How to Clean Garage Floor for Painting

Painting for garage floor is one thing thus it needs adequate knowledge on how to clean garage floor for painting.

Garage floor is one of the dirtiest floor in the house due to the types of activities to do there.

How clean this floor thoroughly? Here are the steps:

Read also: How to Apply Garage Floor Paint.

Step 1: Checking Garage Floor and Preparing Tools Needed

The first thing needed to do before cleaning garage is checking how hard the muck and/or dust is. We also need to check the moisture of the dirt or stains, and see if there is any remaining oil or paint on the floor. Knowing all of those will help to prepare what kind of tools and solutions to prepare. Here are those things needed to be prepared:

1. Ammonia-based detergent
2. Baking soda
3. Breathing mask
4. Duct tape
5. Garden hose
6. Large piece of plastic
7. Muriatic acid
8. Plastic watering can
9. Power washer
10. Push broom
11. Rubber gloves
12. Stiff-bristle push broom
13. Wet/dry shop vacuum

All of those are prepared based on the needs. It means that there is no need to prepare all of that. It depends on how hard is the floor muck or dust and any other dirt on the floor. One more things need to check is weather forecast. It affects the way paint drains. If it is going to rain or too much wind, it will take longer time to dry it out and it makes its paint quality less good than usual.

Step 2: Preparing the Cleaning Agent

After preparing tools and floor, it is time to prepare the cleaning agent. Here are the steps on how to prepare cleaning agent:

1. Remove any dust or dirt or anything that is not anchored down on floor. It can be done by sweeping out the heavy dirt.
2. Remove any electrical outlets or cables around floor. It is also possible to cover it by taping using plastic. It is important to avoid any electrical damage.
3. Prepare some concentrated concrete degreaser. It is also possible to use Tide laundry detergent or TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) for cleaning concrete.
4. Mix those cleaning agent with hot water on a bucket.

If the floor is possible to be cleaned without any cleaning agent, it is okay to only use a broom to clean the hunk. Do not forget to clean the floor around garage door tracks and ones against the walls too.

Step 3: Cleaning Garage Floor

It is time to clean the floor. Here are things we should do:

1. Pour the warm soapy solution to floor and start scrubbing with deck brush. For really dirty floor, pour the solution and leave it for a few minutes. After a few minutes, start scrubbing on the dirt, grime and stain. If it is still needed, add more solution and keep scrubbing it until it gets clean. Add more pressure while rubbing if it is really hard to clean. What is needed to be notice is the solution should not be dried up because it will leave some stain which is hard to clean. In addition to it, do not use broom to clean while using solution as it is not effective for large areas.
2. After all dirt is clean, immediately wash the entire floor. Water or diluted degreaser can be used in this case. Then, clean any liquid using a foam squeegee. It is also important to make floor dry quickly to prevent any additional stain caused by water or diluted degreaser. It is also possible to use fan to make the floor dry faster.
3. After the floor is dried up, check all edges and walls for any leftover. It is also recommended to clean the floor once again by using clean broom.

Now, the garage floor has dried and it will have a nice clean surface. If it is already clean, it is possible now to apply paint on it. Hopefully, these tips on how to clean garage floor for painting will help you on making paint applied well, resulting in perfect desired color.

Originally posted 2021-01-05 02:52:00.