Maintenance Tips After Polishing a Concrete Garage Floor
Your polished concrete floor will last for years to come – if you take proper care of it.
Key takeaways
- Polished concrete is an excellent choice for a residential or commercial garage
- Promptly cleaning the floor and maintaining it will ensure it lasts
- Learning some pro cleaning tips helps the maintenance process
- Installing a sealer adds another layer of protection
As you build or renovate your shop, you might ask, “What is the best flooring for a garage?” After all, options like vinyl, rubber tile, and stone are available and have some benefits that make them worth considering.
However, you’ll want something that can withstand oil, salt, and other contaminants vehicles can bring inside the building, which makes polished concrete an interesting option.
Polished concrete typically stands out for home and business owners because of its durability, appearance, and simplicity. As long as you clean and maintain this floor, you won’t have any problems with it in the foreseeable future, and it will resist most damage you will inflict on it.
Learning some cleaning and maintenance techniques ensures you get the most from your polished concrete floor and maximize its lifespan. Here are some tips to make your life easier after polishing concrete garage floors.
Dust daily with a microfiber pad
Even if you don’t spill anything on your concrete floor, dust and dirt particles will accumulate over time. Concrete is an abrasive material that naturally attracts dust that could diminish your floor’s appearance and leave you with a more significant cleanup in the future, so cleaning it is essential.
You can reduce dust build-up by using a microfiber pad to gently clean the floor daily. This simple solution works wonders by preventing the accumulation of dust.
Use clean water and mops
Dusting your floors can stop small particles from accumulating, but it isn’t the only step you’ll need to follow. Moping your floors every few days maximizes their shine and removes dirt and grime before they become established.
When wet washing your floors, ensure you have a clean mop and water straight from the tap. Replacing the water a few times during the wash might be necessary if the floor is particularly dirty. Contaminated water can form streaks on the floor, as you’ll simply be moving the dirt around instead of removing it.
Apply a concrete cleaner
If your garage sees significant traffic or gets extremely dirty, the next step is applying a specialized concrete cleaner to assist with the cleaning process. This cleaner should be pH neutral, so it doesn’t damage your polished concrete while you clean.
As you apply the concrete cleaner, leave it on the surface long enough to do its job. This tip is especially helpful when cleaning grease or any sticky substances from your floor because the cleaner needs time to break these contaminants down and suspend the particles so you can remove them with your mop.
You’ll want to avoid using vinegar, citrus- or pine-based cleaners, bleach, or ammonia on your concrete floors because they could harm the surfaces. It’s also vital to not allow any cleaner to dry on the floors because it could also lead to damage.
Clean spills immediately
Remove anything that spills on your polished concrete garage floor immediately to prevent deterioration. Oil, grease, brake fluid, and other liquids in your garage can damage the floor very quickly, especially if you haven’t applied a sealer.
The precise amount of time you have to clean your floors varies based on the coatings you apply to your concrete. Remember that the longer a spill sits, the more time it has to absorb into the concrete and do permanent damage.
Apply a sealer
You can give yourself more time to clean spills from your concrete floors by applying a sealer. You can select from various sealer types depending on how you use your garage and the materials that will be present in the building.
Penetrating sealers provide a layer of defense for your floor, although you’ll want to ensure you select the right one when using it in a garage. Typically, siliconate sealers offer decent protection and give you extra time to clean spills on your garage floor. However, liquids will eventually absorb through these sealers because they don’t create a barrier between your surface and the environment.
Another option for your garage is an oil-repelling penetrating sealer. These sealers are relatively new additions to the market but offer a unique barrier against motor oil and other automotive fluids. This may be worth a look if you’re repairing cars in your garage.
Topical sealers protect your garage floor through the layer of film they build on the surface. Acrylic, epoxy, polyurethane, and polyurea are among the options you’ll find on the market, all of which create a barrier between contaminants and your concrete floor. The result is, once again, more time to clean spills that occur in your garage and greater protection for your concrete floors.
Repolish if necessary
Even if you follow all these tips, your floor could incur damage over time. However, it’s easy enough to prepare and re-polish the surface if this occurs, restoring it to pristine condition.
Of course, you might expect your garage floor to develop some battle scars over the years because you’ll probably be hard on it. Listening to these easy maintenance tips will prolong its life, though, and keep it looking great for years to come.
Keep your floor in outstanding condition
After looking at some flooring for garage ideas, you’ll begin figuring out the best plan for your property. Polished concrete is an outstanding option because of its durability and versatility, and the fact that it requires very little maintenance is a nice bonus.
Concreate can assist as you finalize your garage floor plans. Our team does everything but pour the concrete, as we can prepare, polish, and seal your floors, so they stand the test of time. Contact Concreate or visit thisisconcrete.com for more information on polishing a concrete garage floor.