Steps to Take Before Painting Concrete Flooring
https://www.andersonpaintingnc...Before you start applying concrete floor sealing, you’ll want to make sure your floors are properly prepared for maximum adherence and longevity. Let’s outline the important steps to take before sealing concrete flooring.
What to Do Before Painting Concrete Floors
Clear the Area
You can’t get started on your floors if there’s a bunch of stuff in your way. All furniture, features, and objects that can be picked up should be moved to another room. Clearing the area will give you complete access to your floors for all the prep work to come, and will let you identify areas that need the most attention.
Wash Your Floors
Once your floors are free from obstacles, it’s time to give them a good cleaning. First, wet the surface with a garden hose and mop the floors to distribute the moisture. Then, apply a degreasing solution or concrete/masonry cleaner to your floors and scrub the solution all along the floors to remove oil, stains, and other stubborn materials. Finish by rinsing the floor once again with water.
You may also consider using a pressure washer to thoroughly clean your floors, but note that doing so improperly can damage your floors and other surfaces and lead to injury. Regardless of the cleaning method you employ, make sure that your floors are completely dry before moving on to the next step.
Scrape and Sand Away Old Coatings
Even after deep cleaning your concrete flooring, you might find that some old concrete floor coatings are still hanging on. It’s important to remove these old traces of coatings before applying a new coat -- otherwise, the new coatings will struggle to adhere to the surface directly. These worn coatings can be removed by scraping and sanding them down.
Vacuum the Debris
After rubbing away the previous coatings, you’ll be left with a fair amount of debris. Fortunately, this can be easily cleaned up with a vacuum. The remaining residue can be ripped away with a tack cloth.
Fill Holes and Cracks
At this point, you should be staring at a clean, bare concrete floor once again, and chances are you’ll notice some cracks, holes, divots, and other signs of damage that need fixing. Before you start applying your polyurea floor coatings, you’ll want to make sure the concrete is as level and impermeable as possible. To achieve these results, fill in the cracks and holes with a concrete filler compound and push in the substance with a trowel. Once again, let the repairs dry completely before moving on.
Prime Your Floors
There is one final preparation step before you’re ready to apply your coatings -- priming. Applying two coats of primer (allowing each coat to dry in between applications) will aid in adhesion, coloration, and provide additional floor protection.
Following the above steps will help you end up with the polyurea flooring of your dreams. Some details are missing from this outline, but Anderson Painting is happy to fill you in on the rest. Better yet, we can take care of the preparation and application for you. To learn more about us and all we do, call today at 919-610-1855 or email us at info@andersonpaintingnc.com!
