hangar floor paint redo

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sleeper-319

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sleeper-319
I'm renting a hangar at my local airport and some previous tenant had painted the floor red with crappy paint that's flaking pretty badly. It looks like ass.

I don't know if I'll be here 3 years or 25, and I don't own it, so I don't want to spend a lot on it, but I would like to make it a bit less ugly. What's a good option here? scrape it and repaint it with some concrete paint? Cover it with carpet remnants? Something else?

Thanks, and apologies for polluting Hangar Talk with actual hangar talk.
 

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I've had good luck with the Rustoleum epoxy paint on a garage floor, still good after 15 years. Surface preparation is important- get anything loose removed, or the new paint (whatever you choose) will flake off too. The Rustoleum kit came with some oxalic acid to help with cleaning the concrete.
 
Painting over crappy paint will look crappy again in a short time. The school solution would be to diamond grind the floor to bare. You can rent the grinder from bigger tool rental places, likely have to buy the grinding wheels. Or you could get a company that does concrete floors to grind it for you. Then you could seal it and leave it concrete (likely cheapest) or have a real coating put down. The real high solids coatings are in the $4/sq foot range installed.
 
One option is the click-together plastic tiles. I went with RaceDeck for mine, since my floor was a bit uneven plus it had failed Rustoleum epoxy on it. I like it a lot: easy maintenance, good traction, easy on your feet, easy to install yourself, fairly affordable. They’re typically at OSH and offer a show special; I think around $2.50/ft.

A few caveats: it definitely expands and contracts with heat and sun. Not an issue for my north-facing hangar door but definitely something to consider: the buckling due to the front getting sun and the back not can be impressive (but is completely reversible). Second, while it stands up to oil and avgas just fine, there’s something about mogas that permanently stains it if it’s left on for a long time. Finally, it can get damaged by sharp things (Jack stands) and hot things (welding sparks) but replacing one or two tiles is easy, even midfield, if you forget to protect it. The company has been great about honoring the original price for replacements and even sent a few tiles for free when I called about the mogas issue.

I installed mine in Jan and thought I left enough room for expansion. Redoing the floor in the summer was easy. Doing it over, installing in warmer times would be preferred. Otherwise, make sure there’s about 1/2” or so around all edges if you do it in the cold. Also, I put weed cloth underneath it to quiet it down. Works great.

Could be an option for you that you could take out later if you move elsewhere.
 
I did the diamond grinder bit from Home Depot. Rental for a day was $120 all in, but it is exceptionally slow work. Plan 3+ days for a hangar to really get it all up.
 
Thanks for the ideas. Is the diamond grinder a wet grinder, or does it make a huge dust mess?
 
sleeper-319 said:
I'm renting a hangar at my local airport and some previous tenant had painted the floor red with crappy paint that's flaking pretty badly. It looks like ass.

I don't know if I'll be here 3 years or 25, and I don't own it, so I don't want to spend a lot on it, but I would like to make it a bit less ugly. What's a good option here? scrape it and repaint it with some concrete paint? Cover it with carpet remnants? Something else?

Thanks, and apologies for polluting Hangar Talk with actual hangar talk.
Click to expand...
Get a bigger airplane and start filling the hangar up with lotsa stuff. That'll at least hide some of the crappy paint.:biggrin:
 
When I had my garage done, it was diamond ground dry. There was vac connection to the grinder that kept dust relatively minimized. Might try one of the garage forums. They can make a thread like this last as long as a "how do I log this time" thread on POA.
 
Two part real Epoxy is the best coating - a real professional job can run you 10K. I made my hangar tight as a drum, sealed the door sides, walls are insulated, sheet-rocked and painted, and I keep it above 35 degrees at all times. the typical winter temp in the hangar is 45. I used "One Part" epoxy paint - still great after 4 years, and about $500 for the paint and floor prep. It's NOT used as a work surface - I do minor maintenance and oil changes only. The thing with paint (concrete or one part epoxy) is that if you get any mold or dampness, it's gonna peal and look crappy. You are also counting on the concrete being non porous. You can get that tested and they will tell you whether it will work with epoxy. If there is too much moisture coming out of the concrete, the epoxy wont last, either. Could be a bad pour, or even a high water table I was told. I got a professional estimate, and they tested my concrete and gave me that information.

Can't miss with those puzzle squares. I hear they are very durable, and no worries bout whether it will stick!
 

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sleeper-319 said:
Thanks for the ideas. Is the diamond grinder a wet grinder, or does it make a huge dust mess?
Click to expand...
When I built the building for my business they put in the wrong color epoxy. They had to use the diamond grinder. It took them three days (4,000sq feet) and made a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE dust mess. You had to wear a respirator to go in to the building while they were working and about 3 more days afterwards. Then they had to spend a week cleaning everything in the building. Fortunately, we hadn't moved any furniture or equipment in yet.
I'm not sure who was more ****ed. Us or them.
 
Perhaps you could get the hangar owners to contribute to the cause.
 
When your bicycle is bigger than your airplane, you might need a smaller hangar....
 
I found some free vinyl flooring and laid it! Easy on the knees for tinkering and my hangar looks like it’s hard wood floor! :)
 
Maybe nuts, but maybe cheaper to sandblast it clean. As bad as that paint it, I bet it would come up quick that way. Then a high quality epoxy after that. Nothing that you can buy in stock at an orange or blue box store.
 
However you remove the paint, make sure you power wash the floor really well, nothing will stick to oil soaked concrete.
 
Whatever you do, be sure to put this carpet on the floor in front of the door so passengers have to pass over it...

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