Quick clean up - old concrete floor

[kaehlin]

Kind of a different question than usual on this forum. As much as I'd love to re-pour my old cracked, heaved slab and put a nice coating on it, that's not in the cards. I would like to keep it clean to avoid tracking dirt into the house. I'm curious how you all clean your concrete floors? I typically just sweep, sometimes shop vac, once in a while I get frisky and blow it out with the leaf blower (which kicks up too much dust for sure).

I'm thinking of a 1-2 hour project on a two-car residential garage. Just the quick cleans that can fit around other weekend projects.

Do you just use a wringer mop? Mop and then **** up the water with a shop vac? I have a residential rug-doctor type carpet cleaner, but I don't think it would handle small gravel / etc. in a garage setting. Any other methods?

 

[geneg]

A stiff push broom & almost any kind of soap/detergent. Clean as well as you can. Then rinse with clear water until no soap bubbles. Shop vac up remaining water. After everything is dry, use a pump up sprayer with cure & seal, Thompsons, or some kind of clear sealer.

This isn't for looks, but will keep the old concrete from dusting so much. Sweep up every now & then with a corn broom & a push broom. You can then use a string mop for the quick cleans.

I use an electric leaf blower to blow out sawdust. It won't ever be glossy, but you'll be surprised how much easier it is to keep clean.

 

[CasePeanut]

I was in a similar spot. Cheap garage flooring paint. Two coats. Much easier to clean and no more concrete dust. Has lasted about 5 years and going strong.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Mop, then squeegee out the door.

 

[kaehlin]

A stiff push broom & almost any kind of soap/detergent. Clean as well as you can. Then rinse with clear water until no soap bubbles. Shop vac up remaining water. After everything is dry, use a pump up sprayer with cure & seal, Thompsons, or some kind of clear sealer.

This isn't for looks, but will keep the old concrete from dusting so much. Sweep up every now & then with a corn broom & a push broom. You can then use a string mop for the quick cleans.

I use an electric leaf blower to blow out sawdust. It won't ever be glossy, but you'll be surprised how much easier it is to keep clean.

This seems like a good routine. I'll probably give it a try, thanks!

I was in a similar spot. Cheap garage flooring paint. Two coats. Much easier to clean and no more concrete dust. Has lasted about 5 years and going strong.

Hmmm, this floor does not deserve paint. I'm glad the paint has lasted for you! Sounds like a good solution in your case.

Mop, then squeegee out the door.

I hadn't considered a squeegee. I may give that a try. Thank you.

 

[Outlander]

I was in a similar spot. Cheap garage flooring paint. Two coats. Much easier to clean and no more concrete dust. Has lasted about 5 years and going strong.

This might be a summer project for my basement workshop and utility room. Pretty dusty down here!

 

[CasePeanut]

Hmmm, this floor does not deserve paint. I'm glad the paint has lasted for you! Sounds like a good solution in your case.

Believe me, mine doesn’t deserve paint either. Ancient old cracked slab. Poorly laid and then ignored for almost 100 years.

The cheap paint was purely about making it easier to sweep and clean. With no more dust to worry about. I used paint instead of sealer because the paint is thicker. It will help level out some of the smaller cracks and imperfections without needing to use leveling products or anything else.

 

[Shiftless]

You guys who paint your garage floors are lucky that it’s not peeling. Every painted floor I have ever seen in person has peeling from hot tires and in other areas as well.

My j coated garage floor is 75 years old and does have a few cracks. It was steel troweled back in the day and doesn’t dust. I sweep with a horsehair push broom and blow it out once in a while with an electric leaf blower. I might wet mop once a year or even less often than that. I use a string mop and diluted simple green. Like Kay does, I then use a floor squeegee.

 

[benwah]

I use an autoscrubber