I did my new shop last year and researched the subject of painting the
concrete ad nauseum.
I did the following:
-etched new floor with acid to give the paint a surface to bind to.
-wash the floor and wash it again. I got an amazing amount of dirt trapped
in the concrete to come loose. I used a LARGE power washer.
-painted the floor with the 2 coats of water based epoxy from Griggs Paint
(http://www.griggspaint.com/)
-painted the floor with 2 coats of poly urethane top coat from Griggs
Griggs has an internet special on the epoxy that is about $31/gal and the
urethane top coat was about $90/gal. I was hesitant about using the top
coat because of the cost. After the fact, I believe it was worth the
expense because of the very hard and durable coat. The engineer at Griggs
said that the top coat was used in industrial applications where there was
heavy traffic and significantly increased the life and durability.
Since installing, I have pulled my cars in and out. I have one on rollers
that goes to and fro. Spilled acid, grease, water, oil, etc. All wipe up
with no effect to the finish.
The only thing I would change in the process. I dusted the second coat of
the wet epoxy with a very small amount of sand so that the floor would not
be too slick. I then painted over the sand with the top coat to seal it
in. This worked fine and the floor has a texture of light sandpaper and is
not slippery. However, the grit grabs everything, including dirt, the mop
and paper or towel used to wipe up with. It's like cleaning sandpaper. In
hindsight, I would leave off the sand treatment.
In talking with a number of flooring contractors and the engineer at
Griggs, the MOST important step is floor preparation. Spend the time to
etch and clean it properly. The painting part is very easy. I put mine on
with a long-handled roller.
Gil Fuqua
Nashville, TN
PS - No interest in Griggs, just a satisfied customer.
At 04:52 PM 5/5/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
>I am moving into a new house in a few weeks, and am looking
>to paint the basement floor to keep dust down and to give
>some kind of sealing.
>
> What should I use to coat the floor with? As well, how much
>should I buy for about 1000sq/ft?
>
> It doesn't have to be SUPER oil tight but I expect to be working
>on car parts and other dirties in the workshop, so it would be nice
>if it at least was somewhat stain resistant. I am mostly concerned
>about dust however, the clean concrete seems to kick up a lot.
>
> Thanks for any insight.
>--
>Trevor Boicey, Ottawa, Canada.
>tboicey@brit.ca, http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
>[ Seeking some miscellaneous MG parts, see the list on the web page... ]
>
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