How to seal garage wall and floor before painting?

[mich1972]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Good afternoon Workshop friends. We have cleared the shed. 

I want to paint the walls and epoxy the floor. 

What I need advice for first is - do we need to use a special waterproofing sealer on the bottom section of the wall because on the other side it’s raised up as garden ect. 
I have added photos to show the walls and also the surrounding areas as you can see how it is different levels if that makes sense ? Thank you in advance 😀

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

[mich1972]

 I saw this online, would it be the correct one to use ? 

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Hi @mich1972,

Do you see water entering the garage in heavy rains? If so, that is an issue you'd need to address from outside the wall by digging down next to it and adding agline to remove the water. Then, you could paint the outside of the wall with the Crommelins Blackseal to stop water from penetrating it. Unfortunately, it is not suitable to be painted over, so you can't use it on the inside. The other issue is if water is coming up through the concrete slab, it could try and blow your epoxy coat off. Once again, you can't seal the slab inside, as the Epoxy paint needs to go directly onto the concrete.

The method of attack comes down to how much and how often water penetrates that wall. I can see the moisture line from the ground level inside, and Crommelins Aquablock might be enough to prevent moisture ingress if it's only a tiny amount. That would allow you to paint the walls. The Epoxy is another matter, and it's hard to tell if the moisture ingress would affect it. You might find that the paint adheres to the slab, and water weeps into the inside between the top of the slab and the bottom of the brick wall.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @mich1972 

Thats a nice garage! Do you ever see any water at the bottom of the wall?  I havnt sealed a concrete floor before (I didnt for my retro garage conversion) but if you see even a little water you may need to do what @MitchellMc is suggesting 😕 Not hard but def worth it. I didnt and I ended up digging out next to my garage to stop water issues lol 

Scrolling through the photos again I can see some of the bricks have that whiteness line on them. Means there is moisture coming through at least slowly. It will actually push/flake your paint off the wall 😕 

Dig and seal plus drainage is worthwhile 😕 Might add more to the project but really will make a long term difference.

Dave

[mich1972]

Hi @MitchellMc an @Dave-1 

Thank you for your fast response. 
Hubby and I had a bad feeling this was going to be a problem and that is why I wanted to ask here . Geez that’s a shame and I totally understand what you both are saying. I’m wondering if that’s why the previous owners of the house didn’t bother. 
We certainly don’t want to paint the walls and epoxy the floor if it’s going to be an issue later on. 
I don’t see water seeping in or dripping down the walls but there is no doubt it’s absorbing through, even slightly. Apparently the wall has the black sealer on the outside, I can’t really dig down as it is all paved. 
Yes inside you can see the different colour of the wall, it’s about a metre from the ground. Yes you can see that white leaching at the base. 
Also, when it rains, the water still pushes through the base of the roller door, even though there is one of those weather seals on it. 
No , there is no drainage grates at the entrance or at the left hand side wall. What a bummer , but that’s how it is. 
I appreciate your honest feedback and I will let hubby know. 
Why I wanted to do this is , I want our shed to be more user friendly and easy to work in. It was a dumping ground and we kept chucking stuff in there, close the door and forget about it because we are busy and don’t have time. 
We just recently emptied it right out, had a massive cull. 
What my plan was , hubby turns 50 soon and I want to make the shed better for him, I wanted to paint the walls, epoxy the floor ( both now we won’t do ) 

Get some heavy duty storage racks, brand new tool boxes with benches ( he’s a heavy duty diesel mechanic ) peg boards ect , work station. 
The concrete slab is stained over the years with oil stains and I was going to hire a concrete grinder to resurface the slab. 
Now I’m not sure what to do. 

[mich1972]

@MitchellMc  I will buy the Crommelins Aquablock and paint that on the affected area inside. I assume it’s best to do it now before winter sets in and the walls are ‘dryer ‘ 

[EricL]

Hi @mich1972 

I agree that this would be the best time to seal it. When the cold weather sets in winter the walls will always be damp and will be impossible to coat with the sealer. 

Eric

[mich1972]

Hi @EricL  Thank you for your feedback. I will seal the lower part of the wall and let you know how I go. 😊

[Dave-1]

Morning @mich1972 

As I have a very similar garage issue and have fixed it plus am in that same age bracket lol Take a look at these two projects around my garage. I have a feeling I may have linked them already in other questions.

Garage lining for stud walls stage 1 - If you look at my walls you can see some small spots that had that same leaching effect, One reason I went with plaster walls was to keep anything off the actuall wall. I didnt put insulation behind it as I wanted free air flow. 

Fixing water ingress issues in garage - Very similar to how the soil was high against my wall as to your wall. I really didnt want to do it but had already put the walls and bookcase in the garage and "wanted" it fixed.

The floor in my garage was not sealed, I thought about it but there was never any actuall water pooling on it so decided to go with the carpet tiles as they have a rubber back.

Last issue for you with the water entering under the garage door, I have seen this product online and it seems to work well, Bunnings dosnt look like they have it tho I could be wrong as I dont know the various names. Universal Threshold Weatherproof Stripping Adhesive 

Like you I was concerned about water before I started but figured ways around it. Possibly I should have put in airvents at the bottom of the wall to allow more ventialtion. There has been no signs of mould in the years since ive done this. 

If the water/moisture issues seem to be daunting, break them down to particular areas/results. Your garage/workshop is definently high on the list of doable

Dave

[mich1972]

Morning @Dave-1 Im going to read through them now, even if I can waterproof the lower walls and then paint them, I would be happy with that. Dave , can I waterproof the concrete floor as well even if I don’t paint it ? I’m going with @MitchellMc  advice about the epoxy, we definitely won’t do that.