[billethkid]

I know it has to be thourughly washed with detergent. And have heard if there are any oil/grease stains they need to be etched. Does that mean to etch the entire syrface to be painted or just where the stains are. Is the etching a reasonable do it yourself project/process?

btk

[jimbo2012]

I think its just a quick wash with muriatic acid.

See here

[philnpat]

I wouldn't etch just one area as the etching process removes a bit of the surface. Once you paint or stain over it, the finish won't match. I'd recommend etching the entire surface.
Make sure you wear eye protection, long pants and gloves.

[DangeloInspections]

I concur with what everyone has said so far.

I actually had a conversation on this very subject last Saturday with an expert who finishes garage floors for a living. He does excellent work and knows his stuff.

He told me that the key to a good epoxy finish on a garage floor is to etch the floor properly first to provide good adhesion and to have the concrete as dry as possible before applying the coating.

As with most all paint/finishing projects, the key to a good lasting and good looking job is always proper prep.

I am in the middle of building my garage addition and will soon be doing this myself.....

Hope this helps!

Frank D'Angelo, ACI

[telder]

Home depot tool rental,floor buffer with pads to scrud,scour a hard surface I used a black coarse grit buffer pad and a green scrubbing pad.

[l2ridehd]

If you purchase the Rust-O-ileum garage floor kit, the instructions and material for etching are included. My home in VA is 35 years old and the garage floor was stained when it was built. Over the years that had worn off in some places, cracks had formed, even had some broken concrete and areas with paint spatter etc.

First I pressure washed the entire floor. Then I applied an epoxy patch to all cracks and areas where the concrete had broken. Next step was to rent a floor sander from Home Depot and sand the entire floor with a 38 grit concrete paper. Then with a finer grit, 80 if I recall, I polished the areas I had patched with the epoxy. Next step was to apply the etching and then to pressure wash the entire floor once more.

Let it dry completely. Mine took about 5 days in the hot summer. Then applied the epoxy paint and decorative flakes. Looks like a new floor. All cracks gone, completely washable, and stays very clean. This was a very old beat up floor that required some extra steps to get the final finish I wanted.

[harleyhall]

Originally Posted by DangeloInspections

I concur with what everyone has said so far.

I actually had a conversation on this very subject last Saturday with an expert who finishes garage floors for a living. He does excellent work and knows his stuff.

He told me that the key to a good epoxy finish on a garage floor is to etch the floor properly first to provide good adhesion and to have the concrete as dry as possible before applying the coating.

As with most all paint/finishing projects, the key to a good lasting and good looking job is always proper prep.

I am in the middle of building my garage addition and will soon be doing this myself.....

Hope this helps!

Frank D'Angelo, ACI

Totally agree! I have done a couple of floors, One in particular being a business floor for Automotive and heavy traffic. I actually worked on this floor for about two years. We had a couple of problem areas, due to fresh concrete, and humidity issues, but nothing that couldn't be fixed down the road.

You want to Etch your entire floor. there is no way of knowing where oil, grease, etc. could have splashed, even if you didn't, builders may have.
Once you etch, you want to wash thoroughly and let dry (Drying is very important) and then there is a bond/seal before you lay down the epoxy.
Then the epoxy. 5 gallons covers a HUGE area, and two coats doesn't hurt.

The one thing nobody will tell you, is TIRES and EPOXY do NOT mix! Most tires have certain chemicals (oil, etc.) in them that once heated and/or saturated will actually burn tire marks into your epoxy wherever you park (Tire pads or something like foam under each tire to be safe, don't want to ruin all that hard hard work!). Granted, most Epoxy says not to drive or walk on it for about 7-10 days in Florida humidity. Also, rust and acid are huge stainers on most Epoxy, and yes, all this can happen even you decide to seal it!

Hope this Helped!

[NoMoSno]

My problem is what to do with everything in the garage, while doing the prep/painting...