Before you lay down a fresh coating or paint the surface with new markings, you need to make sure all the old paint has been removed from your concrete. You can use a floor grinder to do this quickly, but it’s important to take your existing slab into account. If your concrete is harder, using your powerful grinder at 35 square feet a minute is fine, but heavy weights and higher speed on a softer concrete is only going to cut into your slab leaving deep cuts and gouges.
To safely remove paint from concrete with a floor grinder, watch the video below and follow the steps we outline!
Why Use a Floor Grinder to Remove Paint from Concrete
Typically, if you need to remove paint from concrete, it’s a time-consuming process. First, you need to clean the surface, scrape any peeling or chipping paint, then use a paint stripper or solvent and let it sit for around six hours or longer. Finally, you can pressure wash the concrete or use a scrub brush to remove the paint stripper residue. Depending on the paint, this may take several applications.
With a floor grinder, you can get a much better result, much more quickly. Plus, you’re likely to get improved adhesion of any new coatings, and a more level, attractive end result.
Using the Right Grinder Tooling
With a softer slab, you’ll want to use minimize the pressure. As you’ll see in the video, we didn’t use any pocket weights. We also chose 16 grit metal diamonds so we could get a solid grind without creating pits in the surface.
Because you’re using minimal pressure during the grind, you’ll see areas of the floor that appear to get “missed.” The dark spots are often where the floor is slightly lower than other areas, and with the reduced pressure, the grinder doesn’t reach there on the first pass. The second pass should fully even out the floor and remove any old paint.
Cleaning Up Old Paint and Dust
Once the old paint is effectively ground away, you’ll need to clean up any dust to ensure ideal adhesion and get a clean, attractive end result. A Hawk Enterprises Wet-Dry Vacuum will pick up the excess, but we highly recommend making several passes with a Contec Premiera disposable microfiber mop pad. It will pick up the smallest particles and leave a clean, smooth surface.
Contact Us for Floor Grinders and Tooling
If you need a floor grinder to remove paint from concrete or you need the right diamonds to tackle a soft slab, we can help! Our product experts can help you decide what equipment and floor grinding accessories are right for you. Call us at (815) 278-1308 or by filling out our contact form.