Concrete flooring needs special care. Preparation is important when applying floor paint. You can expect a surface to stay in place if its substrate is permanent. If the substrate crumbles or moves, your surface and floor paint will move with it. After 40 years of application practice, flooring experts have developed application preparation procedures that minimize the risk of substrates moving. Floors that are new are especially vulnerable and require extra preparation before painting the floor. While a new concrete floor is dusty for the first couple of years, the latent of concrete on the surface are kicked or driven off. The latent must be removed before quality topcoats are applied or the topcoats will move with the latent as they break free from the substrate.
The Cleaning Process
Cleaning first with a high pH or alkaline solution that reduces grease will attack oil and grease contaminants. In addition, moving the floor pH higher will do wonders for the paint finish. Afterwards, you can put on a low pH acidic cleaner that attacks minerals, rust and other particles. This process will cause your pH to jump 10 points or better and shock contaminants loose from substrates. An acidic cleaner should have detergents, rinse agents and water softeners blended as ingredients so that it is formulated to do the best job possible. It is very important to bring the pH back to a normal level of 6.5 or 7 pH after cleaning, while using a scrub rinse.
Breaking the Tension
If you have ever tried to run your fingers across your car after pressure washing it, you know that it still has a thin layer of road film on it. This occurs because surface tension holds high pressure from penetrating the road film. As a result, you must break the surface tension with contact during all three steps of cleaning. The more aggressive the contact, the better for removing concrete latent.
Long Lasting Floor Paint
Proceed with caution when relying on retail store clerks alone to help you with a floor that will be used for the next 10 to 20 years. Now factory-direct kits of materials include step-by-step instructions and 24/7 online help. With these resources, you can put quality floor paint in your garage that will last for many years. Like with a car finish, you may get some scratches and marks; however, a little touching up can keep the floor paint look good for many years.
