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How to clean the garage floor?

Hi we just purchased a house with a very messy garage.

We are not sure what sort of stain is on the floor.

Any idea of what cleaning product should we use to restore the garage floor to a better condition?

Or should we just use sugar soap and warm water to clean the surface and then simply cover the stains with epoxy paint?

Thank you for any ideas.

Community manager's note: Check out How to apply epoxy to a garage floor for expert advice.

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EricL

Hello @ivanptr

Thank you for sharing your question about cleaning your garage floor.

I suggest using Chemtech 1L Concrete And Driveway Cleaner. It is biodegradable & non-toxic and does not affect plastic, rubber, glass, and most metals. Please note that this is a concentrate and must be diluted in water. Use a stiff bristle brush broom to remove dirt and debris while using Chemtech.

After brushing the garage, I recommend using a pressure washer to remove deep-seated dirt. This will wash out all the dirt and contaminants on your floor. If you decide to paint it, I suggest using White Knight Ultra Pave Garage Floor Primer and White Knight 4L Medium Grey Ultra Pave Quick Dry Paint. for a quick refresh of the garage floor.

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to paint concrete floors

Let me tag our experienced member: @Sugar for their recommendation.

If you need more information or advice please let us know.

Eric

Jason

Hi @ivanptr,

You might like to check out what member @maknilsin achieved with his epoxy garage floor project. It's one of the most popular projects featured on Workshop and has links to Bunnings resources for how to apply epoxy to your garage floor.

Thanks,

Jason

ivanptr

Thank you @EricL @Jason for the valuable advise,
We decided to hire someone professional who will use the pressure washer with degreaser.

However, we enquried a few of these people about the pressure wash process and they all say even with pressure cleaner some stains will remain to the floor.

Our question is, how do we know if the "remaining stains" on the floor is minor enough that allow us to paint the garage floor?

EricL

Hello @ivanptr

Thank you for sharing your question about stubborn stains.

Some stains like paint and grease stains are very hard to remove. You will only be able to find out once you give it a very good clean. If after using the cleaning products there are still paint stains on the floor, you will have to use a steel scraper to remove them.

For heavy oil and grease stains, I suggest using CLR 750ml Oil And Grease Remover. Due to the age of the floor, some stains will be difficult to remove. Once the floor is totally clean and dry, you can then see what is left and we can determine if we can paint over them.

Please keep us updated.

Eric

ivanptr

@EricL Pressure cleaned, and the cleaning guy said even it still has some stains absorbed in the concrete, the "surface" is clean now and all good for painting.

Totally not sure if we can paint it or we need to get the stain out of the concrete first. Any thought? Much appreciated..!

EricL

Hello @ivanptr

Thank you so much for the update about your garage floor. It looks much better than before, the majority of the stains and marks have been removed and the floor looks clean. The only other stains I can see are the shadows of rust blemishes left on your floor. If a pressure washer was used on your floor, it would have removed all loose dirt and debris.

At this stage, I recommend either painting the floor or use my colleague @Jason suggestion of doing the epoxy garage floor project. Either will method will give you good results and a strong cover from future stains.

We look forward to seeing your garage floor painted.

Eric

ivanptr

@EricL We are gonna start this garage floor repaint this wee, About the product recommendation of using White Knight Ultra Pave Garage Floor Primer and White Knight 4L Medium Grey Ultra Pave Quick Dry Paint,

Could you suggest other self-priming paint product for garage floor? It seems that a self-priming paint without involving separate Primer and Paint is a much more efficient product to use! Saving tremendous effort and time.

StevieB

Hi @ivanptr,

@EricL will be back on the site on Friday and happy to help further with your project. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

Stevie

EricL

Hello @ivanptr

Thank you for the garage paint update. The paint you mentioned, the White Knight 4L Medium Grey Ultra Pave Heavy Duty Concrete And Paving Paint does not require a primer. You can paint this directly onto your garage floor. There is no need to use the White Knight Ultra Pave Garage Floor Primer. Please note that if you have been using your garage after the clean, I suggest washing it again with soap, water, and a stiff brush to remove the oil and grease brought in by your tires.

The other garage paint options are the Dy-Mark 4L Water-Based Grey Epoxy Coat Garage Floor Kit and the Garage & Factory Floor Protector 10L Charcoal. But among the three the White Knight is the easiest to apply. Your house repairs are looking great, we would love to see a photo of the garage floor once you have painted it.

If you need further assistance with this project, please let us know.

Eric

ivanptr

Thanks @EricL , Great to heat that!

Might we ask how many litres of the White Knight Medium Grey Ultra Pave Heavy Duty Concrete And Paving Paint is needed for the garage floor size of 33.7 sqm?

4L will be suitable?

EricL

Hello @ivanptr

You will need to use the White Knight 4L Medium Grey Ultra Pave Heavy Duty Concrete And Paving Paint to cover your garage. If you run short on the second coat, you can use the White Knight Ultra Pave Heavy Duty Medium Grey Concrete And Paving Paint - 1L to cover the remaining area. Please keep us updated.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

fadetoblack

Would you suggest using the CLR 750ml Oil And Grease Remover before or after the Chemtech 1L Concrete And Driveway Cleaner?

JacobZ

Hi @fadetoblack,

I'd suggest starting with the oil and grease remover, giving everything a good flush with clean water and then use the concrete and driveway cleaner for the finishing touches.

Let me know if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

fadetoblack

thanks

Nailbag

Hi @fadetoblack

The prep work in thoroughly cleaning the surface of contaminants is vitally important using the products and techniques @EricL and @JacobZ mentioned. If not don't properly the paint quite quickly wears through in high traffic areas like car tyres. And if rolling the paint on, avoid using cheap rollers as depending on the paint you end up using can be quite tacky, especially on hot days. You end up with fluffy bits all over the place, which I saw first hand at a mates place.

Nailbag

fadetoblack

Thanks Nailbag,

I'm actually just wanting to lay floating laminate flooring down and use the garage as a studio.
Currently, there is a slight residual smell of motor oil in the garage from the previous tenants parking their car in there.
I'm now thinking the best way to go is:
1 - clean the concrete with the oil and grease remover mentioned.

2- clean the concrete with the driveway cleaner mentioned

3 - maybe apply a concrete sealer to protect moisture from rising up and damaging the laminate, and hopefully also mitigate and residual smell from the concrete?

In al honesty, my garage is nowhere as problematic as the original poster's - so it shouldn't be to tricky, hopefully... Screenshot 2024-11-18 at 08.16.38.png

MitchellMc

Sounds like a good approach, @fadetoblack. I'd recommend Bastion 15L Matte Concrete Sealer for that job.

Mitchell

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