Painting over a large area of oil stained concrete

[seniorgeezer]

I am about to buy a house which has a garage with major oil stains all over the garage floor. The stains appear to be old ... maybe put down over a couple year time frame.

I am thinking about cleaning the floor with muriatic acid. Then I intend to paint the floor with a couple coats of patio concrete deck paint.

Does anyone have experience with this. Will the paint hold for a least a couple years? Are the stains likely to show through over a couple years?

Thanks for your input,

bob

[No]

I would use an epoxy paint and clean prep as the manufacturer recomends.

One manufacturer has this to say..

"Remove any oil or grease spots on your floor. Use a scrub brush and a cleaner/degreaser (such as Simple Green®) or use a solvent such as mineral spirits. Scrub the spot thoroughly and wipe up excess cleaner with rags or paper towels to keep contaminants from spreading. Rinse thoroughly with fresh water. Repeat as necessary to completely clean."

Muriatic acid is not a degreaser its basicly diluted hydrocloric acid.

[SQLit]

In addition use flat soled shoes, NO TREAD... Helps grin in the kitty gritter. A friend had a spot in his driveway that was years old now it is clean and clear.

Plan on several applications, and let sit for several days.

[snapperhead]

Put some mineral spirits over the stains and scrub with a stiff bristle brush. Then cover the mineral spirits with cat litter. Allow the cat litter to absorb the mineral spirits then sweep. Repeat as necessary and the stains will eventually disappear. good luck snappa

[Joseph Meehan]

I suggest choosing a good two part epoxy garage floor paint. Note: If it is not made for garages, it likely is not made to handle hot tyres and will not hold up, although it might work fine in a basement.

Follow the instructions on the can 120% percent. Especially the part about preparation. It will tell you have to clean up that oil. The acid will help provide the proper surface, but it is not an oil solvent.

[Norminn]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Muriatic is not a cure-all or clean-all. It won't eat acid, but eats concrete. I would try some kitty litter to suck up oil, a couple of applications. Have never tried, but would not entertain thoughts of painting oily concrete.

[Walter R.]

Whatever you do, do not use paint on the garage floor. When your tires are hot, it will melt the paint, lift it up and leave an awful mess. Even epoxy is iffy, depending on preparation and the presence of efflorescence.