Need tips for floor grinding in enclosed area

[nottahandygirl]

Hi, forum folks,
We're almost at the end of converting our attached 1-car garage into an enclosed, heated workshop. Framing & drywall is done, and we'll finish painting this weekend, with floor grinding to be done on Monday. We couldn't locate a rental floor grinder with a vacuum attachment, so we'll just have to deal with the dust. Of course, we'll wear masks and make sure that we have good ventilation, but I'm not sure if we need to cover the walls or not. What is the best way to protect our newly painted walls - tape up plastic visqueen, or something similar? Or is this overkill? I'm not sure how bad the dust will be - I've been told it's not as bad as drywall dust, but if you can offer any helpful tips before we start, that would be great!
Thanks!

 

[Jack Olsen]

Concrete dust gets everywhere. In your shoes, I'd call around more for a vacuum-equipped rental.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Not sure what brand you'll rent. However, most walk-behind grinders have an outlet that you can attach a shop-vac to.

You should set-up a fan at the back of the garage to create a little positive pressure.

 

[nottahandygirl]

I already tried and just can't find one with a vacuum anywhere nearby. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed that the rental one can be hooked up to our shop vac.
The front end of the garage now has two windows and a solid wall, along with a standard 36" door off to the side wall. I thought we could put a window fan in front of one of the open windows to draw out some of the dust, and maybe leave the door open as well. I'm just wondering if we should cover the walls prior to grinding. Is it likely that a lot of the dust will accumulate on the walls if we don't? They're now a pale yellow.

 

[Edger]

The dust will be intense and everywhere and a shopvac will do nothing, can you keep the slab wet, does it have a water feed on the machine. That stops the dust and leaves mud behind which must be thoroughly rinsed and removed with hose and squeegee or wet vac.

 

[nottahandygirl]

hmm...this brings up another question: what is the best method of cleanup after grinding to assure that the sanded floor is as free of dust or mud as possible before we put the epoxy coating on? Keep in mind that the area is now enclosed, dry-walled, and finished, so we can't do a lot of hosing, spraying, etc. I realize that we might have been better off grinding the floor at an earlier stage in the process, but we had to take advantage of the unseasonably mild weather to do our conversion (from demolition to framing to drywall, only 3 weeks, which is great for winter time).

 

[dcs Inc]

If you dry grind wear a mask. Silicosis is not good. Where are you located? If it were me and could not find a decent vac system, I would wet grind. You don't need a lot of water to keep the dust down. Tape some plastic 2' up around the walls and have a hose to keep the floor damp. Have a squeegee to pull up the muck and shovel it into a bucket to haul outside. A cheap kiddy pool makes a good dump spot outside to let it dry. Oh, wear rain boots. gene

www.elitecreteindiana.com
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[Edger]

To remove the residues after wet grinding use water, a broom and a wet vac. Do it twice by scrubbing in the water, wet vacuum the residue quickly while it is still floating in the water, do small areas.

You need a good vac and a very good squeegee head plus a fine haired nylon broom because stiff bristles will not do squat.

 

[Reg1952]

I rented one once to grind my garage floor and I just used a water hose turn on real slow. Worked great no dust.I just used a squeege on the mud a shovel it up.You can just wash it with the hose when your done and it will be all nice and clean.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

"EC Indy Gene" mentioned a great product a while back. The dust-deputy by Oneida.
I mention this as you can use it after the coating process in your shop for saw-dust or other particulates. I think Gene sells these too.

I know Gene hates forum sales treatments but he might look the other way if I promote him once in a while.

 

[dcs Inc]

OK........ OK, kill 'em with kindness. Guess I've come across a little brash in some cases. I'll attempt to proof read my replies more carefully.

Scotty, it's not forum sales that gets me upset sometimes. It's application procedures that I've attempted to "help" with. As far as the Dust Deputy by Oneida you mentioned above, it does help keep your vac cleaner, but the dust will still clog your filters, just not as quickly. It's a good starter set up for guys getting into overlay/epoxy applications. It's great for saw dust. gene

 

[Kevin54]

Go to your local paint store that sells automotive paint and get a box of Sharkskin. It's a thin plastic that they use when they paint automobiles. One side attracts dust and overspray. Use this to tape and cover your walls. A roll of 12' x 400' is something like $30.