How to remove paint but not damage the concrete?

[Jagmandave]

My garage floor is not in good shape, it's cracked and heaved in places and a long time ago it was painted. Most of the paint has worn off but about 30% is still there, in bits and strips. I want to remove this but I don't want to damage the smooth concrete underneath as parts of the floor are still in good shape. Where the paint has already worn off the concrete underneath is smooth and shiny/worn, but there's no spalling or degradation, just cracks and heaves - mostly towards the garage doors.

So, how can I remove it? It's not a down on the knees with a scraper type of job, a scraper doesn't touch it.... Wire brush in a 4.5" grinder? Is there a chemical stripper that might work that doesn't cost hundreds?

Here are a couple of pics to show what I mean.....the concrete under the paint looks smooth and polished or sealed, I would like to not damage that if possible.

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View media item 34343

 

[zilla68]

go rent a grinder from the depot, I think the diamond blade is what is used, and sand it off, then either repaint, seal or leave it bare, but if i was going to the trouble of removing it I'd at least seal it.

 

[Jagmandave]

But won't that leave an abraded surface?

 

[rsanter]

Pressure washer

Bob

 

[Jagmandave]

I have a pressure washer, and when I used it to clean my patio it pretty much took the top layer off the concrete, leaving it smooth but coarse - kinda sandy feeling. That gives great grip especially when wet, but I'm not sure that's what I'm after. I may try it in a small spot tho just to see what it does............good thought.

 

[Zeke]

Dave, I'd use something to soften the paint and use the diffuser on your PW. Start with TSP and maybe lye. Or you could use cheap stripper. I'd pre wet the surface with a mop and a trace of soap before laying on the stripper. Won't dry out as fast. And you know the trick of putting stripper down and covering with plastic. It's useless if it dries out.

Do test spots to see what works. Catch the debris with a sand dam outside the garage and toss it in the trash.

 

[my58]

My experience with the HD floor buffer with the dyma type sander pad has been less than ideal. It works but is messy, slow and creates a lot of uncontrollable dust.

I have had great results renting an edco sander. It is way easier to control, fast (saves on rental cost) gets in corners well and used with a vac or cyclone and vac a lot less dust than the buffer method described above.

There was a thread not to long ago discussing this subject.

Keep us posted on how your project progresses.

 

[Jagmandave]

Is the Edco a drum type or rotary type sander? Where did you rent it, HD?

 

[tncatadjuster]

Any slow speed floor buffer and a piece of carpet mounted pile down. Apply a light coat of citrus based paint remover allow to soften and then buff and add a little water if needed to a shine. Replace pads as needed, any old carpet will do.

Block area with cardboard if it starts to sling on other stuff.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Excellent Tip TCB!!

 

[my58]

Is the Edco a drum type or rotary type sander? Where did you rent it, HD?

Its rotary and super easy and efficient. HD does not have it in my area but all the equipment rental places seem to have it.

I used the HD one a few times and then learned about the edco and I am thrilled I did. I wish I would have known about this earlier, it would have saved me a bunch of money and more importantly a lot of time and frustration.

This is the link to the manufacturer description of it.

http://www.edcoinc.com/floor-grinders-sec.html

 

[Jagmandave]

I think I'm going to go with Zeke's idea first, and see if some inexpensive HD brand stripper will take off the remains, I'm thinking that if I work in a smallish area at a time maybe the cleanup and smell won't be too bad.

If the smell is too awful (since the garage is under the bedrooms) I may have to wait for warm weather so I can open the doors. Between now and the end of Nov we usually get at least a couple weeks of weather in the 60's, so I'll have a couple opportunities before winter sets in hard.

 

[Zeke]

The carpet on the buffer sounds like an OK idea but my experience has been that it rubs the old paint into the pores of the concrete. Last job I did this was OK and I couldn't wash the debris very well due to the location of the work and the probability a lot of it would end up in the gutter and eventually the storm drain. That's a big fine around here.

Since I was intending to stain the concrete the same red that I was removing, I got the surface paint up but not the color down in the pores. I think you'll have to wash the residue away and catch it. Pressure washers indeed do tend to etch and leave streaks. That's why you need a slight fan nozzle and hold the wand at a 45º angle.

I could see having a 2nd person in a rain suit vacuuming. A pressure washer does more work with less water so it won't be a flood.

 

[rancherbill]

My garage floor is not in good shape, it's cracked and heaved in places...just cracks and heaves - mostly towards the garage doors.

What is your intention for the floor?

If your intention is to make it look better, just clean, degrease, clean and slap on a coat of paint.

If you want it to looks better - strip, grind, reseal and apply new coating.

If you want it to looks **** - strip, grind, reseal and install tiles.

If you want it to look great, jack hammer it out and repour. You cannot fix the problems you described any other way.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Usually a little sawdust and water will remove the last bits and then polish with dry sawdust. Hey, after 30 years and 10 million feet you learn a few things.

 

[Jagmandave]

I'll put up some better pics of the floor in a couple of days, so you guys can see what I'm dealing with....the area where I built the new workbench is pretty OK, it's the areas where I park and work on the cars that's the worst, cracked and heaved both up and sunk down......it makes it "fun" trying to lift a car with a floor jack when the wheels get caught in a crack.

At some point I will have to remove the concrete and pour a new floor, but I have NO budget for that kind of work right now.

Like I said, my preference is for nice clean smooth sealed concrete - no paint, no epoxy with flakes, no tile, no plastic.

I bought some paint stripper this afternoon but our temps today were only in the mid 30's, tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 60's again, so I'll do a section and see if it takes it off.