This was power washed yesterday. I am thinking about etching it and then laying down Rustoleum epoxy. I a trying to avoid renting the grinder and all that work. Has anyone every applied the epoxy over this condition floor? I will not be driving cars on the floor. It will be foot traffic…storage and possibly a pool table for entertainment. I am thinking about painting the walls instead of dry walling and putting a curtain up to cover the storage shelves. As you can now tell this is a budget job just to clean the place up a bit, not looking to make it fancy, just straighten up a bit.
Suggestions needed…
- Thread starter jermc777
- Start date
I received zero comments…..So I guess after reading more if you are going to do something then you should do it right. I am going to put the extra time in for better results. I found a place close by that rents the EDCO grinder 70 dollars a day. Is this tool worth it if it the only one that I can find? I can’t find the handheld Bosch Sander. I am going to pick this up on my next free day and do it right so that the job lasts. Do you recommend etching before or after I do the grinding or both? Any recommendation with the EDCO single grinder…. I am also going to purchase the Rust-Oleum Professional Epoxy Kit, 5 bags of extra chips and the Rust-Oleum Clear Coat. Suggestions Welcome….
Will post pic’s as I make progress
Will post pic’s as I make progress
The EDCO grinder should do the trick. Normally you would not do the acid after grinding. Depending on how the floor looks after grinding you may want to degrease after the grind also. PM if you have more questions.
jermc777's question: "Do you recommend etching before or after I do the grinding or both?"
rugerlady's reply: "Normally you would not do the acid after grinding."
Although Mrs. lady is correct, 'jermc' may still be a little confused if he was unsure to begin with. The 'Acid Etching' is a chemical method to 'scarify' the concrete to open up the surface/pores so they may absorb the paint/stain/epoxy. If you are going to rent the concrete grinder, that is a mechanical method to 'scarify' the surface. The Acid Etching is intended to be less labor intensive than grinding, but, sometimes grinding may be required. So, if you are grinding to a rough finish, you won't need to acid etch. But, if you use fine wheels on the edco (which probably won't be with the rental, it will have the wheel with the rough-ish grinding blocks on it, likely) that should do the trick of scarifying while removing all of your stains and whatever else is in that mosaic pattern on the floor. But, if you have the acid, it is cheap and won't hurt the concrete if done properly after the grinder. If you did it before grinding, you would be grinding off the pores that the acid opened up. Good luck.
rugerlady's reply: "Normally you would not do the acid after grinding."
Although Mrs. lady is correct, 'jermc' may still be a little confused if he was unsure to begin with. The 'Acid Etching' is a chemical method to 'scarify' the concrete to open up the surface/pores so they may absorb the paint/stain/epoxy. If you are going to rent the concrete grinder, that is a mechanical method to 'scarify' the surface. The Acid Etching is intended to be less labor intensive than grinding, but, sometimes grinding may be required. So, if you are grinding to a rough finish, you won't need to acid etch. But, if you use fine wheels on the edco (which probably won't be with the rental, it will have the wheel with the rough-ish grinding blocks on it, likely) that should do the trick of scarifying while removing all of your stains and whatever else is in that mosaic pattern on the floor. But, if you have the acid, it is cheap and won't hurt the concrete if done properly after the grinder. If you did it before grinding, you would be grinding off the pores that the acid opened up. Good luck.
Have you looked at the pictures of the floor?? I would never recommend acid etching that floor. It does not appear to be very clean. My opinion, however brief, is still correct.Alright, I am still working on the garage but I have made some progress. I appreciate all of your suggestion… I decided to paint the walls. I got a 5 gallon bucket of Sherwin Williams Ultra Crete (off white color) this stuff was messy but it did the job. Back to the floor, I was going to rent the EDCO grinder but I didn’t read the best reviews. I stopped at my other local home depot and the salesman was helpful he recommended me going with EDIC 1.5 Saturn buffer \ sander with the strongest grit paper they had. It took me a bit to get it set up and but it did sand the floor down pretty good. (Only used two pieces of grit $13 and Sander approx $45 -24 hours) Some spots are not level in the garage so it made it difficult to get those real good. As you can see this sander did not have a bag so I had to go over the entire floor with the shop vac. The following day I was all set to paint the floor. I decided to run my hand across the floor and it showed up with a little bit of dust. I didn’t put this much time into this to have it peal up so I wet the entire surface and used the concrete etch. I scrubbed certain spots with the etch and with a little degreaser. I rinsed the ground multiple times while using the shop vac (again) to get all the water up. The following day, I mixed up the epoxy, cut the edges, and rolled the entire area. The 2.5 car kit was perfect for my area. I highly recommend getting the paint stirring attachment for your drill as it really needed a mixing. I bought extra paint chips but I didn’t end up needing them. The kit comes with enough for me. Approximately 3PM today will be 24 hours. I wish I would have bought the Rust Premium Clear Coat because I have called all the home depots and none of them stock it. I just ordered it online but it is going to take a few days to get. I like the look that it has right now but I would like to do the clear coat just to give it protection and so it keeps its shine. Please take a look at the pictures.
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I used Behr Concrete & Masonry Paint Stripper on my previously painted and sealed epoxy floors. Let it sit for 30-1hr and sprayed off with a 3000psi pressure washer. It worked great! Behr makes this and degreaser just for this purpose. Just a suggestion for those who dont want to grind.