The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:25 pm**

my hubby has laid a concrete base for a garage, it became very dusty , so he put proper and expensive floor paint on it, we didnt know at that time he could of put sealant on it,
so hes now tried to jet wash the grey paint off, so he could seal it, and it seems to be taking the top layer of concrete off, as where the paint has lifted the floor is now uneven, and you can see the stones fom the ballast,
its not the first time hes laid a concrete floor, he built our conservatory ,so hes a bit confused as whats gone wrong,
Any ideas of how to remedy this,without having to dig the whole lot up and start again,
He,s planning on doing what needs doing ASAP, so urgent help would really be appreciated,

thanks

Posted: **Sun Jun 10, 2012 4:30 pm**

Simeon (i think thats how you spell it) will be along shortly, he will have a remedy for you, im sure

Posted: **Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:39 pm**

Also looking at it, some parts still seem wet, it was done 4 weeks ago yesterday !! surely it should of dried out thoroughly by now

Posted: **Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:56 pm**

Did it rain on the concrete before it had cured?

Posted: **Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:01 pm**

could you post a photo

how you upload photos

I would say without seeing photos of the concrete floor that the concrete has been mixed by hand and the mix is not consistent or its a weak mixture delivered by a barrow mix service and/or was painted much too early, concrete needs approx 4 weeks to cure before any paint is applied as the water/moisture needs to come out

or like Dave said did it rain on the concrete before it had time to cure

the good news is there are products available to remedy the problem

self smoothing screeds

Posted: **Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:15 pm**

hubby put the paint on last weekend when base had been down for 3 weeks, the base at that time was very dusty which is why he painted it, but it seems to have made the problem worse, it was also a dry day when it was done
my head is fried by hubby being stressed at the mo, so the post about uploading photos doesnt make sense right now, can I email the piccies to someone to look at, pretty please and the cement was mixed in a cement mixer
Hubby did say one day when we went out, it rained and we werent at home to cover it up, it was sunny when we went out, typical british weather !!!!, but every day since then its been covered with viscreen every day it rains

Posted: **Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:23 am**

If the concrete wasnâ€™t affected by rain at or immediately after the time of laying, the main cause of dusting is either too low a low cement content or too much water in the mix. There are other factors such as poor quality materials, poor mixing, lack of adequate curing etc but one or combination of the first two is usually the most common cause for the DIYâ€™er.

Painting a dusted surface is, unfortunately, a waste of time and money as youâ€™ve experienced. For any paint to adhere, the surface must be sound.

A few questions first:

What mix proportions did your hubby use? Was it so many shovels of cement to so many shovels of aggregate or were buckets/containers used. Whatever the method, how many of each?

Was the concrete placed â€œwetâ€� to make it nice and easy to lay? A difficult question to answer but basically too much water will result in a weaker mix.

Was the concrete compacted and trowelled/floated fairly soon after placing or was water added to the surface to â€œliven it upâ€�?

In most cases a dusting surface usually continues to dust. As stated by others, there are treatments available ranging from reasonably cheap and cheerful surface hardeners (although not that effective) to the more expensive overlays from companies such as Ronacrete. You will probably need the latter if the surface is now uneven with the aggregate showing through in places, however, I strongly recommend you seek expert advice before you purchase any repair material.

Posted: **Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:39 pm**

The industry standard is to wait 28 days before applying a non breathable coating to new concrete. Did your husband install a vapour barrier under the slab? If you suspect there is a moisture problem you can tape a piece of air tight plastic to the floor and wait a few days and see if any moisture was trapped underneath the plastic. If you do find moisture here you should seek a professional to remedy the problem. As far as fixing the surface, many options here depending on how much you want to spend. An epoxy floor is a great coating for garage floors, however if you have an issue with moisture you will need to fix this before apply epoxy.

Edited By Elite Crete on 1339414850

Posted: **Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:43 pm**

Can you clarify what "expensive and proper floor paint" is? Painting concrete is not recommended. Are you referring to an epoxy coating or perhaps a tinted acrylic sealer?

Posted: **Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:59 pm**

Elite Crete wrote:Can you clarify what "expensive and proper floor paint" is? Painting concrete is not recommended. Are you referring to an epoxy coating or perhaps a tinted acrylic sealer?

wellcome to the brew cabin cobber hope the taffys give a better acount of themselfs next week

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:05 am**

cookiewales wrote:
Elite Crete wrote:Can you clarify what "expensive and proper floor paint" is? Painting concrete is not recommended. Are you referring to an epoxy coating or perhaps a tinted acrylic sealer?

wellcome to the brew cabin cobber hope the taffys give a better acount of themselfs next week

Hmm, I'm lost on this comment. Want to try that one again?

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:05 am**

welcome to the brew cabin our commonwealth cousin,
we sincerely hop that the welsh rugby football team give a better account of themselves against the wallabies next week.....

babelfish FTW
LLL

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:15 pm**

LOL I got ya now. Wallabies are putting the same side together, not sure what Wales has planned but jet lag won't be a legitimate excuse this time around...

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:07 pm**

hubby did put down viscreen,to try to stop any moisture problems

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:24 pm**

Do you have any pictures? How did he finish the surface?

The Brew Cabin

Please help