Sealing indoor concrete floor

[maxpowerzz]

In the wisdom of Rising Sun, I thought someone might have some advice here: how important is it to seal an indoor concrete floor used by the public? I run CU Denver's art galleries, and in one of them at the Performing Arts Complex we recently had a project with Meow Wolf. The artists painted the floor, which looked great, but needs to be removed for our next show. We are going to grind the paint off and are trying to decide if we should seal the bare surface. We had sealed concrete floors before and the sealant was always pulling up, getting gummy, would trap dirt and was difficult to clean. Here's a link to some pics: https://www.westword.com/slideshow/...ry-at-denver-performing-arts-complex-10428176.

These floors are intentionally rough and not pristine to go with the aesthetic. Do we need to seal the floor or can we just leave bare? How tough is it to seal a concrete floor DIY?

 

[kurtnkegger]

I don't know if dust is an issue, but once the smooth surface from the concrete finishing is gone, there is always a bigger dust problem. I don't know if you have thought about a sealer like Thompson's Water Seal, but it sinks in to the concrete surface and protects it from liquids...might help protect the floor from spill stains etc.

 

[maxpowerzz]

That's a good point, we don't want dust getting on the art. Thanks Kurt!

 

[Brucker]

Epoxy coat the floors. I have done this to all my shop floors. I only use ArmorSeal HS1000. It's a 2 part epoxy. Holds up great to all the abuse we put it through