Prepping concrete for sealer

[Jarred767]

I recently posted a thread on finding options for coating the concrete floor in my new 1400 sqft detailing shop, and I ended up going with this concrete sealer from Legacy Industries http://www.legacyindustrial.net/products/concrete-sealers/hd6600-mma-concrete-sealer.html Thanks Scotty, the process was very easy and you guys were very informative.

It's coming this week, and I plan to start work this upcoming weekend, but wanted to start getting everything ready with prepping the surface. Just curious if anyone here has any tips or best practices for prep or application of a concrete sealer that would be helpful. Any info or advice is welcome. The concrete floor is almost brand new (poured about 3-4 months ago), but I have been working in the shop for the past 2-3 weeks, so I'm sure a good cleaning is for sure in order prior to application. There are some tire marks that would be nice to remove first too if possible.

This is my first time ever doing any floor coating DIY, but I'm excited for the process and looking forward to the finished results. Thanks in advance for any light you all might shed.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Any sealer needs to get a bite on the floor. Unless the floor already exhibits good porousness make sure you perform an acid etch to open the concrete.


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[Jarred767]

How would one measure porousness?

 

[Shea]

Drip bits of water over various areas of the floor. If the floor turns dark quickly and absorbs the water then you are good for a typical sealer. If the drops just sit on the surface and do nothing or take quite a while to be absorbed, then you will want to etch the surface first.

 

[Jarred767]

Drip bits of water over various areas of the floor. If the floor turns dark quickly and absorbs the water then you are good for a typical sealer. If the drops just sit on the surface and do nothing or take quite a while to be absorbed, then you will want to etch the surface first.

Awesome, thanks for that! So it's definitely porous then, as water absorbs into the concrete almost instantly when it gets wet.

So then do I just need to sweep really good, then mop with soapy water? Or just plain hot water so there's no soapy residue? Or Soapy water followed by plain water? Or something else? Thanks guys!