NA -- Concrete Repair

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JGoodish

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JGoodish
The concrete floor in my garage was never sealed, and as I live in winter salt country, it has become pitted over the years from parking the cars on it over the winter. I have sealer, but I'm thinking that I should fix the pitting before applying the sealer (it's a silane/siloxane penetrating sealer).

Is there a good way to fix this that looks acceptable and will last? I had a guy offer to apply an industrial-grade epoxy on it for about $2.5k (including grinding the floor, priming, and multiple coats of color and clear), but I'm thinking there may be a less expensive way to handle it.


Thanks,
JKG
 
My concrete guys (two separate contractors) recommend vinyl patch - https://www.quikrete.com/productlines/vinylconcretepatcher.asp . I have some pitting, but I also have a couple places where some chunks have come loose in a few areas. Haven't started patching the rough spots yet, but I have all the stuff to do it.

Quikrete has a lot of DIY help:

https://www.quikrete.com/athome/main.asp

https://www.quikrete.com/productlines/vinylconcretepatcher.asp

https://www.quikrete.com/productlines/concreteresurfacer.asp

It will probably not match the color or surface of the existing floor, though.
 
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Paint the floor with the Rustoleum heat-resistant garage floor epoxy paint, and color of the concrete won't matter anymore. Just follow the instructions for surface prep, and add some grit so it's not so slippery when it gets wet.
 
Hank S said:
Paint the floor with the Rustoleum heat-resistant garage floor epoxy paint, and color of the concrete won't matter anymore. Just follow the instructions for surface prep, and add some grit so it's not so slippery when it gets wet.
Click to expand...

I knew about the Quikrete stuff, but wasn't sure if that was the right direction. Sounds like it is, so I may give that a try.

I've debated about epoxy. While the contractor who bid the industrial coating told me I could hit it with a hammer without damage, I've heard very mixed reviews about the durability of the consumer-grade stuff. I've had more folks recommend that I just seal the floor vs. put an epoxy coating on it, as the consumer-grade epoxies apparently don't last under heavy traffic conditions. I don't necessarily care that the patch isn't a perfect match, because the floor itself isn't a perfectly uniform color (especially since it was never sealed--it's aborbed all kinds of stuff over the years.) I just want to fix the pitting and put something down before winter to prevent further damage.


JKG
 
Yeah, it's just a garage floor.

A note on those siloxane sealers: They work by getting deep into the concrete pores and making a chemical reaction inside that seals them, I can't remember the whole reaction process. Any surface grease, oils, or anything else that contaminates the surface of your garage floor might interfere with absorption. I know that Quikrete makes a pretty concentrated concrete cleaner/degreaser that might help, and maybe a pressure washer, too.
 
Grinding plain kitty litter into stains (I usually just use an old pair of boots) often gets the majority of them out. It's just clay, and it absorbs whatever crap is in the pores of the concrete and then you can sweep, and pressure clean, and usually all traces of the spills are gone.

It's cheap and not much lost if you try and it doesn't work. It's always worked on various petroleum product spills for me. Plus keeping some around can clean up larger spills as well by absorbing it all for disposal.

Usually after every winter of all sorts of unimaginable stuff being tracked into the garage, in spring I'm out there sipping morning coffee and grinding away with the old boots on, and a robe. Haha. Once the garage is warm enough for such morning wear each spring, that is. :)

Haven't "done the twist" in my Breaking Bad tighty-whities yet, though. Well, I don't wear those anyway. But haven't. Ha.
 
The Rustoleum kit contains both a cleaner and an etcher; you'll need to mop it on and off, then throw away the mop. My current house has it, and I did it when moving into my previous home, where it held up nicely the nine years before I sold it and moved back South. Cold, snow, salt, etc., didn't bother it, but I didn't know to put grit in it, so walking inside in the rain was sometimes a challenge.

