"Pre-Oiled" Garage Floor - Am I Psycho?

[Gotcha640]

Re: Pre-Oiling Garage Floor?

With the amount of time and money you appear to be willing to spend on the garage and contents, I'm surprised you're basically planning on spilling oil all over it. I work on two old bmws and a couple of motorcycles and there are no oil stains on my garage floor or driveway. I keep sheets of cardboard around for jobs that could get messy, park over cardboard or old carpet when I'm chasing a leak, and keep my engines clean.

Also, I can't imagine the cost difference would be significant if you just clean the floor before you sell.

 

[kylek350]

Re: Pre-Oiling Garage Floor?

I would recommend a commercial grade epoxy. You're building a new house, right? With a brand new (and stain-free) floor, you'll have the best-case scenario for adhesion.


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[tncatadjuster]

Visqueen with cardboard not top. When you move you simply throw away and leave.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

Ditto on epoxy. Do it right the first time and when you have oil spills it won't affect the floor. Then when you move you can remove your tiles and you have a pretty much new floor for the new home owner. I would be pissed and probably walk away from the deal knowing that the owner pre oiled the entire floor and made it worse than if it just had oil stains on it... If it's a cost issue, just add the extra 3-4k at the end when you are selling the house, you get the money back that you paid in epoxy.

OR, put down cardboard. The 2nd seems the easiest. Even to this day on my garage epoxy floor I put down a piece of shed/plywood that I had extra so all oil spills go on the painted piece of wood instead of my floor. YES my floor still gets dirty but for the most part it's clean.

I can understand you want to pre-oil the floor but seems silly... do you throw your clothes in mud and dirt knowing you are going to work in the yard or on the car? Don't make the problem worse than what it needs to be. Either do the floor so it doesn't get dirty or put something down when you work to avoid the spills/stains...

-Nigel

 

[Hoppper]

I'm not sure if/how much concrete needs to breathe, but what about putting sheets of plastic down first?

I suppose it may cause mold if moisture gets trapped in between??????

 

[duneslider]

I am not aware of ANY penetrating sealer that would do what you want to do with a "for sure" guarantee.

Back in the day they used linseed oil and turpentine (I believe about 1:3 respectively) to seal grout. This combo would darken the grout and "seal" out water and prevent oil from penetrating as the concrete pores were already full. This doesn't last forever and would have to be reapplied periodically.

Today, using modern technology, we use "enhancing" sealers. These do the same thing, they generally darken the grout and make the color consistent and prevent water and oil from penetrating because the pours of the concrete are full. Again, this doesn't last forever and will need to be reapplied periodically.

Now, an enhancing sealer then a topical acrylic would give you a consistent color and hold back the oil and not need to be reapplied periodically like the others. Or, you could put a heavy coat of wax down after the enhancing sealer and that would help prevent your future oil penetration issues but might require periodic rewax. Also, if the oil can't penetrate the concrete it will just chill down there and stink.

Remember, when it comes to sealers (especially penetrating) the more expensive the better. The more expensive will carry more solids into the concrete pores and fill the voids.

I don't think that oil alone will work. It needs to be diluted with a solvent so it can be carried deeper into the concrete pores to give you a consistent color and not to leave too much on the surface. Some oils smell for a long time, even after you wipe them up.

Good luck with your endeavor! I hope you find a solution. I have decided to NOT do anything with my floor because I am one of those guys that somehow manages to get oil everywhere no matter how careful I am.

 

[James-W]

My opinion is that coating the concrete with ANY type oil is a very bad idea.

 

[XDMan]

Re: Pre-Oiling Garage Floor?

Leave it bare and install the RaceDeck tiles. If/when you sell, paint the floor before leaving.

 

[james.wetzstein]

Re: Pre-Oiling Garage Floor?

http://www.spillcontainment.com/amazon


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[ScooterCO]

I am preparing to seal my new floor with Thompsons water sealer this weekend. I am just trying to prevent an oil spill penetrating the concrete.
Home depot has it at $55.00 for 5 gal. 5 Gal is rated for 1000' I purchased three. I will let you now how it comes out.

 

[mx500]

Visqueen with cardboard not top. When you move you simply throw away and leave.

^^^ you can get black visqueen at lowes for $50-75. We use it as a liner for ice skating rinks in the winter time.

 

[jives]

That oil, plus any additional spills that you don't clean up because they are supposed to blend right in, will create a smelly, gunky mess under the tiles. It won't all soak in. Every last bit of dust and dirt and shavings will adhere. Landscape fabric may make it worse by soaking in more oil.

And what if you dropped a flame? Sparks off the grinder or welder?

 

[MisterMike]

Re: Pre-Oiling Garage Floor?

To answer your question, I do think you're psycho. I can't claim to have nearly the depth of knowledge of many others here, but I think that any kind of oil distributed that widely is going to create a safety hazard when it gets wet . . . and that's not considering the probability that it will eventually get dirty, sticky, etc.

Also--and I hesitate to be too dramatic--but a too-slick garage floor killed my dad. Here's the quick and dirty: he had a tile floor installed that simply was not right for a garage installation. One day, he stepped down from his kitchen and slipped on the tile, which was slick with condensation. Subdural hematoma, bleeding on the brain, and several days out of consciousness. When he woke up, he was considerably diminished, suffered from rapidly progressing dementia, and ultimately died.

It seems to me that an oiled floor presents similar concerns.

But, his garage floor sure looked great.

 

[Iowa Mark]

What you are asking for will be difficult to do consistently. Concrete is a poreous material. The staining is caused because of the soak in of the spill, You will need to seal the concrete completely to keep any staining from spills. We used to spray on multiple coats of "boiled" linseed oil on a newly poured slab, allowing time for it to dry and solidify. Like has been said, this needed to be done from time to time as the surface was scuffed and worn from use. Natural expansion and contraction will also come into play. So, either fake the stains with a staining of your own ahead of time, or lay down a coating so complete no stain can penetrate the surface. That creates a surface so smooth and seamless than anything placed on that surface wants to slip and slide. I work on a bare concrete floor than was hand troweled flat and is developing a pleasing polk-a-dot patterning from my many spills. After all, dirty work happens out there from time to time. We eat in a room with tile on the floor. That might be the answer right there.