Hangar Floor Cleaning Pre Painting

[PeteMc]

I went though some of the old discussions on what to use on a hangar floor, but what about the prep?  I didn't see much on that, just the various products to paint and/or use to seal the floor.

My new to me hangar has some stains and painted lines on the floor.  Nothing is oily to the touch, but I'd like to make sure I get the floor as clean as possible before I paint.  Anyone have any good products or suggestions on the process.  One guy I talked to swore by Coke (the drink ). 

 

[KSMooniac]

Everything I've read indicates that if you really want it to last, you ought to look into a grind prep, honestly.  You might search the topic on beechtalk.com or garagejournal.com.

Years ago at my first house, I used an over-the-counter 2-part epoxy floor coat kit on brand-new concrete.  I did a muriatic acid etch and good rinse/dry and thought that would be sufficient since there was no oil or grease exposure.  It failed in places after a couple of years... next time I will pay a pro to do the best process and use the best products.

[Fly Boomer]

  On 4/12/2024 at 12:19 AM, PeteMc said:

One guy I talked to swore by Coke (the drink ). 

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I think Coke is just another acid, but weaker than the muriatic acid usually used.  If I was putting down a new floor, the thing I would be most concerned about is protecting the floor from moisture coming up from below.  Since your floor has already been poured, it's too late to worry about that, so all you can do is concentrate on cleaning the existing floor, and finding a product that will adhere to the surface.  Paint is unlikely to stick for very long.

[Shadrach]

I did my dad’s two car garage which had been accumulating petroleum stains since the 1920s. I elected to use a mild muriatic acid solution on the whole floor and a more concentrated solution on heavy stains. It was flawless for 10 years. Only recently has it started to shown signs of “hot tire pick up”.

[PeteMc]

Thanks all !!

[Schllc]

I have done many floors with many different products.

if you want to do I correctly and make it last, you need to grind the floor, and use a very high end sherwin Williams product directly from their stores. 
the good stuff is a two part epoxy and costs north of $150 per gallon. 
There are a LOT of products cheaper, but none of them will last like the good stuff. 
I have been driving forklifts, and dropping heavy things on it for years and it still looks new. All the cheaper alternatives I used before don’t bond the same way. 
and if you do not grind and properly prep the floor,  nothing will stay down. 

[Hank]

I had good results using a Rustoleum garage floor kit at home. It's 2-part epoxy with color chips to sprinkle on as you go, and was available in gray or beige. It even came with cleaning powder, which I think the water turned into muriatic acid to mop the floor with. The mop was fairly destroyed when I was done.

The whole thing took a couple of days, with the door cracked and a fan blowing on it to dry. Paint adhesion of any kind is all about surface preparation, so be thorough. I lived in that house for nine years, parking on the surface every day, with no problems. Think the kit came from HD, but most big box stores should carry it. 

A hangar is much larger than a 2-car garage, so calculate the square footage and buy multiple kits, and don't expect to clean the floor in one evening after work.

Good luck!

[N201MKTurbo]

If I was doing it, I would do it in three steps. First I would clean it with solvent (gasoline) to get the bulk of the oil off the concrete. Then I would scrub it with TSP to get any residual oil and grease off the floor, then a light acid wash to neutralize the TSP and etch the concrete.

[Ragsf15e]

Or leave it concrete…

[Pinecone]

I did my new garage floor with U-Coat-It water based epoxy.  The first coat gets a bonding additive and goes on while the concrete is damp from rinsing off the muriatic acid wash.  It is been in use for 21 years and is still great.  I did not clear coat is, so it does get some mild staining, but more comes off with a simple scrub.

But you cannot get this stuff to peel.  I even drug a loaded metal shelf unit across it without damaging the paint.

They have a whole prep process for old concrete.   Mainly scrubbing with a detergent.

[PeteMc]

  On 4/12/2024 at 9:57 AM, Schllc said:

high end sherwin Williams product directly from their stores

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Is there a big difference between the in-store and the Sherwin Williams products I was seeing at Home Depot for Garage and Workshop floors? 

[Schllc]

Absolutely!  It’s the psi it can tolerate that makes all the difference.

the product I am referring to is not available anywhere other than the sherwin Williams dealer. 
they will specify and guarantee a product for you, which will have directions and specifications for  install.  All require grinding. 
I can probably find the spec for if you are serious about going this route. 
im struggling with the decision myself. If you think you will be there more than 3 years it is probably a good idea to do the high end job. 
if not, don’t grind and do the Home Depot stuff. 

[NotarPilot]

I did this exact project almost three years ago, in my hangar. My hangar, oddly enough, had linoleum tiles in the middle and carpet under the tail and wings. I hated it because the tile was old and had absorbed a lot of oil over the years. It looked like crap. I decided to scrape the old tile and put down a product called Rustoleum Rock Solid. Gray and tan are easy to find but I wanted white so I used the Marble color product. I just mixed it into a solid white instead making marble swirls during application. It ended up being a much bigger job than I anticipated.

I bought a hand grinder from Harbor Freight to grind away the glue from the concrete. This created a bunch of dust and got everything dirty in my hangar. It was also slow and tedious. I then rented a larger grinder from Home Depot to save time. That was about $150 for a few hours. I pressure washed the concrete with a concrete cleaner as there were some oil stains. Long story short, I applied the Rock Solid product and it has lasted quite nicely for about 2.5 years now. I like the white as it makes finding dropped screws and camlocs easy to find. I would not recommend using those flakes that it comes with. It looks a lot cleaner without them. Just be careful and don’t slip. I’d also recommend buying extra product and putting it on a bit thick. Don’t think you’ll cover the area specified on the box.