Indoor concrete sealing

[RyanH]

One of my janitorial places has a pretty big area of concrete they want to seal. They know and trust me to be in the plant while they are closed down...that's why they are asking if I'd be interested as opposed to a third party contractor. My initial guess on size is around 2500 square feet. My question for you guys is.....

Can concrete sealer be sprayed on with my shurflo (12vdc, not ac)? And then perhaps rolled out to even it? I've see it rolled on from a bucket and that works okay but seems to take forever. I've also thought about dumping a glob onto the floor and spreading with a big squeegee and doing it in sections. Any input? The stuff doesn't seem to be too goopy and has a viscosity somewhere between water and lite maple syrup (the runny kind). Just wondering if it's even worth it to try or the time savings is negligible.

Thanks,
Ryan H.

[RyanH]

Nothing? All the talk about concrete cleaning and nobody can help? Oh well, no biggie. I'll figure it out as I go along. Incidentally, the area comes to 6000 sq. feet (I underestimated just a little). They'll supply all materials, I'll supply the labor. I quoted them $0.055 per square foot per coat. We estimate it will take approximately 8 coats of the stuff. I told them they should just use 2-part epoxy and never worry about it again; they didn't listen. Oh well, it'll be a good pay day for me. I think I'll use my shurflo and spray it down and backbrush with a lambskin mop. Will probably take an entire weekend. I'll post the outcome in case anyone else comes across this type of job.

[newlook]

Hey Ryan...quick question. When you say it is going to take 8 coats of the stuff...what are you trying to accomplish with 8 coats? How long are you allowing for drying in between coats?

The shurflow and mop should work well. I suggest bringing a bag of rags also...in the even you get "puddles" in some areas. We blot the rag on in those areas to soak up any excessive puddles.

[RyanH]

Actually an interesting story....
They had originally paid a huge amount of money to have the floor painted. After a few months of forklift traffic, the paint started coming up in sheets. I guess it was never intended for that kind of use. Anyway, they paid a contractor to come in and completely blast the floor and strip it of all paint. The contractor also used some kind of equipment (didn't see it) to take the top surface off the floor and made it rough. Well, apparently the company didn't take the contractors advice (how many times have we seen that!) and thought that a cheap sealer would work fine. The contractor, against his better judgement and suggestions, applied this cheap sealer (supplied by the company) and it the floor absorbed it completely. I think the company thought they were going to get a smooth finish; it may be sealed now but it is also EXTREMELY rough. The problem is they pull very large fabrics over this floor and the floor does to the fabric what sandpaper will do to your pants. Instead of putting down an kicka** coat of epoxy as the contractor suggested (and would have profited handsomely from), they are going to try applying many coats of the sealer. Basically, they are hoping to make the floor smooth enough so as not to damage the fabrics. I have seen it in one area they tested and put many coats on and it actually does an ok job after it has built up, but it feels like the new friction will be much higher than the epoxy would have added (people have to pull this fabric, and it will now feel much heavier). I was also concerned how often this sealer would have to be reapplied to maintain the surface. But, they seem confident that it will do what they need, so I'll give the service they want and put it down. I'm going to allow 4 hours drying time between coats...it's a massive room with very good ventilation, so evaporation of the VOCs shouldn't be a problem and it should dry quickly. Thanks for the rag idea...i'll bring a pile along.

[seymore]

I've sprayed a concrete/pavestone sealer with my shur flo pump in the past.It's pretty tough on the pumps and they have to be cleaned real well!

[newlook]

All right....good luck. Interested to see a pic of this when you are done.

[RyanH]

What do you use to clean it? Run water through it or a type of thinner? For the price this will bring I'm not too concerned with trashing my already well-used pump, but if I can save it I'd be much obliged!

[seymore]

Ryan

I used Xylene or you could use MEK so the chem will dry fast.Running some "Dawn" soapy water mixture would help also.

[RyanH]

okay, they have all three in the plant. Thanks.

[seymore]

No prob Ryan

[RyanH]

FInished the job this evening. 8 coats on one area, 5 coats on another to even out the last contractor's work. The black parallel lines on the floor were caused by the first contractor applying the sealer. Don't know why they did the way did, but it's a pretty horrible job. Apparently they rolled it on the entire length of the floor then back to the beginning to start over again. The first strip had time to dry, they overlapped, and the sealer went on uneven. Ugly! Oh well. Better surface integrity now.

Ended up being only 2000 square feet....they only wanted the business area sealed, not the entire stripped section.

[newlook]

It looks great Ryan...how long did it take you?

[RyanH]

I was running right at 1 hour per 2000 square feet. So probably a total of 8 hours labor with setup and breakdown. The downside is I had to go find something to occupy my time between the drying cycles. Fixed mother in laws computer during one span. Saw "Million Dollar Baby" during another (BTW...that movie ROCKS!!!), did my routine cleaning during another, etc. Not bad though. Weather wasn't great this weekend, so it gave me something to do.

[newlook]

Cool...early on in this thread you predicted it would take about 8 hours to complete...your estimate was right on. You have a janitorial business also ... correct?

[RyanH]

Yes...been doing it for over 5 years now and that's been my primary business. Pressure washing was something to do during the days (janit is at night) and over the summer while in school. Will be giving up the cleaning shortly though....new job will require too much travel. It was good while it lasted, though; I didn't know any other people in school making $40-$50 per hour with part-time hours. I thought about hiring help, but it's just not worth it to me at this point after taxes and liabilities take their chunk.