Just poured the basement floor today and am wondering the merits of sealing/protecting the concrete from staining during the construction process. One school of thought suggests that staining/dirt/etc is inevitable and wait until the worst is over before pressure washing/cleaning. The other school suggests putting some kind of concrete sealer on now that will help minimize the staining/damage during the buid and then a thorough cleanup closer to completion.
Long term, some parts of the basement will be finished living area with carpeting/tile while another part will become a woodworking shop.
So looking for your thoughts on the merits of both sides of this debate.
And assuming the “seal it now” approach is appropriate, any suggestions for products would be appreciated.
Many thanks!
Dave
Replies
Then there's the third school which holds that staining is really, really inevitable and that the wise course is to ignore it now and continue to ignore it when construction is complete. The stains in the part to be tiled don't matter because they'll be under the tile, and the stains in the prospective wood shop don't matter because it will be a wood shop when you're all done.
Probably the most important consideration is whether it's going to be carpet or tile.
If it's carpet, sealing it now with an acrylic curing compound like VO-COMP could only help matters.
If it's tile, you don't want any sealer, not now, not ever. It will make installing the tile difficult because the thin-set won't work very well over sealer.
DRC
or you could just cover with buider paper