 3am to avoid the heat!