Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 12Jun 14, 2007 1:21 pm royalblue Haven't time now to go into it, but your plan sounds highly dubious to me! Don't get into this without getting sound advice beforehand! In short, if you want a finished concrete floor, you are nuts to think you can DIY and get a good finish. Firstly, you may need acids to clean up and these can be HIGHLY TOXIC and DANGEROUS if you don't know what you are doing. Proper finishing of concrete required planetary rotating polishing machines with diamond grindstones of varying types. This gear costs tens of thousands of dollars and takes real expertise to operate. You are kidding yourself if you think you can create anything like a professional finish yourself. Be very careful. I say this for your own good! Ash. Thanks, but if you look at what we're using (http://www.crommelin.com.au/flooring.php - the concrete sealer)it's a water based concrete sealer. Can be applied clear with a roller, brush or mop. It can be tinted with any universal tint (we're using black to get a dark charcoal). I'm not talking about grinding back to the aggregate, polishing, sealing with PU and buffing here - can't afford it and wouldn't do it myself. This is a simple sealer and stain, takes 2 coats (30 mins between each) and is dry within 4 hours. I've already tested this out on a small section in the garage (with different amounts in the tint) and it looks quite good. Looks like that affect you see in a lot of shops these days. All I really need to know is how to clean the crap (plaster and paint etc) off the concrete so we can go ahead. Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 13Jun 14, 2007 1:58 pm 3timesbuilda mattwalker used hydrochloric acid on poly carpet in every room of the house... Why did they do that? What were they trying to achieve? 3xb Make us angry! Long story but the police caught them with a full hydro setup in the garage (stealing power etc) and they blamed us! Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 14Jun 14, 2007 2:14 pm OK 07, maybe I jumped to conclusions here. What is the purpose of what you're proposing? Is it just a temporary measure to keep the dust down and seal it until such time as you put floorcoverings down?
What is your ultimate plan? With the plaster, I'd suggest you physically remove what you can, then use a mild dilution of PHOSPHORIC ACID (around 10%) to break it down and allow removal. Apply and let sit for a few minutes, then agitate/scrub. Acids principally attack the calcium in the plaster. Phos acid is one of the safer types to use. Follow product instructions carefully and rinse well afterwards with lots of water to neutralise the acid. I'm not sure what's the best product to fill the hole. (why not a cement mix) Be prepared for a messy job. You NEED a wet/dry vac cleaner! Ash. Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 15Jun 14, 2007 2:46 pm royalblue - in reply to one of my posts double07 said
Quote: Stonecutter: This is the finished product. With the black tint, the product looks like a semi-gloss stained finish. So you can still see the texture of the concrete but it gives it a nice charcoal grey colour with a glossy finish. Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 16Jun 14, 2007 2:53 pm This idea is intriguing me - I found this string of posts on another site:
http://ask.homesite.com.au/renovator/in ... s_flooring Seems that epoxy coverings on concrete are used - especially in commercial applications. Perhaps Michelle's mate Adam can shed some more light? Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 17Jun 14, 2007 3:02 pm If you're going to patch the hole, you will most likely need to use some bondcrete or similar (Which makes the new concrete stick to the old) and then mix up a small amount of very fine sand and cement to make a paste to fill the hole.
As for matching colours, well that will be very tricky. Options are to make a feature of it by say painting a mural over this area before you seal it or similar. If you go to a good hardware store and tell them your problem they will be able to advise what to do. Steve Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 18Jun 14, 2007 3:03 pm This is basically a semi-permanent solution until we get sick of it and get floorboards
It's cheap too! All up for 8L including including all the masks and tools it was only ~$120 (plus our time and effort). 8L is enough for the 70 odd sqm we have to do. With my brother and wife helping me we figure we can do it in a day (not including prep and cleaning). I will go to bunnings this weekend and see if I can get some phosforic acid to get rid of the plaster. There's not a heap, just a bit here and there but it's a b*****tch to get off! What about spakfilla for the chip in the concrete? http://www.selleys.com.au/Selleys-Spakfilla-Heavy-Duty/default.aspx Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 19Jun 14, 2007 3:07 pm Yeah there are all sorts of ways of prepping and finishing a concrete floor.
My final word on 007's proposals is DO YOUR RESEARCH and THINK IT OUT CAREFULLY. Like many DIY jobs, you MAY get a good result and save yourselves a fistful of cash, OR you may end up with a pretty sorry result and regret every moment and dollar you spent on it, and then have to pay a professional to remove the mess, and do it properly. Consider the performance too. Any topical coating type sealer (like what you're proposing to use) will wear and possibly start to peel in certain circumstances. The professionally applied epoxy coatings will be much more serviceable and costly than the acrylics, but you get what you pay for. Note also, if you want to later have floorboards stuck to the floor, you will have to have the stuff removed first, usually be diamond-grinding. Caveat Emptor Ash. Re: Preparing/Cleaning concrete slab 20Jun 14, 2007 3:08 pm Yak_Chat If you're going to patch the hole, you will most likely need to use some bondcrete or similar (Which makes the new concrete stick to the old) and then mix up a small amount of very fine sand and cement to make a paste to fill the hole. As for matching colours, well that will be very tricky. Options are to make a feature of it by say painting a mural over this area before you seal it or similar. If you go to a good hardware store and tell them your problem they will be able to advise what to do. Steve Damn that sounds hardcore... I'm lazy, I was hoping to get something like <non existant product>"Selleys Concrete in a Tube"</non existant product>, just squeeze some in and then scrape off the excess Anyway, I'll see what they say at the hardware store as suggested. Cheers. No, I even have sections of narrowness where the tiles won't slide up any further. When I manage some spare time, I might play around with the first DIY part of my… 7 5294 The concreter will take and reuse. In my case I bought structural LVLs and scraped them back and used them as joists. 1 5844 yep, clearly mark where the infloor heating pipes are before drilling or nailing 1 6350 |