Prep for Acrylic Sealer

[squith99]

Hello All

Looking for some advice when it comes to proper garage floor prep prior to application of a high gloss acrylic sealer. The floor is about 15 years old and has radiant heat. The previous owner did not park vehicles in the garage, he used it as a woodworking shop, so, there's many years worth of stains on the floor - paint, varnish, rust, etc.

My questions are;

1) Would TSP be a good product to try first for general stain removal?
2) Once I've gotten the floor as clean as possible, would an acid etch or perhaps even a grinding be necessary prior to applying the sealer?

Thanks in advance for any advice you could provide.

 

[Zeke]

TSP is an excellent cleaner and will dissolve paint. It won't lift a stain that is in the porous concrete. You may have to grind some. Acid will remove rust stain.

 

[Shea]

Usually a mild acid etch or sanding is all that is required for an acrylic sealer. Like Zeke said, TSP is a great cleaner, especially with older paint. Use a degreaser on the oily stuff. Any paint that won't come up you will need to chemically strip it or grind it off.

 

[squith99]

Thanks for the replies. When you mention "sanding" is this something different than a full-fledged grinding? If so, what would I use for this?

 

[Zeke]

You can sand a concrete floor with a floor buffer and the screen made for concrete. This will remove minor surface junk and degloss any areas that were troweled to a polish. It won't level the surface as grinding will.