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Etched concrete Fran Bragg 10-18-2006
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Posted by Fran Bragg on October 18, 2006, 11:49 am
I am having my basement converted into office space and am trying out ideas
for the concrete floor. It's a full basement, approx 1300sq. We do
construction work and the floor needs to be durable enough to handle
workboot traffic. I've pretty much ruled out pad and carpet, due to both
possible dampness problems and the heavy traffic.

I'm leaning toward the acid etched concrete but since my floor is 31 years
old, badly stained in spots and partially painted (for some reason) in
others, am trying to get some feedback on if this is the best idea. Would
it take more time and money to prepare this surface than it's worth?

Thanks!
Fran



Posted by Glenn on October 18, 2006, 12:06 pm
Sounds like a looser to me. That much acid in a confined space
and every piece of iron or steel in the whole house is going to
start rusting tomorrow.

Hope you have a gas mask.

As discribed, I would go with nothing or non-slip paint.


> I am having my basement converted into office space and
> am trying out ideas for the concrete floor. It's a full
> basement, approx 1300sq. We do construction work and the
> floor needs to be durable enough to handle workboot
> traffic. I've pretty much ruled out pad and carpet, due
> to both possible dampness problems and the heavy traffic.
> I'm leaning toward the acid etched concrete but since my
> floor is 31 years old, badly stained in spots and
> partially painted (for some reason) in others, am trying
> to get some feedback on if this is the best idea. Would
> it take more time and money to prepare this surface than
> it's worth?
> Thanks!
> Fran


Posted by Fran Bragg on October 18, 2006, 12:38 pm

> Sounds like a looser to me. That much acid in a confined space and every
> piece of iron or steel in the whole house is going to start rusting
> tomorrow.
>
> Hope you have a gas mask.
>
> As discribed, I would go with nothing or non-slip paint.


Thanks for your input. There are windows so we can ventilate. I hadn't
heard anything about rust problems. I'll ask my contractor.

Fran



Posted by dpb on October 18, 2006, 1:04 pm

Fran Bragg wrote:
> > Sounds like a looser to me. That much acid in a confined space and every
> > piece of iron or steel in the whole house is going to start rusting
> > tomorrow.
> >
> > Hope you have a gas mask.
> >
> > As discribed, I would go with nothing or non-slip paint.
>
>
> Thanks for your input. There are windows so we can ventilate. I hadn't
> heard anything about rust problems. I'll ask my contractor.

Muriatic acid which is used for the etching isn't that much an issue--I
wouldn't worry about it from that standpoint.

Problem I see w/ a slab that old and in a basement is more than likely
there was no vapor barrier initially and if there were any it's
probably pretty ineffective by now. At least to the "plastic sheet"
test to see what happens. Any paint you use w/ the presence of
moisture really should be latex-based, otherwise you're likely to have
peeling issues. Same with epoxy or other resinous coatings. All of
these need an etching or chemical cleaning operation anyway before
applying or you won't get good adhesion, so I think I'd just opt for
the etching and be done. If you're doing a complete tearout and/or
starting w/ an empty basement, the easy way to start would be to simply
rent a floor sander and sand the whole thing back to a bare surface,
clean, and progress from there. Would be simpler/less mess to do the
whole process before erecting partitions and all, too, if haven't
already. (Friend w/ concrete contracting business doing a fair amount
of these now--for the life of me don't understand why they wait to call
for it until after all the interior partitions are in in almost every
case when they plan on it from the beginning. Could probably save
themselves nearly half on labor and rework of cleanup after the mess.
Ah, well...)


Posted by Fran Bragg on October 18, 2006, 1:17 pm

>
> Muriatic acid which is used for the etching isn't that much an issue--I
> wouldn't worry about it from that standpoint.

Oh good!

>
> Problem I see w/ a slab that old and in a basement is more than likely
> there was no vapor barrier initially and if there were any it's
> probably pretty ineffective by now. At least to the "plastic sheet"
> test to see what happens.

That sounds simple enough.


Any paint you use w/ the presence of
> moisture really should be latex-based, otherwise you're likely to have
> peeling issues. Same with epoxy or other resinous coatings. All of
> these need an etching or chemical cleaning operation anyway before
> applying or you won't get good adhesion, so I think I'd just opt for
> the etching and be done. If you're doing a complete tearout and/or
> starting w/ an empty basement, the easy way to start would be to simply
> rent a floor sander and sand the whole thing back to a bare surface,
> clean, and progress from there. Would be simpler/less mess to do the
> whole process before erecting partitions and all, too, if haven't
> already. (Friend w/ concrete contracting business doing a fair amount
> of these now--for the life of me don't understand why they wait to call
> for it until after all the interior partitions are in in almost every
> case when they plan on it from the beginning. Could probably save
> themselves nearly half on labor and rework of cleanup after the mess.
> Ah, well...)


Thanks! Very helpful. We will be starting with a tearout of everything
currently down there. I'm making some sort of attempt of doing all this in
a logical manner and not having to come back in and do major work that
should have been done at the start. BTDT on other projects. Hopefully I've
learned my lesson!

Thanks again!
Fran



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