Garage floor painting/ecthing

[Beto cuevas]

I just purchased a home and have played with the idea of having my garage painted. There are some large cracks some very long and some small. My inspector said they were nothing to worry about, I also had a foundation company come out and look over the property and also got the got a similar answer from them. House is 15 years old and has a pt slab foundation. Here is where my concerns are, some parts of the crack are 1/8 of an inche and there are some that are 1/4 that are maybe 1" long at the most. I'm afraid the ecthing liquid could sip through the crack and some how reach the pt cables.. Don't know if this is a real concern or am I just over thinking it. Do I need to cover up the cracks ? And when you guys (inspectors), see a painted garage floor, what is your reaction or thoughts?

I also have a 200sq ft patio that is attached to the back of the house and it also has some cracks. I had planned on doing a concrete acid stain on it. I guess I'm more concern about the patio than the garage, because acid eats up metal. Again, I beleive that if I do an acid stain, the acid will sip through the cracks and damage the pt cables. Anyone that has encountered or gone through this, I would appreciate any feedback .

[Raymond Wand]

I think you could use Trisodium Phosphate to wash the concrete rather than use acid.

[Beto cuevas]

I think you could use Trisodium Phosphate to wash the concrete rather than use acid.


Im using a natural cleaner for th patio .. But the concrete stain itself is acid.

[Raymond Wand]

You likely already know but .. http://allgaragefloors.com/acid-etch-garage-floor/

[stanley frost]

PT cables are covered in a plastic sheeting. Should not be a problem.

[Scott Patterson]

Fill the cracks with a concrete crack filler and then cover with epoxy paint. Staining a garage floor is not the best idea, the color will wear off with use and drips from oil, gas, etc.. and even from road gunk dripping off the car will make marks in the stained concrete. I would only use epoxy paint in a garage.

When I see a painted garage floor, I only think that I wish I had done that to my garage and that I did not have so much junk in my garage!

[Raymond Wand]

If you go the route of epoxy, I would put some form of non-slip granules in the mix. Epoxy can be very slippery when wet.

[John Kogel]

Ask Jay Leno what he puts on his floors. :D

Seriously, you can get some really nice glossy coatings that need no upkeep. Paint is temporary. Stain won't hide oil drips.
In many parts of Texas, slab cracks are due to expansive clay soils, drying out and then swelling with a bit of moisture. So a rubberized coating might be the way to go.

Garage slabs here are just a floor. I like a painted floor, and the cracks usually have no significance. In your case, tho, it sounds like the slab is also supporting the walls. The only cracks that matter are differential cracks, where one section is higher than the other. Lay a straight edge across the crack. If no displacement, you can fill the larger cracks before coating the floor.

[Bruce Ramsey]

While the house slab may be post tensioned, it is unlikely the patio or garage are.

[Jim Luttrall]

While the house slab may be post tensioned, it is unlikely the patio or garage are.

All depends on the design. Almost all attached garages here are PT and inset porches, etc. are PT.
Obviously a added patio is not but here, everything that is part of the footprint of the blue print gets done in one pour with Post Tension cables. When they say "monolithic slab" in north Texas, they mean it!