The concrete slab in my garage is not very inspiring. It is clean but it looks kind of raunchy what with color splotches in the concrete and effervescence over the years.
I cannot use paint or epoxy because the humidity, as evidenced by the effervescence, would just lift it.
What other alternatives are there? Can I use ceramic tile and will it stick or break? Linoleum? Rubber matting? Some space age material?
Thanks for any ideas.
Walter
I use a thin layer of Oil-Dri on mine. When I sweep that up with a push broom after a few weeks of walking on it, the color is a consistent Oil-Dri dusty. I really like it. You can spit on it and the spit almost disappears.
--Vic
You can use an epoxy on your floor. Two part epoxies usually recommend a muriatic acid wash which will take care of the effluorescence. Then it should be thoroughly washed and allowed to dry. The effluorescence is due to mineral salts dissolved out of the concrete (maybe an old lime additive) and the water dissolving them is from lack of a membrane under the slab. The epoxy, however bonds so tenaciously to the concrete that in many cases, effluorescence is halted. Your only serious prep problem is getting the cleaned floor bone dry. A nice hot July day and brisk ventilating should do the trick. Good luck.
Joe
walter wrote the following:
First, you will have to seal the concrete before anything can be applied to the concrete, whether it is paint, or tiles, or epoxies. Google is your friend,
Garage floors arent meant to be pristine things of beauty, neither are garbage dumpsters, trash bins etc.
one can spend endless money chasing perfection and getting no where:(
but heres a link to a variety of solutions!
How about garage floor tiles for a garage? ;-)
Around here, a lot of people with older houses use carpet. I'm not kidding. Either the old living room carpet when they upgrade, or an indoor/outdoor remnant. Usually just in the middle, though, with a strip of concrete showing around the perimeter.
The effects of oil/coolant leaks, hot tires, and salty snowmelt on carpet, are left as an exercise for the reader. But hey, if the carpet was free, and they get a year out of it?
-- aem sends...
I'd think it would get moldy, too.
rote:
might be a fire hazard too...
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