Garage floor spring cleaning

[.RJ]

So we had to get all the oil, grease, and hooker stains off of the garage floor... no better way to do it than with a pressure washer and PBR.

Before





To start, put all your motorbikes outside





And your toolbox, shelves, etc



Scrub the deck with concrete cleaner from home depot racing supply, and then pressure wash it



And when you're done, play duck hunt with your leftover PBR cans and the pressure washer





This got the oil stains a little lighter, but not totally gone - I've got some other stuff to try on that, but need to wait until the floor is 100% dry to use it, I'll try that sometime this week. The oil stains are from one of the previous roomates that left a milk crate full of oil under my work bench that split open

[Andy]

Dirty asian can't be trusted. I don't think untreated concrete can be thoroughly cleaned. Apparently concrete is really porous and any petroleum products that finds a home there gets squatters' rights.

[ScottyB]

So we had to get all the oil, grease, and hooker stains off of the garage floor

had to? is the landlord coming down on you or something? because i can't imagine you volunteerily being that clean :lol:

if that concrete isn't sealed you're going to have some worn out brushes and a sore shoulder....

[.RJ]

The lease is up in august, and I wanted to get the shit cleaned up sooner than later.

Dirty asian is right, dude left a leaking brake fluid bottle on one of the shelves too that left a nice stain on the other side of the garage too.

[WRXtranceformed]

If the landlord continues to give you crap for it, you can actually buy concrete "stain" that works pretty good to cover nasty spots. No clue how much it costs, but it's probably cheaper than that grey seal stuff where you sprinkle the chips on top. We used to have garage floors stained if they got real mucked up during the construction process and a powerwasher wouldn't help.

Another side note about powerwashing concrete...be realllyyy careful with the pressure and how close you put the water stream to the concrete. It will actually take microchips out of the concrete. It will look like swirls all in the surface of it, almost like you sprayed it with clear spray paint.. if that makes sense.

[.RJ]

Landlord hasnt said anything, but we stained up the floor so its easier to take care of it than fight about it later

[Mike]

landlords suck, but unless the place was new or they had pics of the floor beforehand, i don't think even one of the most evil of them would try to charge you for a stained garage floor.

[HAULN-SS]

Have you tried using muriatic acid on it to clean the stains? Maybe that's what the home depot stuff was, I dunno.

[.RJ]

The home depot stuff was just labeled concrete/driveway cleaner - it didnt appear to very toxic at all. I've got some of this stuff - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.pour-n-restore.com/">http://www.pour-n-restore.com/</a><!-- m --> - that I'll use at some point this week. The instructions say not to use on wet surfaces so I want to make sure the floor is dry.

[HAULN-SS]

Well if that doesn't work, get this: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=77774-1327-332">http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... 4-1327-332</a><!-- m -->

and follow these instructions: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ehow.com/how_172399_acid-wash-concrete.html">http://www.ehow.com/how_172399_acid-wash-concrete.html</a><!-- m -->

[.RJ]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for a last resort. I'd really prefer not to use any acids, as the neighbors would have a ffing fit..... I used some similar stuff before and it is pretty nasty smelling.

[G.Irish]

I think the oil cleaner should do the trick, I've used it before with great results. You might have to scrub it a couple of times but last time I used it on a driveway it got all of the oil up.

[navin]

We got owned by our landlord about the same thing. We also tried the pressure washer/concrete cleaner, but the results were not good enough for him.

So we just ended up buying cheapo garage floor paint and did that. Sucks for the new tenants, b/c we did one coat and I'm sure it will peel up right away. At least we didnt get charged the $300 he said it was gonna cost to fix it.

phawk landlords.

[white_2kgt]

Have you tried using muriatic acid on it to clean the stains? Maybe that's what the home depot stuff was, I dunno.

They don't sell that at HomeDepot. I got a gallon of it several yrs back when I cleaned my garage floor in bowie, that stuff was scary shit. I used a bristle brush on a pole to scrub the floor with and it ate all the bristles off. I got it at a chemical supply store in MD. If you dropped dirt into the bucket it would littlerally pop and fizz and the dirt would disappear.

[ScottyB]

...be realllyyy careful with the pressure and how close you put the water stream to the concrete.

haha i blew a whole right through some stucco siding using a pressure washer when i was younger. i don't think anyone found out :lol:

If you dropped dirt into the bucket it would littlerally pop and fizz and the dirt would disappear.

that's awesome!

[.RJ]

They don't sell that at HomeDepot

Last time I was there looking for something similar, they had it... although that was last year, maybe things have changed.

Landlord isnt on us, and likely wont notice or care, but its easier to clean up the mess we made than worry about it. When we moved in, half the lightbulbs in the house were burnt out, hot water didnt work in one shower and a bunch of other things were broken, so the attention to detail is a little lacking.

[HAULN-SS]

I have used it a lot to clean up brick after laying them. You have to get a nylon bristled brush..or two. It's good shit. If you can't find it at home depot, you should be able to get it at a masonry supply place pretty easy I think.