PMPB
New member
First time poster! I'm here because you garage guys seem to have the most experience with coating concrete.
I live in an old house (built in the 1930's). The floor has been cut up, re-concreted in some areas, chipped/spalled, coated, painted etc.
The basement is generally broken up into 3 areas. A small office/TV area, the laundry room, and a shop/storage area, where I hope to do my hobbies (model airplanes, working on my road bikes, and other small things. The laundry room will be used to store SCUBA equipment, especially hanging wetsuits to finish drying (near the floor drain). About 650sq.ft if I was to guess at the area.
What I'm trying to do, is get a nice to look at, easy to clean surface. The limitations are that I don't have a lot of headroom. I'm 6'3 (75") and in general, the floor to ceiling dimension is 74". So yes, I have to walk around with my head down... I know, it's not ideal, at least everyone else, and my wife can be comfortable down there.
What I've done so far, is rent the big diamond tooled grinder, and for the most part removed what seems to be 2 layers of paint (battle ship grey, and clay) a yellowing white (I'm guessing it was some sort of epoxy), and the last layer almost seemed like a sealer or densifier because it was clear, but turned the concrete really dark.
Part of my remaining problem, is that most of these coatings were applied to concrete that has spalled in some areas, or had deteriorated badly, around the floor drains. I can't seem to find the right tool to remove the coatings. I tried a wire brush on my drill, which didn't really touch the coatings, except lift them were they were flaking already, or give them a nice polish! DOH!
Then I tried a MUCH heavier wire cup brush on my angle grinder, this DID get rid of most of the coatings (where I tried it), but also, it seemed to burn the concrete? It looks black and polished in these areas.
Finally, there is the about 1-1.5" area around the walls (drywall) that the floor grinder couldn't reach.
Questions are:
I live in an old house (built in the 1930's). The floor has been cut up, re-concreted in some areas, chipped/spalled, coated, painted etc.
The basement is generally broken up into 3 areas. A small office/TV area, the laundry room, and a shop/storage area, where I hope to do my hobbies (model airplanes, working on my road bikes, and other small things. The laundry room will be used to store SCUBA equipment, especially hanging wetsuits to finish drying (near the floor drain). About 650sq.ft if I was to guess at the area.
What I'm trying to do, is get a nice to look at, easy to clean surface. The limitations are that I don't have a lot of headroom. I'm 6'3 (75") and in general, the floor to ceiling dimension is 74". So yes, I have to walk around with my head down... I know, it's not ideal, at least everyone else, and my wife can be comfortable down there.
What I've done so far, is rent the big diamond tooled grinder, and for the most part removed what seems to be 2 layers of paint (battle ship grey, and clay) a yellowing white (I'm guessing it was some sort of epoxy), and the last layer almost seemed like a sealer or densifier because it was clear, but turned the concrete really dark.
Part of my remaining problem, is that most of these coatings were applied to concrete that has spalled in some areas, or had deteriorated badly, around the floor drains. I can't seem to find the right tool to remove the coatings. I tried a wire brush on my drill, which didn't really touch the coatings, except lift them were they were flaking already, or give them a nice polish! DOH!
Then I tried a MUCH heavier wire cup brush on my angle grinder, this DID get rid of most of the coatings (where I tried it), but also, it seemed to burn the concrete? It looks black and polished in these areas.
Finally, there is the about 1-1.5" area around the walls (drywall) that the floor grinder couldn't reach.
Questions are:
- How do I remove the remaining coatings
- What is the tolerance, can I leave a dime sized divot filled with paint?
- Should I go the full blown Wolverine coating with flakes, or just a single layer of bondtite to seal it
- Has anybody used Niagara Protective Coatings? I'm in Niagara Falls Canada, and getting Wolverine won't be easy
