Cleaning An Epoxy Rock Floor

[gregb]

I am trying to clean what appears to be a poured epoxy rock floor. The floor is about 15 years old and does not appear to have been sealed against oil stains.

I have contacted a commercial cleaner, and they want 300 baht per sq. meter to clean it and seal it. At that price, I'd rather just replace the whole floor. I'm sure this is an overinflated Bangkok price just because they can get away with it. I doubt the chemicals really cost that much.

The floor was originally white, but has adopted a dull gray color over most of the surface, with several spots indicating severe spills of an unknown liquid. The stains do not respond to standard detergents, and appear to be very well set in the rock.

I have applied a poultice which I bought at HomePro which has proven somewhat effective at removing the stain, but it cost 200 baht to do only a few hundred sq. centimeters. I did this mostly as a test to see if it would even work. Obviously I can't afford to do the whole floor this way.

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive solution that I can mix myself which may assist with this? Does anyone think simply mixing lime and paint thinner myself would be effective at removing stains over a large area? Can anyone recommend a store in the Bangkok area that would sell a commercial solvent which might be effective on this?

I have about 40 sq. meters to do, and have a budget of maximum 4000 baht to clean the floor and seal it against further stains. I'm looking for any and all advice.

Thanks for any assistance.

[elkangorito]

Have a look at the link at the bottom of this post. It may appear that you either have;

1] a surface that is NOT epoxy coated or,

2] preparation prior to the application of the epoxy resin was incorrect.

http://www.epoxy.com/15.htm

[tjo o tjim]

If it was prepared incorrectly, it is a lost cause... you won't be able to fix it cheaply for sure. Epoxy is such a mess to work with, it generally doesn't have a good history in Thailand. Thais don't seem to like things that smell bad but work well, like oil-based paints.

Your best bet might be looking at replacement first, and then see if you find someone in the process that can fix it.

The problem is that it is really hard to lift oils out of epoxy, no matter how badly it was prepared. Sealing it after the fact is like locking the barn after the animals have left.

[gregb]

Just an update on this for anyone who is interested. After alot of experimenting, we have found that ordinary undiluted "Duck Pro 9" bathroom cleaner does a pretty good job on these stains if allowed to sit for about 15 minutes, and then scrubbed with a wire brush.

Unfortunately, it also causes the colors to fade on those areas of the floor which were originally not white, but that is an acceptable issue for us given the alternatives. According to the label, Duck Pro is 15% HCl, which makes it about a 4 -5 molar solution of muriatic acid, and that is most likely the agent at work in removing the stain.

It isn't a perfect solution to the problem, but if anyone else is struggling with similar stain problems, I recommend giving this product a try. At a cost of about 50 baht per liter in the large size, it is a fairly economical, and readily available everywhere.

[elkangorito]

Just an update on this for anyone who is interested. After alot of experimenting, we have found that ordinary undiluted "Duck Pro 9" bathroom cleaner does a pretty good job on these stains if allowed to sit for about 15 minutes, and then scrubbed with a wire brush.

Unfortunately, it also causes the colors to fade on those areas of the floor which were originally not white, but that is an acceptable issue for us given the alternatives. According to the label, Duck Pro is 15% HCl, which makes it about a 4 -5 molar solution of muriatic acid, and that is most likely the agent at work in removing the stain.

It isn't a perfect solution to the problem, but if anyone else is struggling with similar stain problems, I recommend giving this product a try. At a cost of about 50 baht per liter in the large size, it is a fairly economical, and readily available everywhere.

Well, in that case, get some conc 9 HCL & strip the floor completely, afterwhich you can re-apply the epoxy. Obviously, be very careful when dealing with such concentrated acids.

Edited October 24, 2007 by elkangorito

[astral]

DUCK is a wonderful product.

I live in very hard water area and get scale marks on the bath and wash basin.

Duck brings back the sparkle in no time.