HELP! How do I get a concrete (painted) floor clean again!?

SarahLou

Right, this may seem like an obvious question but I'm stumped.

I run a doggie day care centre which only opened in April and I'm desperate to cling onto my current clients but as dogs keep leaving a grubby shade of brown I'm worrying it'll not help business progress.

Things were tickety-boo until the flash floods a few months back (North East England) when BOOM, within 2 hours the entire unit was flooded and under an inch or more of water from back door to front. When I returned that evening to "check everything was OK" I got the shock of my life to find it all under water.

Thankfully no financial loss as the floor was washable anyway - thats why I rented that unit! Its a painted concrete floor and was used to frequent mopping/hosing/disinfectant.

That night I spent hours hosing all the silt and sediment out, brushing it all out, mopping, re-mopping, etc. For days after I had to keep repeating this until it looked back to normal again.

However, since then (and we're talking months now and NUMEROUS washes/mops/brushes/hoses/full cleans both with plain water and disinfectant solutions), the floor has obviously retained some muck. When its dry its great, dogs keep clean. But the second it gets wet (like today, with all the darned RAIN! ) it turns into a mud-wash. I don't understand.

I'm clueless as to what else to try.

I've contemplated hiring a commercial floor cleaning machine (like the ones that spin round, electronic machines that you move around slowly) - but I worry the pads underneath will just rip as the floor isn't 100% smooth as theres the odd bumpy bit of concrete/stickyuppy bits.

So what would you suggest? It looks clean, like I say, but it most certainly isn't. The mops are cleaned frequently yet this just goes to show how mucky it is - clean fresh water with splash of disinfectant in mop bucket. Clean mop. Swipe floor two to three times with the mop (overall coverage approx 1sq metre) and I can guarantee the water will turn a mucky solid brown colour. It never used to do that before the flash flood the other month.

Any ideas?

I really can't afford to get new paint put down or lino or anything. Its a new business and working on a shoe-string.

Would the carpet type cleaner machines work with the tanks that I could just keep emptying? (Probs ever 3 seconds?!)
Or steam cleaner maybe?
(But there again the amount of cloths I'd go through would be ridiculous).

HELP!

Pic attached to show how clean the floor actually looks. Considering it was BLACK with silt/sediment when I went in to clean up the post-flood mess.

(Image shows a good amount of the floor and also shows how dirty the little white dogs feet get in a matter of minutes - as soon as he runs through a wet patch such as if I've mopped up a patch of wee) --->

sonastin

have you tried jet washing it? OH uses a jet wash on concrete paving and I'm astounded at the difference. What I thought was "aging" rather than dirt comes off no problem.

2nd possibility - try repainting the floor? seal the dirt in if you can wash it out?

born_blonde

I have painted floors in my toilet and shower blocks on the campsite and I have never had this problem and sometimes the mud trailed in is horrendous . Are you sure re-painting isn't an option? The paint is not that expensive, I do it twice a year. Or what about some kind of sealant or varnish type product?

SailorSam

Second vote for a power wash and they're not that expensive to buy.

SarahLou

Will attempt a power wash over the weekend and see how it goes - worry it'll strip the paint off? But will try a small area and see how it pans out!

And born blonde - what paint do you use and where do you get it from? I've only looked in the likes of B&Q before and proper non porous floor paint is rather pricey in there. I'd need 100+ square metres worth.

babyshoes

We get the students to use a power washer to clean the motocross bikes at work after they have ridden them in the mud, and on occasion I have had to rectify rude anatomical pictures drawn on the tarmac with the spray nozzle, which are visible as a cleaner area even when dry. It does a pretty good job of getting the dirt off in the nozzle area - the closer the nozzle is, the better it works but the smaller the cleaned area will be.

A rubber squeegee on a long pole is also useful for pushing the dirty water out. Have seen them incorporated into rubber-bristled brooms or on their own.

pigpen

Find a local trade dealer for paint? put an ad on freegle/freecycle?.. there is bound to be someone with a 10 gallon drum stashed away. Buy 1 tin a week until you have enough?

valk_scot

It sounds as if the flood water has affected the bond between the paint and the floor tbh and it's now flaking off in very small particles. Try a power wash as suggested but don't be at all surprised if the paint comes right off the concrete in areas. You may need to strip the floor of paint, reseal the concrete and paint it again. Your insurance would cover that though, surely?

sonastin

Toolstation is pretty good for that sort of stuff if you have one nearby. Usually cheaper than B&Q in my experience.

mavisangelica

We bought a massive tin from Ebay when we did our garage floor - I think about 20 litres. Just had a look and they are going for around £20 - £30.