Dear friends,
Call me what you will – this is a screw up that I hope someone else has made – or heard of – and can direct me on how to fix.
I decided to paint my garage floor this weekend. The preparation involves treating the floor with muratic acid to etch the concrete. Apparently, when I did that, the fumes from the acid rusted the top of my brightly polished Powermatic 66. (I’m assuming it was the acid, it could have been the paint – a two-part Valspar product from Lowe’s.)
So now that the top looks like that, what can be done to fix it? Please help.
Sincerely, contritely, desperately:
dangerruss, Tulsa, OK
wearer of the dunce-cap
Replies
Fumes from muratic acid instantly rust cast iron. Tools should be moved completely out of the area before etching.
The rust on the tools is just like any other rust. You will have to remove it and the best way is steel wool lubricated with light oil or mineral spirits. In most cases the rust is light and does not penetrate the surface.
If you have some deeper areas, use some green scotchbrite on your ROS but be aware that it will throw the liquid all over.
Once clean, put on a coat of paste wax and buff.
HOWIE, first neutralize the acid before anything else you do!
Use bicarbonate of soda (Arm $ Hammer) mixed with water to a cream like consistancy
Wipe away with old towels, redo 'till the foaming stops.
Don't get it in your eyes. dry , then steel wool and 3 in 1 oil rubs it all out After it shines, wax with butchers wax and buff with a clean rag. Stein.
Dangerruss,
I have also used that product on my garage floor. Fortunately, I had moved everything out of the garage when we cleaned the floor. The concrete sure did come clean!
The really bad news? The paint doesn't stay put! It comes up when a car is driven over it. What a mess! We followed the directions exactly. We let the paint cure for 3 days before we drove on it. (Do you have the kind that you sprinkle colored chips into while it's still wet?)
I've spoken to others who have had the same problem. We didn't neutralize the floor after using the cleaner. I wonder if that could have caused the problem.
VL
Thanks for the input. I'll get my iron cleaned up soon.
As to the product, I was told by the paint guy at Lowes that the latex product will come up but this two-part Valspar stuff will not. It's only been down for about 36 hours so we'll see how it does.
Again, thank you all for your constructive input.
Dangerruss,
I went through some storage in the garage and found one of the boxes of the garage floor paint. We used a Rustoleum product (an epoxy), not Valspar. I hope your experience is better! Sorry if I caused some concern. The Rustoleum paint did not work for a friend either.
VL
Dange, did you neutralize the floor before painting? and did you flush with lots of water? Stein
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