Best way to clean rough basement concrete floor - DIY Chatroom

Red Squirrel · 09-17-2009, 12:57 PM

The floor in my basement is rather dirty, if i walk on it my sockets get black. What is the best way to clean this? I almost need some kind of scrubbing machine or something. I've vacuumed and broomed many times, but it's beyond just dust. The floor is not nice and smooth like most basements, it's rather rough. I probably can't handle a scrubbing machine in the crawlspace part given the height so not sure if that would work.

I want it at least clean enough so I can paint it.

Maintenance 6 · 09-18-2009, 09:15 AM

10% clorox with water and a scrub brush. Let it soak for a while and then scrub and rinse. Open the windows. You don't want to be breathing any nasty fumes. If that doesn't take it off, then get some tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) at Lowes or HD. It's usually packaged as a concrete cleaner. Whatever you use will take some elbow grease and a scrub brush.

Red Squirrel · 09-18-2009, 10:51 AM

Sounds like fun. I kinda had this in mind but figured there was a better way. Would a floor stripping machine work though, at least for the non crawlspace part. I'm thinking of renting one. The ones with the big discs that are use to strip vinyl tile floors before applying new wax.

Maintenance 6 · 09-21-2009, 08:47 AM

I don't know if that would work. Seems like rough concrete would tear up the pads. A carpet scrubber with brushes might work better.