Question:
I will soon be clearing out a garage to convert it into workshop/shack...
It has a rather dusty concrete floor,so I would like to paint this....
I see that Screwfix sell the "concrete floor paint" and also some sealant
stuff...is it simple as clearing the garage, sweeping the floor, sealing it with the
sealant and then painting it? Any other stuff I should beware of? anyone got
a rough idea of the area each 2.5 litre can of the paint covers?
Answer:
I use International Paints' garage floor paint for factory floors. It is
durable (more so than some industrial floor paints) and non-slip. The floor
needs to be free of any grease or oil. We start by scrubbing down with
industrial kitchen degreaser, available from most engineers' suppliers or
commercial cleaning chemical suppliers in 5 litre packs. The floor is then
washed with acid etch primer, again from engineers' suppliers. The floor is
then hosed down a couple of times and left to dry. Any repairs needed (in
second hand factories there can be a lot of bolt holes where machinery was
fixed) are done with epoxy cement filler. One coat of paint, thinned with
10% white spirits primes the floor, which is followed by enough top coats to
get a smooth finish, usually two or three. A 2.5 litre can should be
adequate for a normal sized single garage unless the floor is particularly
porous.
It can be that simple, the water based ones will stick to almost
anything (including asphalt) and a lot of the others will stick to a
dust free surface without too much preparation. If you've got one of
these typical garage floors (the ones that if you keep sweeping you
would wear the floor away) you need to put a thin coat of the material
down first to stabilise it, dilute with water for water based, white
spirit for spirit based. Manufacturers have to cover themselves for
everything so they recommend clean dust/oil/contaminant free and
mechanically prepared, captive blasting is the best but impractical on
small projects. IMHO acid etching is not a good way to go it
Having worked in the flooring industry for 20 odd years I totally ignore
the instructions , whenever I do my garage I just vacuum the dust up,
degrease any bad oil patches and go straight on. The one I use for
home/friends/family is a single pack epoxy ester material, single packs
have the advantage in that you can use what you need reseal the tin and
put it back on the shelf. If the garage is just for normal use most
coatings will do the job. if you go the spirit based route good
ventilation is essential and don't pick too hot or too cold a day
