Way to clean slab so new tiles will bond to the floor? Years of fryer grease have soaked it thoroughly.?

Question

One professional has said grinding down to clean concrete is the only way. Another problem is this is in a 7/24 drive-thru restaurant kitchen and has to be fast. Any downtime is lost income!

Answer 1

Lots of scrubbing with strong solutions of hot water with TSP (trisodium phosphate). Use rubber gloves because it can take the grease and skin off your hands too.

It will dry as fast as if you just washed the floor normally. Try one isolated area and even try sticking a tile down on it. When you are satisfied with results then do the floor one section at a time. You also could put down duckboards over an area that you have cleaned to keep new grease and foot traffic dirt off it until the tile cement has hardened and the area has been given a final grouting.

Answer 2

I wouldnt worry about putting down tiles now its to late I dont think anything will bond the best thing to do would be bust up the concrete and pour new. Your drive thru will just have to suffer, you could have employees run the food out and have a person on the curb collecting money. Even if they could tile on top of what you got it would take 24 hours before you could walk on the tile.

Answer 3

I ran this one past my husband who sells concrete bonding products for over the past 20 years. He agrees that the floor must be 'scarified' down to the original aggregate. Then you can place a 'thin set cement' product and put your tiles right into the cement. Perhaps you can do a portion of the building at a time or wait for a holiday when you may not be open.

Answer 4

Hi,
The best way to clean your driveway is to buy Hydrochloric Acid also known as Muriatic Acid. When handling this acid you must wear rubber boots, gloves, eye protection and breathing protection.

I use this acid a lot because I have a swimming pool and I have used it to clean the grout on the paved seating area. When I use it I put on swimming googles and respirator to protect my breathing.

Mix one part acid to ten parts water into a plastic watering container. Always pour acid into water not the other way round. Pour it over you concrete and sweep it around with an old broom then rinse of with the garden hose. This will remove the stains and concrete residue.

Hydrochloric acid is used all the time by builders to clean masonry, brickwork, grout and concrete. here are some sites with more information for you to read. regards

http://www.aldonchem.com/pr-grout-residue-remover.htm

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infxtra/infmur.shtm

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/decoder_muriaticacid.jsp

Answer 5

www.ACCClean.com has a product that is put onto concrete to eat the oil. It takes a few days, but it might work for you. Nothing toxic, it is just biological munchers with a taste for oil. Problem is for you..........you can't mop while they are munching

Answer 6

just pour a new slab on top of the old one

Answer 7

try a layer of underlayment Like plywood and then new flooring