Stripping observatory concrete floor?

Hi,
Is there an EASY way of stripping latex paint completely off my concrete
observatory floor? Right now, I'm using Strip-Ease, and that's a real
pain, and will take a couple of days (100 square feet). Then I'll have
to rinse the floor with water and then lightly sandpaper.

Then I'll start over, but this time with something other than latex.
I'm pretty sure I asked for concrete floor paint back then, but it was
ten years ago and I'm not sure. Over the years it has bubbled, peeled,
and has 'sticky' spots. Any suggestions for a good paint for the floor
of a roll-off in the Northeast? Thanks for any help!

Starry Skies,
Rich

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 00:02:16 GMT, Richard DeLuca
wrote:

If we were talking about the outside, I might agree.

Ah. Well, if you have walls that can't get wet, or equipment that you can't
remove or cover, chemical stripping may be all that's left.

Still, taping some plastic to the walls and wrapping things up might be an
option. How skipping the stripping and just pouring 1/4 epoxy layer on top of
what you already have? I saw that done in a shop once, and it made a real nice
floor.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

here is an interesting news story on the subject

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...in553686.shtml


and a product line that I have used indoors in the basement

http://www.ugl.com/ProdMAIN2.html


Dave

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 23:35:57 GMT, Richard DeLuca
wrote:

Hi,
Is there an EASY way of stripping latex paint completely off my concrete
observatory floor? Right now, I'm using Strip-Ease, and that's a real
pain, and will take a couple of days (100 square feet). Then I'll have
to rinse the floor with water and then lightly sandpaper.

Then I'll start over, but this time with something other than latex.
I'm pretty sure I asked for concrete floor paint back then, but it was
ten years ago and I'm not sure. Over the years it has bubbled, peeled,
and has 'sticky' spots. Any suggestions for a good paint for the floor
of a roll-off in the Northeast? Thanks for any help!

Starry Skies,
Rich

Dave Fouchey, WA4EMR
http://photos.yahoo.com/davefouchey
Southeastern Lower Michigan
42° 35' 20'' N,
82° 58' 37'' W
GMT Offset: -5
Time Zone: Eastern

In article , Cathy
wrote:

A good solid stain. I use "Olympic Cape Cod Gray." I have it down on my
exterior front porch, foundation and on the garage floor. Works great on
wood too.

As for stripping.. I use a 3400 psi Briggs and Stratton, 10 horse power
washer.


Cathy,

I'm not clear on what a stain looks like, and whether I can use it on
previously painted concrete. Did you put it on a previously painted
surface (after stripping) or was this the first treatment on new
concrete?

Rich

In article ,
"Starlord" wrote:

Get yourself a janitors buffer machine and some bearpads. Place the machine
with
the brush wheel on the fllor and put a bearpad under it, and start running
it,
make sure you have a good grip on the machine. You'll need to remove the pad
and
wash the paint off between goes, but it should do the trick. That's what I
used
to work on hardwood floors when I worked for a guy who refurbished hardwood
floors.


Thanks Dennis,

I'd have to rent such a buffer (I've used them before, refinishing
hardwood). And I'd then have to use a wash anyway. I'm thinking
Strip-Ease might not be any bigger a problem, and I don't have to rent
machinery.

Rich

In article ,
Chris L Peterson wrote:

Ah. Well, if you have walls that can't get wet, or equipment that you can't
remove or cover, chemical stripping may be all that's left.

Still, taping some plastic to the walls and wrapping things up might be an
option. How skipping the stripping and just pouring 1/4 epoxy layer on top of
what you already have? I saw that done in a shop once, and it made a real nice
floor.


Thanks Chris,

I could tape plastic to the walls, but the thought of water on and under
the walls scares me.

Epoxy? Never heard of it used this way before. I'll look into it.
Could I actually avoid stripping if I use epoxy? Thanx.

Rich

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 02:10:16 GMT, Richard DeLuca
wrote:
Thanks Dave,

Helpful, but a question for you. When it says a stain can be put on new
concrete or 'previously unpainted' concrete, I'm not sure if that leaves
me out, that I can't use a stain. Any thoughts?

Rich


Most likely it would be uneven if applied over a previously painted
surface. I used their oil based paint for the basement after using
their Drylock to fix some cracks. No problems since.

Dave
Dave Fouchey, WA4EMR
http://photos.yahoo.com/davefouchey
Southeastern Lower Michigan
42° 35' 20'' N,
82° 58' 37'' W
GMT Offset: -5
Time Zone: Eastern

In article ,
John Steinberg wrote:

You can strip, stain and seal the concrete or thanks to Monsanto, you
can do what I might do in similar circumstances: Cover the exising
mess with100 sq. ft of Astroturf.

The quantity you need is probably under $30 at the big box home center
of your choice (the cheap knock-off stuff). It's nicer on the feet than
raw concrete, makes those accidental Nagler drops less worrisome, it
probably won't have any significant impact on the thermal profile of
the observatory, and it holds up quite well in the temperature extremes
of the Northeast US. Plus, folks in AZ actually think it's real grass.

It might not appeal to your aesthetic sensibilities, but considering
the workload of the alternative, I'd give it some serious
consideration.

And if you paint some white lines across it, you can relive SuperBowl I
on those cloudy nights, or forget the lines and turn the observatory
into a part-time putting green.



I've thought about astroturf or even outdoor carpeting. Better yet, how
'bout I just glue down a nice Persian?.............;-

Starry Skies,
Rich
(carpet, I mean!)

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 13:07:41 GMT, Richard DeLuca
wrote:

I've thought about astroturf or even outdoor carpeting. Better yet, how
'bout I just glue down a nice Persian?.............;-

My observatory floor is covered with carpet designed for garage floors- super
tough stuff. A carpet is well worth considering: it moderates some of the bad
thermal effects that concrete floors have, and things that get dropped are much
more likely to survive (what- you never drop anything at 3am, when you're cold
and tired?)

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

We just stripped the plaster off of our observatory walls at SDSU. No easy
method, just a lot of hard work. Same problem oas with your floor in that
moisture was causing it to break off the bricks. Now we have paint over two
coats of masonry primer.

We use regular flooring tiles. They fail over time but atleast are easy to
replace.

Del Johnson



"Richard DeLuca" wrote in message
news
Hi,
Is there an EASY way of stripping latex paint completely off my concrete
observatory floor? Right now, I'm using Strip-Ease, and that's a real
pain, and will take a couple of days (100 square feet). Then I'll have
to rinse the floor with water and then lightly sandpaper.

Then I'll start over, but this time with something other than latex.
I'm pretty sure I asked for concrete floor paint back then, but it was
ten years ago and I'm not sure. Over the years it has bubbled, peeled,
and has 'sticky' spots. Any suggestions for a good paint for the floor
of a roll-off in the Northeast? Thanks for any help!

Starry Skies,
Rich