Concrete dust reduction stuff

It's called sweeping compound and it's difficult to find anymore. I bought a bag a couple of years ago at a flooring store, but haven't seen it anywhere since. --dave "Pat Barber"

Call any janitorial supply house and ask for floor sweep.

(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net

Our laorers call it "Senor Sweep"

yes! sweeping compound. sometimes you can get it in 50 lb bags but as a building custodian we've always ordered it in 55 gallon drums. these days, its usually green-colored and push it best with a 'drag-mop'

That's one of the few useful things I learned as a boy scout: how to sweep a large room. At first, I thought spreading the green stuff all around the floor was an honesty test: to assure I really swept the entire floor. But then I saw how all the dust was clumped with just a broom.

I vounteer at a museum with large old buildings. We've used several 50 lb bags sweeping out the dust-of-ages :-)

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It won't work in my basement/shop. The concrete is dusting. The more I sweep, the more there is to sweep. :-(

I've used kitty litter but that's mostly for liquids.

I have heard that for problems like dusting, acid washing the floor, and then sealing it with epoxy or a good floor paint will solve the problem.

Keith

The dust is bad for a vacuum cleaner, even; it jams the brushes.

Yeah, you need to clear out of an area, apply floor paint, then stay away until the aroma subsides. Or, put down vinyl. That requires moving most of the equipment and furnishings.

Best done in summer, with lots of ventilation. It really helped my basement and stairwell, which had been perpetually damp. A washdown ahead of time, with floor squeegees to push the dirty water to a drain, is strangely satisfying. Pressure washer recommended.

SWMBO wouldn't appreciate the stink. I'd have to have some mighty fans to clear the ail.

I guess I could do one room at a time. I could move everything into the others. Maybe. I'd need some mighty fans to get rid of the fumes, me thinks.

Or do every thing at once and the take the SWMBO on a nice week end to the mountains.

The smell may be less that you thing, as the resulting salt is odor less, Probably use a solution of HCL and the salt would be CaCl2

As you do the washing you will definitely need very good ventilation or a or a Scott Air Pac like are used in Fire rescue.

On 11/18/2021 9:38 PM, knuttle wrote: Snip

;!) Or "send" her on a nice weekend trip to the mountains and do every thing then. And deny everything if the odor lingers.

Or wear a lot of cologne on the day she returns.

"I know noTING!"

I wonder if there is somewhere to rent such a thing? Or hire out the job? There have to be people who do garage floors.

I'm also worried about the animals upstairs. I could lock them on the second floor and open all the windows.

knuttle <keith snipped-for-privacy@sbcglobal.net wrote in news:sn7682$be5$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Having used Muriatic Acid (HCl) for a swimming pool, I wouldn't discount the smell. Every once in a while the smell would come up and get you--even if using mostly safe techniques. (Open the bottle at arm's length, add acid to water not water to acid, no hugging the bottle, don't drink it, etc.)

There is a latex based floor sealant that's not too bad. It dries clear but shiny (like most white glues or Matte Mediums do). It does seem to keep the dusting down. My layer of sealant is quite new, so it's hard to say if it'll last as long as acid washing the concrete and epoxying it.

Puckdropper

If you forget acid to water, not water to acid. Think of it differently. Always put the heavier ( most dense) liquid into the lesser dense liguid.

If it is not required because of the heat released on mixing (water to acid), it also helps with the mixing, as the dense liguid sinks into the less dense liquid and mixes as it sinks.

"There he lies, cold and placid, because he added water to the acid."

It's more than that. If a violent reaction occurs it's better to splash water than acid.

Adding acid to the water starts out with a lower concentration of acid. Adding water to the acid starts with a high acid concentration.

Not always possible. Topping off a lead acid battery. I understand, better the other way.