Does anyone recommend a coating to protect and something that is easy to clean for oil stains on the concrete.
Thanks
John
John, buy the sealer from a contractors supply apply 2 coats the 1st time then 1 time a year,buy the clear it will go on milky but will dry clear cost about 100 bucks for 5 gals. Don't waste your money buying the sealer from HD or Lowes. The last job I done in the Orange area I believe we got the sealer from CSI Good luck
What luvrbus said. And there's both sealers and hardners available. I had a guy pour a pad for me once and I told him I wanted the best possible surface on it so he put both a hardner and a sealer in it. That pad was like cast iron - you could literally beat on it with a sledge hammer and not put a mark on it. Fertilizer will normally eat the surface off a work area pad in a couple of years but that one lasted forever. But that one was the exception. I think the quality of the finish you get with surface additives is very sensitive to when they are added, which makes sense. You are adding something and trowelling it into a very thin surface layer so the exact timing of when you do that will be very important. And the timing with vary with the cure rate which varies with the heat of the day. IOW - good luck.
If you want serious protection against oil you probably should look at one of the 2-part epoxy coatings and you should put it on while the concrete is new. But now you're talking serious bux.
How is it that Roman concrete as inferior as made seem compared to modern concrete outlast's it?
I did the concrete floor in my basement with a good (and expensive!) two part epoxy. The floor was two or three years old when I did it. It was great and zero issues over about four years before I carpeted the basement. I got the epoxy from a place that only sells floor coatings and does lots of industrial installations. It is not the home improvement store epoxy.
A local fairgrounds uses a clear sealer on their concrete floors. They store cars during the winter and fluid leaks regularly eat through the sealer. They have to recoat pretty often. I have no idea what they use, but not a good idea for a bus garage.
Get the right sealer and oil, gas and grease doesn't effect it and epoxy will not hold on green concrete because of the curing process of concrete with moisture rising to the top and where he lives on the Texas coast it will draw moisture if not in a controlled environment
good luck
Luvrbus.
I spoke to CSI, they were not clear as to what I might use. Could you be more spephic.
Thanks
John
John, the sealer we used for the box stores was Delta Chemicals but there are other brands that come in a expoxy base no mix or the water base.Call Sheplers in Houston @ 936-441-4450 they will have something that will work
John, here are a few more brands you can ask for
Scofield,WR Medows,L&M,Euclid and Lambert which I didn't get good results from
good luck
Two more comments to throw out there..
1) Depending on the condition of the concrete and the type of coating that is to be applied, it may be recommended to prepare the surface using an etxhing process. There are acids available to do this etching process.
2) One of the toughest things on garage floor paints/coatings is the heat from tires. Unless the paint/coating is designed to handle it, a hot tire parked on top of it will cause it to separate from the concrete, causing peeling.
Take a look at this one.
http://www.ucoatit.com/pgs/main.htm
Quote from: circusboy90210 on March 03, 2009, 06:34:48 AM
How is it that Roman concrete as inferior as made seem compared to modern concrete outlast's it?
Roman concrete for several plaster in composition or age toughness instead implies overall hardness years cannot be made to rugged as yesterday for durability. Structural more in even plenty decades done even firmness today.
I have a bay and currently working on refinishing the surface. In my search, I have found anything from $.50 to $6 per square foot. It seems that they all focus on the prep work. Most suggest blasting the floor to renting a grinder... IF you skip this costly and painful step you will end up with more problems in 3 years- so I am told from the folks selling the costly step.
Viento,
My concrete has just been poured would that make a diffrence or is it the finish?
John
I'm no expert on this but I think we are confusing the issue by talking about 3 different things as if they were interchangeable.
- surface additives that are trowelled into the uncured concrete immediately BEFORE it finishes curing
- coatings that are applied and soaked into the green concrete immediately AFTER the cure
- surface coatings that are applied at some later point to an old slab
Thanks Bob,If John will look at the floors in one box stores like Sam's or Lowes they have a clear sealer and he can make it a gloss or satin finish depending on what he wants a gal will cover around 300 sf at a good price it is not good for old cured concrete but if you start with it on new pours it works great you can spend $0.10 sf or $10.00 sf it's your money good luck
Does the concrete have a good vapor barrier under it? If not, the moisture migrating up thru the concrete will push a barrier coating (like epoxy) off.
Lay a large piece of plastic over the concrete for a few days. If dry on the bottom of the plastic, you're good. If there is condensate on the bottom, you don't have a good vapor barrier & most any top coat will not last. There may be some 'breathable' sealers that can be used, but, as I remember, they were pricey.
Since the contractor messed up my vapor barrier, I've decided to go with the garage floor tiles.
Kyle, you are right about the lifting. The math never worked for me folks paying 4 bucks a sf for a floor and installing a high priced epoxy for 6 bucks a sf for looks that don't last.A power washer and concrete cleaner will keep his floor looking good also but it makes a mess if he doesn't have floor drains good luck
Quote from: WEC4104 on March 03, 2009, 08:04:44 PM
Quote from: circusboy90210 on March 03, 2009, 06:34:48 AM
How is it that Roman concrete as inferior as made seem compared to modern concrete outlast's it?
Roman concrete for several plaster in composition or age toughness instead implies overall hardness years cannot be made to rugged as yesterday for durability. Structural more in even plenty decades done even firmness today.
Thank you for that explanation. I have never understood why Italian cars were so much faster than American. Now I finally get it.