Doing a DIY project on your home concrete floor? Some may say that doing it on your own terms rather than letting the professionals handle it can save you tons of cash, especially when you’re only dealing with a small area. After all, if it can save you an essential amount of money, why not do it by yourself? Not only that, you’ll get to experience on a first-hand basis the process of preparing your concrete floor before sealing it. But how would you do it? What do you need to prepare go get a nice concrete finish? Read on to find out.
What is concrete sealing?
Concrete sealing is the process of putting industrial sealers that will coat your concrete for the main purpose of preventing water that is absorbed by the concrete that can lead to stains, corrosion and cracks or form a layer that is impenetrable from foreign contaminants from entering the concrete. There are a lot of commercial sealers available in the market that will ultimately depend on what you need.
Why you need to seal your concrete floor?
There are a lot of flooring options that are available through different service providers however; concrete sealing addresses these areas of concerns.
- You want your floor to be long-lasting – as previously mentioned, when concrete is exposed to foreign contaminants like water, dirt and others, this can lead to cracks, corrosion and the inevitable deterioration. With sealed concrete, it ensures the longevity of your concrete floor by layering a protective area to prohibit the entry of such elements.
- You want your floor to look visually stunning – one of the many good things sealed concrete have is that it adds to the over-all look of your home.
- You want your floor to be low-maintenance – other flooring options involve a lot of elaborate and tedious tasks just to clean. With sealed concrete, it only takes a sweep or a mop to clean because it is stain and dust-resistant.
- You want an affordable flooring option – what better reason to choose this option is because of its practicality. You don’t need to spend much for your concrete floor to look stunning.
Now, how would you prepare your concrete floor for the sealing project? Listed below are the steps to make it happen. - Remove any furniture or objects lying on the floor and start to clean the area. You can clean it by giving it a thorough sweep first then mop the whole area.
- Remove excess oils and other wet elements on the floor. Give it a good scrub. If you don’t remove these liquid components, chances are, your sealer won’t stick to the floor. It will be useless.
- You can purchase masonry cleaner or other floor cleaning options to clean the concrete floor. Once you are sure that it is clear of foreign contaminants, evenly distribute the masonry cleaner and once the whole area is covered, scrub it with a scrubbing broom (non-metal with firm bristles).
- Once the solution sets in for a maximum of 20 minutes, rinse it with a garden hose or a power washer instead. Start from one end to another.
- You can use a squeegee to get rid of the remaining water or let it dry for a solid 24 hours.
- You can now apply the sealer once the floor is dry and its texture is similar to that of a light to medium grit sandpaper.
Make sure that before you try the whole process, you have asked for help and recommendations from people with expertise and proper training for the task. Also, do not forget to wear protective outfit like gloves, goggles and boots as you’ll be dealing with industrial cleaners that might potentially harm you