My new garage has a nice concrete floor which is very clean, and I'm going to paint it with Buhr acrylic/epoxy, available from Home Depot, maybe next weekend. However, I want to do it right according to the directions and acid etch the floor first.

I've never done this before and I know about the environmental concerns, but I have a plan to attenuate that. Any tips on how to do this would be appreciated. :cheers: PT

 

Hi Patrick
Boy do I have some "DON'TS" for you
1. don't have anything made of bare steel ANYWHERE near the garage, it WILL rust in seconds. Plastic wrap, closed tool storage even outside the door will not keep them from rusting, TRUST ME
2. Read JohnZs thread concerning acid etching
3. Dilute the solution and have rinse water at the ready
4. Do not pressurize the acud, (as in a spray gunor garden sprayer), this can lead to a lifetime of colorful stories.
Tip #1 is probably the most surprising, anything and everything will rust to brown in minutes. My saw table, (nice 5 hp Powermatic) in the wood shop attached next door looked like it had been under salt water for years, my drill press stand tube was unsalvageable.
Good luck and be careful
jer

 

Thanks Jerry, that sounds like a cut and dried caveat; I will exercise extreme caution. I guess I will have to move the two Vettes a hundred feet down the driveway to valet parking area! :lol: All my stuff is still in cardboard boxes, which I'll have to move out anyway.

The only thing I wish I could get rid of is a 1947 Westinghouse refrigator that the previous owner left behind, and it still works. Must weigh 500 lbs. He keeps telling me that he's gonna pick it up, but if that don't happen by next weekend, it's a gonner. :cheers:

 

Patrick, Jer is exactly right, every thing in contact with the air near your garage will rust! Don't worry too much about neutralizing the acid as the highly alkaline concrete will take care of that for you. Make shure that you do a patch test on the slab first as the paint you are contemplating will probably not stay down if your slab does not have a vapor barrier.

Tape a couple square foot piece of poly to the floor for a day or two. Seal the edges well with tape, and if moisture collects on the bottom of the plastic, you do not have a vapor barrier. There are some moisture-cured epoxy primers which will bond and prevent the top coat from lifting, but they ar industrial products not available to the general public. If you need one of these products drop me an Email and I will send you some leads on some. We put epoxy and urethane floors down on a lot of our buildings and I have made most of the mistakes that can be made at one time or another! Most of the floors we put down are the self-leveling type that have an installed thickness of 35-75 mils but the basic principals are the same.

:seeya


[Modified by John McGraw, 9:55 PM 9/21/2002]

 

The only thing I can add is that Behr products do not have an excellent reputation. Behr was sued in California in a class action lawsuit for producing an anti-mildew paint which, in fact, encouraged mildew. My experience with their products has been less than stellar- poor coverage and durability. I would suggest you investigate some other epoxy process.

The question is: WHY? Why would the previous owner want the thing?? Not only are those things heavy, the interior space is minimal, the freezer does not auto-defrost and they consume electricity at a ferocious rate. It's not like it'll ever be a valued antique! I can see it now....
[dream sequence]

(british geek) Today on the Antiques RoadShow in America, we're examining this delightful Westinghouse refrigerator. Can you tell us about it, Patrick?

(PT) Well, when I bought the house, the previous owner left it behind. He promised to pick it up but never showed. The owner said it was a 1947 but I've never checked.

(BG) In fact, Patrick, from this vintage label on the back, I can see that this is indeed a 1947 Westinghouse. And do you have any idea how much this is worth, Patrick?

(PT) I suppose it's worth a few dollars as scrap.... it weighs almost 500 pounds.

(BG) Would you be surprised, Patrick, if I told you that these refrigerators are actually worse that scrap because the freon in their compressors has been outlawed years ago, so you'd actually have to pay someone to remove this monstrosity and dispose of it in an environmentally safe manner?

(PT) Uhhh, no.

(BG) Okay, moving onto to the next piece, it's a wonderful example of a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette convertible, sometimes called a roadster. This particular model has a small block engine and is lovely restored in it's factory hue of yellow. Upon closer examination, the front end fibreglass on this Corvette does not appear to be original although only an expert geek like me or an NCRS judge could ever tell... :D


[Modified by Mac, 8:17 PM 9/21/2002]

 

Has anyone seen the movie Super Troopers yet? Mac, when are you going to sue them for copying your M.O.?

:D :D :D
Tom

 

I haven't seen the movie yet; the reviews weren't very good but that doesn't usually mean much. As for my M. O. (mindless opinions?) they're welcome to copy as long as the royalty cheques follow on a regular basis! :lol:

 

Patrick, I concur with what was said about the Behr product. I've seen a buddy's floor that he painted with it, and it's lifting and peeling after only a year.

I used a Sherwin Williams 2-part epoxy, I think it's called "Tile Clad". It was about $85 per one gallon "kit", but the kit includes a gallon of paint and a gallon of catalyst. It took 2 kits to cover my 22x28' garage floor, and I had material left over. Sherwin can tint it almost any color you want. I also had them mix a container of "Shark Grip" additive in the second kit I used for the top coat. This additive is actually very tiny glass beads that gives some texture to the top layer to keep it from being so dangerously slick when it's wet. I highly recommend this stuff. I compared my floor to my neighbors without the additive and his is really treacherous when wet.

After acid etching, apply the first coat thinned 50%, then two additional coats about 24 hours apart. Mine's been down for about 3 years and hasn't chipped, peeled, or lifted and still looks great.

Shannon