Cleaning/degreasing prior to painting concrete floor

Hi: Anyone with details on the process for cleaning a 200 year old concrete floor prior to painting with grit/paint? I was told to use TSP, then a steam cleaner to mop up the TSP. Then come back with Muriatic Acid to neutralize the alkalinity of the concrete. Fill cracks & such with matching cement; Paint with Oil Based Concrete Paint with grit in the paint for non skid surface. Anyone want to chime in on this or some other solution? Would like to get started this weekend or next week sometime prior to the start of framing on the studio side of my divider wall. which doesn't need to be clean... Thanks, Jon Frost Meow Mix in progress in Western, MA

Jon, Almost there, Yes clean the floor first with a degreaser if needed Typically you would acid etch first and then nuetralize with TSP. But you cant find real tsp in Oregon anymore. Dont know about the rest of the country. So any High Ph soap will work to nuetralize the acid The acid actually leaves a residue that you need to clean off with TSP or soap. Make sure its cleaned well and then very dry before applicating your coating. Just an observation. Enamels in high traffic areas generally dont last very long and need to be touched up periodically. Also adding grit makes it harder to clean. Unless you are putting this in your mail room and need it for traction from rain tracked in on the feet I would not recomend grit. Unless you feel you need it for safety reasons. Enamels are basically very economical but a budget 2 part epoxy would last much longer as long as your prep is done correctly Tom

Tom: Thanks for the info... There is 200 years of stains of all types coating the whole floor of the space... So figured I'd have to degrease with something, then TSP/Steam clean... Let dry... perhaps a time or two. Then Muriatic acid etch and then TSP again... let dry thoroughly. I like the epoxy idea as long as I can paint the floor gray so I can find small parts when they go flying.... my eyes aren't what they used to be! I'll do a bit more research later today and then assemble all the things I need and get to work over the weekend... Namaste, Jon

frostgfx wrote:

I was told to use TSP, then a steam cleaner to mop up the TSP. Then come back with Muriatic Acid to neutralize the alkalinity of the concrete.

Jon, Flip those - it's backwards............. first acid - then neutralize the acid with TSP.

Fill cracks & such with matching cement;

Not cement - you are better off using a product like levelastic for very small patches - it's self leveling - easy finish and adheres great.

Paint with Oil Based Concrete Paint with grit in the paint for non skid surface.

I wouldn't use a concrete paint on the slab of my dogs doghouse........... Your mailroom is a fairly small area - go the couple of extra duckies and do an epoxy finish........ Here's a comany with some nice products: http://www.dexotex.com/index.php?href=p ... query=0-26 Have fun, Rod

use a stabalizeing primer after you clean but before you paint.

Jon and Rod Just ad FYI...Dexotex is a proprietary company and unless you are a certified installer the general public has a hardtime getting their hands on the material. Call up your local Sherwin Willaims and ask if they have any Armorseal 1000 H.S. hazegray in stock. Figure 300 square feet per gallon per coat. about $55 per gallon. This is a two part 60 % solids epoxy that has a very long potlife . Easy to work with Sherwin-Williams Co www.sherwin-williams.com [removed] Northampton, MA 01060 [removed] They might tell you for preperation to shot blast the floor instead which is the industry standard. http://colonialservice.net/shotblast.php $900 minimum or $.30 per square foot. NW pricing If you clean well and dry it well you shouldn't have too many problems. Acid etching is old school with coatings but is done quite requently still

my eyes aren't what they used to be!

Tell me about it :lol: 8) Tom