As with every paint, adhesion is all about surface preparation--you can't just open the can and start painting.
 
denverpilot said:
Grinding plain kitty litter into stains (I usually just use an old pair of boots) often gets the majority of them out. It's just clay, and it absorbs whatever crap is in the pores of the concrete and then you can sweep, and pressure clean, and usually all traces of the spills are gone.

It's cheap and not much lost if you try and it doesn't work. It's always worked on various petroleum product spills for me. Plus keeping some around can clean up larger spills as well by absorbing it all for disposal.

Usually after every winter of all sorts of unimaginable stuff being tracked into the garage, in spring I'm out there sipping morning coffee and grinding away with the old boots on, and a robe. Haha. Once the garage is warm enough for such morning wear each spring, that is. :)
Click to expand...
A little mineral spirits applied before the kitty litter will speed up the job. But it's not a method for smokers...
 
JGoodish said:
I knew about the Quikrete stuff, but wasn't sure if that was the right direction. Sounds like it is, so I may give that a try.

I've debated about epoxy. While the contractor who bid the industrial coating told me I could hit it with a hammer without damage, I've heard very mixed reviews about the durability of the consumer-grade stuff. I've had more folks recommend that I just seal the floor vs. put an epoxy coating on it, as the consumer-grade epoxies apparently don't last under heavy traffic conditions. I don't necessarily care that the patch isn't a perfect match, because the floor itself isn't a perfectly uniform color (especially since it was never sealed--it's aborbed all kinds of stuff over the years.) I just want to fix the pitting and put something down before winter to prevent further damage.


JKG
Click to expand...

The quickcrete epoxy lasts about 8 years - 10 years.
 
READ THE EPOXY INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. There's a minimum temperature. My brother-in-law made an absolute mess of his garage as it got too cold the night he put down his epoxy floor. Other than that, an epoxy floor is (on a scale of 1-10) about a 2 in difficulty.
 
Oh, you guys are talking about cement repair. The thread title had me all confused. :p
 
Concrete is the mixture of cement, sand, and aggregate. Your floor is made out of concrete.

(Despite the song....cement mixer,
putty putty).
 
I used the Rust-Oleum epoxy. I found my garage required the additional tools:
- can of paint thinner
- fire extinguisher
- rotary wire brush
- rolls of paper towels
- jug of muriatic acid
- 1 mop

The degreaser that comes with the kit is just a soap. It won't touch globs of oil under the engine. Those require a solvent and a brush.

And yes, the stuff has a temp range. And that is concrete temp, not air temp. So just because its 65deg outside after a week of freezing doesn't mean the concrete is warm enough. The warmer it gets, the shorter the working time.
 
My brother moved into a new-to-him house about a month ago. He took advantage of the empty garage and refinished the floor before he moved all his stuff inside.

I'll ask him what product he used.

garagefloor.jpg

edit:

Behr concrete paint/epoxy mix, already combined, not a 2 part thing. He said he used an "eco friendly product form home depot, not muriatic acid, to etch the floor."
 
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Jackhammer, excavator, rebar, concrete order, done.
 
Matthew said:
Behr concrete paint/epoxy mix, already combined, not a 2 part thing. He said he used an "eco friendly product form home depot, not muriatic acid, to etch the floor."
Click to expand...

The moment it hits the concrete, muriatic acid becomes very eco-friendly: CaCO3(s) + 2 HCl(aq) = H2O(l) + CO2(g) + CaCl2(aq)
 
Matthew, holy crap...that looks good! Yes, ask him what he used and where he got it.
 
Gerhardt said:
Matthew, holy crap...that looks good! Yes, ask him what he used and where he got it.
Click to expand...
See my edit:

>>>

Behr concrete paint/epoxy mix, already combined, not a 2 part thing. He said he used an "eco friendly product form home depot, not muriatic acid, to etch the floor."

<<<

Here are 2 more views.garagefloor2.jpg garagefloor3.jpg
 
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