LESLIE: Etta in Ohio has a question about a basement floor. What can we do for you?
ETTA: Hi. I bought an 80-year-old house and seems like everything was wrong with it but I’ve got most of it fixed and now I’m in the basement and I’m real fortunate. It’s a dry basement and the original cement hasn’t been stained. I want to clean it; just regular clean it and dry it and -but I want a clear sealer to put on it so that – I’ve seen paint before that peels and that and I think a clear sealer would just be so nice, because you could sweep it and it’s sealed and it doesn’t stain or anything but I can’t find a clear sealer.
TOM: Oh, there’s lots of masonry sealers out there, Etta. You know, the kind of paint that you might also want to be thinking about is something called an epoxy paint.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
ETTA: OK.
TOM: That’s what really sticks like the dickens on a concrete surface. It’s a two-part epoxy. You mix it up as you apply it – working one gallon at a time – and it really hardens quite nicely. It has tremendous adhesion qualities to it and some of these epoxy paints come in kits with floor cleaners and it’s all sort of one system.
ETTA: Mm-hmm.
TOM: And when it’s all done it works really, really well. You know, we used one of the epoxy paints on our local Boy Scout house and I’ve got to tell you, there’s – I can’t imagine many concrete floors will get more traffic than this particular one does …
ETTA: Uh-huh.
TOM: … with all the kids and their camping supplies and all of the wet and the dirty that goes through that and it really has stood up quite nicely.
ETTA: Well, where do you buy that and does it come in clear?
LESLIE: It doesn’t come in clear. There is a company that makes a clear and the name of the company is R.S. Hughes. H-U-G-H-E-S. It’s a little bit pricey but they do …
ETTA: Uh-huh.
LESLIE: … offer a clear epoxy sealer.
ETTA: That would be great and then, like I said, I’ve seen some of the floor paints just peel and that or scrape when you do what you do in the basement.
TOM: Mm-hmm.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
ETTA: So …
TOM: But if you use the epoxy paints, they’re not going to peel. There are a couple of manufacturers. These paints are available at home centers everywhere. There is – Rust-Oleum makes one called EPOXYShield and …
LESLIE: QUIKRETE does.
TOM: QUIKRETE makes an epoxy paint.
ETTA: Uh-huh.
TOM: So they’re very available and they’re very reliable and they do a great job. OK, Etta?
ETTA: Yes. You know, I was at a store the other day and I was tempted by this one and it said for exterior use only. I can’t use that, can I?
TOM: Yeah, if it says for exterior use you can …
ETTA: Mm-hmm.
TOM: … certainly use it for interior use and that actually …
ETTA: I could?
TOM: … would be OK.
ETTA: Ah. Well, great. Thank you so much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Etta. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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