Help? strip the paint from painted concrete garage floor.

[jargey3000]

Not sure where to post this, so I'll start here. Several years ago I painted over my attached garage's concrete floor, using a cheap, latex, mid-gray paint. It looks ugly & now I'd like to remove all the paint & get it back to its original, unpainted concrete finish. Do I have any (painless) options? If so, would love to hear what they are. Thanks.

 

[Jon]

Diamond grinder?

 

[highup]

Pressure washer? They make hot water or steam type pressure washers. I don't know how easy is is to find one to rent.
You would certainly be masking off the walls well with heavy plastic.
Not sure how well that would work because if you got overly aggressive you might harm the concrete. You would have to experiment with tips to see which one was most effective without hurting the concrete.
Alcohol might work to lift and loosen the paint but you'd be looking at a very dangerous situation because of the fire and explosion risk. I think any kind of chemical stripper would be very messy, especially if it reliquifies the paint and turns it into goo.

 

[Jon]

Pressure washer? They make hot water or steam type pressure washers. I don't know how easy is is to find one to rent.
You would certainly be masking off the walls well with heavy plastic.
Not sure how well that would work because if you got overly aggressive you might harm the concrete. You would have to experiment with tips to see which one was most effective without hurting the concrete.
Alcohol might work to lift and loosen the paint but you'd be looking at a very dangerous situation because of the fire and explosion risk. I think any kind of chemical stripper would be very messy, especially if it reliquifies the paint and turns it into goo.

Cant see that working as you are going to get millions of slimy sticky dirty water running out the garage door onto your drive and elsewhere
Thats why I suggested Diamond grinder as you would end up with a pretty clean floor with no plastic around the walls but what does a lino layer from New Zealand know? LOL

 

[jargey3000]

what about paint remover or stripper products?
eg. this one?

Citristrip 1/2 Gal. Safer Paint and Varnish Stripping Gel Non-NMP HCSG803 - The Home Depot

For even the newest DIY'er, CITRISTRIP is the effective brand of removers that has a fresh citrus scent. Use CITRISTRIP to remove multiple layers of dried latex and oil-based paint, varnish, lacquer, polyurethane and shellac from wood, metal and masonry surfaces. Removes five layers of dried...

www.homedepot.com

 

[DarisMulkin]

Any paint typoe remover you put down could soak into the concrete and if you were to ever paint or put something that has to be glued down, it could produce a bond failure. Best bet is to grind it off.

 

[jargey3000]

yes, maybe..but aside from that, is it a viable option?
I have no intention of EVER painting it again, or gluing anything on it.
I just want to 're-set it & forget it'

 

[havasu]

I did one of those Orange Big Box "DIY" epoxy floor jobs on my garage floor 5 years ago. Looked great for about 3 years, then it started to peal away. I hired a professional crew who used diamond grinders and had the floor down to clean, bare concrete in about 4 hours. Although that looked nice, they continued and installed a professional epoxy floor with a lifetime guarantee. Old versus new pics below.

 

[jargey3000]

very nice! any idea -ballpark- what it might cost just to strip it down to the bare concrete? ( realizing my cost might probably be different/ more)

 

[havasu]

It all depends on availability. I'm guessing $1000?

 

[jargey3000]

not cheap.

 

[havasu]

You could probably rent a diamond grinder and an edge grinder for $250 a day

 

[Jon]

You could probably rent a diamond grinder and an edge grinder for $250 a day

Diamond grinders get pretty close 6o the wall then use a tungsten scraper
I know as I have had to go around the walls after they have ground the floors to get rid of the drop off

 

[jargey3000]

Another source tells me a solution of vinegar & water sprayed on the (latex) paint & left for about 10 mins., will soften it to the point where it can simply be scraped off with a plastic scraper. Any comments?

 

[C.J.]

Another source tells me a solution of vinegar & water sprayed on the (latex) paint & left for about 10 mins., will soften it to the point where it can simply be scraped off with a plastic scraper. Any comments?

Post back and let us know if that works. Otherwise I’m thinkin like most other installers, grind it off. I would recommend you rent a 17” floor buffer from HD with a Diamabrush head and go at it that way. Jimmy rig up some sort of dust containment for the buffer and you’ll be alright. The edges would need to be finished off with an angle grinder with dust containment. Just for giggles I would get a bid or 2 to see what the numbers are then compare that to the cost of any rental equipment or other equipment you would have to buy.

 

[highup]

Hard to tell what would work the best. It's going to take experimentation.
Some concrete finishes are fairly rough and porous and some are super smooth and almost shiny. Try the vinegar in a 3-ft x 3 ft area and let it sit for a 15 or 20 minutes. If it does nothing then at least something has been learned.

 

[Jon]

Another source tells me a solution of vinegar & water sprayed on the (latex) paint & left for about 10 mins., will soften it to the point where it can simply be scraped off with a plastic scraper. Any comments?

I hope you dont have ants over there?
Hope you are a young fella as your back, legs and knees arent going to be happy using a plastic scrapper?
You arent doing a toilet or bathroom
I have one of these on the left with real rough sand paper on it which the speed of the machine it will soften the paint then the paint will kinda double up causing more paint to stick to the paint then the machine will bounce everywhere making it necessary to keep changing the paper, not cheap
Also the slab has to be fairly flat as you will have to grind down the high spots to get into the hollows
Now the machine on the right is actually a large grinder which to me would be the type you need but once again the floor has to be fairly flat to get into the hollows

 

[Incognito]

Another source tells me a solution of vinegar & water sprayed on the (latex) paint & left for about 10 mins., will soften it to the point where it can simply be scraped off with a plastic scraper. Any comments?

Plastic?..........well, that's a longshot but certainly possible. I've removed paint mostly by mechanical methods more recently but back in the day we would soak with "thinner" of the highly flammable and toxic types and then scrape of with a RAZOR scraper-----4"

4" razor scraper - Google Search

www.google.com

Ultimately it'll come down to how HARD AND SMOOTH your slab is. On a hard troweled and well sealed slab paint would be easy to remove either mechanically or chemically. Soft, rough slabs will allow the paint so far down into the pores it's not going to be easy to remove.