Grinding your garage floor

[nvrfinished]

Hey everyone. Since grinding a garage floor for epoxy or removing old paint raises all kinds of questions, I thought I would post this article on the easier way to grind for the DIY crowd. It's faster, hard to make grinding mistakes, and one of the least expensive methods. I hope it helps someone out

 

[Chris]

Thanks for the link.

 

[MarkWood]

Thanks for the link, I have always used a floor sander with the roughest grit sand paper they have. but that tool looks like it will make tough floors a lot easier!

 

[pauloman]

grinding is certainly a good way to go, but a vast majority of DIY home-owners just sweep the floor with a broom and apply the floor coating. Most get away with it. A contractor wouldn't dare cut that many corners!

 

[MarkWood]

grinding is certainly a good way to go, but a vast majority of DIY home-owners just sweep the floor with a broom and apply the floor coating. Most get away with it. A contractor wouldn't dare cut that many corners!

Only if he wanted to give himself a bad name and be out of business quickly!

 

[nvrfinished]

It's always a tough call for home owners who do their own floors to decide whether to grind or acid etch. Most etch because it's not always easy trying to figure out how to go about grinding. When I helped a relative who lived out of town, I decided to go with the Diamabrush since I couldn't bring my tools with me. I had heard good things about it from other installers. This method worked great, it was fast, and not that expensive.

 

[havasu]

Would the acid wash be unnecessary with a diamabrush job? I know they would still require a wash down if the floor was grinded, so why not just add a little acid for a better bind?

 

[nvrfinished]

No, you don't need to acid wash after you are done. The grind for the Diamabrush leaves a good profile. It it's a dry grind then you can use a good shop vac to get all the dust and debris picked up. If you did a wet grind then you need to make sure to hose all the mucky debris out. I recommend a little powder soap or TSP when doing this to emulsify the dust and make it easier to rinse out.

 

[SeattleSurfaces]

This would definitely be a better option than acid etching, since that rarely creates the profile needed for epoxies to bond to.

If you are using water to help cut down on the dust, you really need to make sure that muddy slurry is completely removed or it will be a bond breaker as well. Also let the surface dry for a few days since you will have saturated the concrete and coating too soon will seal the moisture in and could cause a failure as well.

An easier less messy option without breaking the bank, is to use this and a regular shop vac:

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2021015/26326/oneida-diy-molded-dust-deputy-cyclone.aspx

Hope that helps.

Dave

 

[colleenhuntley]

We used diamond cutting grinders. It's quite fast and floor looks great after grinding.