I bought a house recently that has a concrete floored basement

Pressure wash it like a driveway.

If no pressure washer, scrub with a broom and Tri-Sodium Phosphate (SugarSoap)

>>1122843
I do have a power washer I use outside, but I am not really sure I want to use it in the basement. There is a floor drain but I feel like that would put out way too much water too fast and make a mess.

I did scrub a wall in the mudroom with TSP before doing it and it seems to adhere fine, but scrubbing all the walls in the basement will take forever and I'm not sure its enough difference to be worth the effort.

I do epoxy flooring professionally... shelf life depends on the product... being that I mainly use industrial grade stuff it tends to last longer pre mixing.... but in my opinion you should always grind the floor before applying... pressure washing won't get rid of grease and oils on the concrete... rent a grinder with a a vac attachment or use a floor scrubber with stones then vacuum up the dust .. after all is clean... mix in a 5 gal bucket .. spread with a squeegee and roll smooth

>>1122881
Hey bro, do you like polyaspartics? What brand epoxy do you like? Any tips for rolling a clearcoat, I'm about to do one but I'm scared of roller marks.

>>1122848
give it a try? power washers put out a lot less water than just a hose

>>1122881
I am mopping the floors with degreaser and such. The mudroom I did turned out fine and I have no issues with adhesion. My only real gripe is its not super smooth and depending on the lighting angle you can tell the lines where I filled cracks with epoxy concrete.

I did try using a hand grinder to smooth them out which worked fine but made a massive mess. Don't really want to deal with the dust inside the house.

I am also using relatively cheap 1 part epoxy. Basically just applying solvent based primer, a layer or two of the epoxy and specks, and then some gloss wet lock sealer to help protect the specks. Don't imagine its going to hold up to major scratching, but looks nice and will make the floor easier to mop up and keep relatively clean which was my main goal. If I do my garage next I will go with a heavy duty 2 part and clean with acid since it will be outside.

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>>1122848
>>1122915
Yeah, I power washed my basement to prep for an epoxy floor, worked fine. Just stay away from the walls if they're drywalled.

I did have a floor attachment for the power washer, which was nice:

>>1123024
Wow didn't even know these attachments existed. I will have to grab one of these next summer for outside use. There is a bunch of poplars over my garage so the driveway is always dirty but using the normal nozzles just leaves streaks.

In the basement I've been using a a hoover floormate which is pretty great for deep cleaning floors. It's basically a wet carpet cleaner designed for hard floor use. Spray, scrub, suck. The tanks aren't very large so its slow going but its doing an excellent job and once the dirt being sucked up starts coming up clean you can tell when its about ready. Plus you can toss in degreaser for the scrubbing.

>>1123028
>using the normal nozzles just leaves streaks.
It shouldn't. Maybe you're using a tip thats too narrow or holding the tip too close or just moving too fast.

The main advantage of the surface cleaner is that it doesn't kick up water everywhere.

When I worked at Wendy's many years ago we scrubbed the concrete pads outside with a brush and outside cleaner.

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>>1123124
Forgot pic.

>>1122822
I was just thinking about doing something like this in my basement.
Please post results

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>>1123144
It will be quite some time before I finish the basement cleaning and get to applying it, but heres a pic of the mudroom floor I already did over the summer. It really isn't that hard if you are using the one part epoxy since its basically just thick paint you roll on.

Big problem is just getting the surface cleaned and ready to make sure it adheres well.

>>1122882
Not him but polyaspartics is good, I like the no odor aspect of some of the blends. Only problem is most of the kits are high gloss and I like something more in a matte finish. Also some of the best stuff like spartacoat is really expensive depending on your dealer

>>1123165
That looks great anon I'd better get started cleaning as it sounds like like the hardest part of the job.

>>1123209
It's mostly just time consuming, and the basement is about 4 times the size of the mudroom and I plan to paint the walls first so its a hell of alot of scrubbing to deal with.

I did however think of a great way to deal with the walls. I am going to get a scrubbrush attachment for my drill and then use liquid TSP in my pressure sprayer. Soak a few bricks at a time and scrub with the brush. Should be relatively effortless and do a good job prepping them.

>>1122822
what is a good industrial coating that I can use to paint a shower with laminex walls and a pvc base?

>>1122822
you must use muratic acid on conrete to clean.. then rinse forever

>>1123206
Cool man, spartacote was exactly what i was thinking about, do you have some prices you can share? I'm seeing $216 to $214 for a 2 gallon kit of tint base and clear coat.

I highly recommend getting phosphorescent powder as a mix in for the epoxy. it sounds dumb and kind of tacky to do, but its useful as a safety measure. we did it in a shop we rented for my dad's business with white as a base color and the epoxy over it. get a bunch of the brightest one, and mix it in. i have a cube of the resin with the powder mixed in, along with some fluorescent thread that i put in the last little bit we had left over. i thought it would be useful as a paperweight.

http://glowinc.com/

>>1123290
Normally I would agree, but this is indoors.
The fumes will rust every single metal object in the room, and even non metals like fiberglass.

>>1123317
Safety? You mean as non skid powder? I thought about using some in the mudroom but had no issues since the concrete isn't sanded smooth and I have the specks. Even walking in after snowblowing I have no slipping issues.

>>1123335
Exactly, my hvac, boiler and all my incoming plumbing is right there not too mention pets in the house. Not going to use something that strong. I can see the need in an oily garage but dirty indoor concrete mostly just needs cleaned to hell to get rid of loose dust layers.

>>1122848
Nah op. Mess yes, but sump pumo should keep up. If not have fun scrubbing.

>>1122848
Oh, and water proof paint br damned. U will forever fight leaks. Sorry op. Just keep shit off the flooor or in plastic tubs. I use a lot of pallets. Makes it nice when power goes out and have 1 inch of water floor

>>1123028
Just a side note. Is how tile is cleaned professionally. Ised to travel the us and do carpets. And at times pools with about 300psi and one of these fuckers but better quality.

>>1123491
Sump is sealed for a radon system so the floor drains my only point of drainage.

>>1123492
I am mostly just doing it for the clean look. I have a small leak in one corner but plan to dig around and fill a small crack and then fix the grade in that corner which should stop it.

>>1123442
its handy to have when the power goes out to gauge if war has gotten in.

in the shop i was talking about, we painted the bathroom with white killz, including the floor, and then the powder enhanced epoxy. the white undercoat is essential for the best glow results.