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RE: Garage Floor Painting Questions

To: poller@chromatic.com
Subject: RE: Garage Floor Painting Questions
From: "Lee Daniels, daniels@tamu.edu" <DANIELS@alchem.chem.tamu.edu>
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 9:59:38 -0600 (CST)
>1) I'll be painting a brand new concrete pour.  How long do I have
>to wait for the concrete to set before painting?  If the contractor 
>says the concrete has cured enough to drive on, can I paint it?

Once it's hard, it still will cure over a period of months, but you can
paint it now.  You don't have to wait for it to "dry" - the moisture it
contains does not evaporate, it reacts to become a part of the structure.

>2) Since it will be brand new, do I still have to etch it with
>muratic acid?  I'll ensure that nobody drives on it before painting.

Etch it, *especially* since it's new.  The top layer has a lot of 
microscopic (and macroscopic) granules on it that break off with wear.  If 
you paint over them, when they break off your paint goes with it.  After 
etching, sweep LOTS OF TIMES to pick up all the dust grains.

>3) I'll have about 2 slabs at 20' x 20' each.  How much paint will
>I need?  How much will it cost?

Ask your paint guy.

>4) How long will it take for the paint to dry? 

Depends on the paint.  Ask your paint guy.
If you go with really great, really expensive epoxy stuff, it doesn't 
"dry", either, it cures.

>5) Can I paint in cool/wet weather, or will I need to heat
>the area.  I'll be doing this in the last week of January,
>in the SF Bay Area, and it will probably be in the 60's (f)
>ambient temp.

Should be fine.  

 Lee M. Daniels                 Laboratory for Molecular Structure and Bonding
 daniels@tamu.edu                                         Texas A&M University

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