Sealing concrete

[Living in the Past]

I have a few questions about sealing concrete floor in a garage.

1. How long should I let new concrete cure before sealing? It's was poured about two months ago.

2. What is the lowest temperature to paint and dry? Most products want you to wait three days before driving on.

3. What the best product to use.


The garage is at 7,000' in the northern half of AZ wher the temperature has already dropped below freezing. It's insulated so the temperature in the garage should be warmer.

Thanks, John

 

[45Kevin]

I just had a driveway poured and they sealed it right after they did the finishing. That stuff kills the grass by the way.

Sorry I can't be more help.

 

[crushers]

Hey Kevin,
what brand did they use to seal it?

 

[blackandbluefj]

i did a floor over rhe summer and used a product from sherwin williams. It was a kit designed for garage floors cant remember the name, but comes with a cleaner and then the kit. I cant remember the name of the product but it was their high end and somewhat pricey but the owner has no problems even with hot tire marks. Now thats if you want to paint it. Now if you just want to seal it it should really have already been done after the pour. I have had great results with good old thompsons water seal. but now that it is set i believe you might look into something like "lusterseal" which seams to be like watered down elmers glue. Hope it helped a little


Good luck

Bryon

 

[crushers]

thanks Bryon, i will look into that.
cheers

 

[D'Animal]

First, 7,000sq ft is no longer a garage. It is a shop.


What type of end result do you want?

You mention sealing it but also mention paint.

Sealing it could be as simple as using Thompsons Water seal. I think is a Linseed oil. It helps reduce the staining of spilled oil, etc.

For painting, the concrete has to cure a long time. The Lye (sp?) leaches out. I filled and capped a concrete "Pit" that was used by the previous owner of our company facility. I primed and painted it 6 months after the concrete was poured. The paint flaked up. I sanded it down and used Epoxy Coating on the entire floor of the shop, after acid washing it. Paint and epoxy flaked up. My final fix was a rug.

 

[Cookiemonster]

As D'Animal pointed out that is a shop and as such I'd recommend spending a little time on Tremco Global Sealants Division - Weatherproofing Solutions Since 1928 looking around. These guys make everything for concrete, from sealants to waterproofing to various coating and meralastic systems for crack isolation etc....
They should be able to direct you to a local vendor too. Easy application on the majority of their products just takes a Hudson type sprayer (poison sprayer available a any hardware store).

As far as curing time with modern products you can seal after the concrete has been finished. You just want to ensure that when you spray a sealant on the concrete doesn't "pit" due to overspray.

Good luck.

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Ummmm..... flatlanders: he didn't say it was 7,000 square feet. He said it was at 7,000 feet. He's talking altitude. As in: it's cold now (and probably snowy)

You can seal it now. Two months is plenty. I don't know what the lowest temperature would be, but I'd imagine 50 degrees would be at the bottom end of the range. Way at the bottom end of the range.

We had our shop sealed by some professionals before we put anything in it (1,800 square feet). I don't know what they did, but it sucks. Water will cause the paint to lift off the floor (I'm not kidding). So, when the garage needed sealing, my Dad did that himself with something he bought from Lowes or something. It worked great! The finish came out better, and it is MUCH more chemical resistant than the professional stuff we put in the shop.

When I build the next shop, I'll use the stuff from Lowes (it might have been Home Depot) that you apply yourself.

Since that stuff went down after the garage had been in use for 20 years or so (yeah, not sealed at all, and had one frame off restoration in it), I'm real impressed that it came out as well as it did. I assume you want to start moving stuff in soon, but you COULD wait until next spring to apply the sealer. I am a BIG believer in having a light colored floor. It makes it MUCH easier to find dropped screws and nuts and stuff, much easier than bare or simply sealed concrete.

Dan

 

[D'Animal]

LOL

Good Catch.

I thought maybe he put all of his vintage landCruisers under one roof.

Ummmm..... flatlanders: he didn't say it was 7,000 square feet. He said it was at 7,000 feet. He's talking altitude. As in: it's cold now (and probably snowy)

Dan

 

[Cookiemonster]

No love I tell ya, why can't we just be left alone to dream of shops the size of most dealership setups.

I suppose I'm left with getting my 8yr old to proof any future postings.

 

[crushers]

for me a shop that size will always be a dream, i couldn't afford to heat the place. my little 1/10th that size will have to work for me.
maybe someday but the realist in me is saying NAFC.

No love I tell ya, why can't we just be left alone to dream of shops the size of most dealership setups.
.

 

[Living in the Past]

I was searching for one of my old threads and found this one. I never checked this thread after a couple weeks. I ended up waiting until this summer to paint the floor. I used a two part epoxy paint I bought from Home Depot. It was kit that to use a light acid wash and then rinse before painting. So far so good

I did think the 7,000 sq ft was funny. If it was that big, put in a bathroom and my wife could never get to to come out. It's much smaller than that. Around 1,100 sq ft