Brief Description: Prepped shop floor for epoxy coating
This weekend I plan to epoxy coat the shop floor, something I have been wanting to do for a few years now.
Last night the boys and I cleaned everything out of the shop and either put it in the bar area or outside. I didn't realize just how much stuff I had out there until we had to move it.
Today was prep day. The first step was to degrease the concrete. I used a product from Home Depot and diluted it and applied with a garden sprayer. After it soaked in for a few minutes I used a stiff bristle deck brush to work it in. After that I rinsed the entire floor with water from the hose several times.
At this point I realized that the floor had some concrete sealer on it. The epoxy directions stated that a sealer would need to be mechanically removed so I called 1st Place Rental. They had a diamond bladed concrete grinder that I rented and used on the entire shop floor. I didn't use water with it because I didn't want to deal with the slurry, but this made it really dusty. Luckily the wind was from the North and blew it through my yard and into the corn field.
After I was done grinding I blew everything out with my leaf blower and then used diluted muriatic acid to further etch the concrete. This probably wasn't needed after I used the grinder, but I had already bought the acid so I used it. Again, I had to rinse the floor several times until I couldn't pick up any dust when rubbing my fingers on the concrete.
Tanner helped a lot in the morning by cleaning out the saw cut joints with a screw driver and then vacuuming them out. Colten and Tanner both helped to move the stuff out of the shop.
I upgraded my old work bench by putting a piece of laminate countertop on it from out old kitchen counter. Turned out good.
