How to Strip "Sealed" Concrete Garage Floor for Epoxy Shield

[Gary 1958]

Buy a few plastics tarps. Move everything outside and cover with tarps.

Rent a floor sander to get the bad off.

Next rinse the entire floor with 20% Muriatic Acid/80% water mixture. This isn't hard to work with and won't hurt your plants. Use a broom to push around solution and scrub it a little. The purpose of the acid is to etch the concrete so just getting acid on the surface is what you need to do.

Wash/rinse the floor with a hose.

Neutralize the acid by rinsing floor with TSP (Trisodium Phosphate). Push the TSP around with broom. This assures a clean surface.

Let it dry for a day. IT MUST BE 100% dry. If possible put fans in the room to move the air.

Paint per directions on the label.

I painted pools for a few years and never had any peeling paint issues following these steps. Buy a good quality roller frame and a few quality 1/2" nap covers. Get an extension pole for the roller so you can stand up and roll on the paint. The epoxy will harden up if you dilly dally so once you mix it be ready to work. You can extend the life of the epoxy by storing it in a refrigerator as you work.

 

[friar1610]

An update from post #46 above. Last Thursday my neighbor and I rollered on the epoxy coating. (This followed a very thorough preparation phase. Not to be gross, but this process is kinda like a colonoscopy. The preparation is the worst part.) We sprinkled on the "confetti" and let it cure. It was really bright and shiny! On Saturday we did the clear topcoat, also with rollers. It dried to the touch by Sunday morning but was not ready to walk on yet. It wasn't quite as shiny after the topcoat, due no doubt to the no-slip grit. Today I began putting stuff back in the garage. Tomorrow I will put the cars back in for the first time. I'm very happy with the way it looks but the true test will be what it looks like after a few New England winters with sand, road salt and other stuff getting on it.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

Our garage floor was in bad shape last year, we had a professional garage guy come in and fix all the cracks/chips, grind it down, then do a thick multi-step epoxy coating with the colored flakes and a good dose of grit in there for traction when wet.
More expensive than an epoxy "paint" but looks great and we don't worry about slipping.