"Harry Muscle" wrote in message
oups.com...
On another thread I've been asking about what to do with my concrete
crawlspace floor in order to make it nicer and less prone to dust, etc.
(I'm gonna be storing stuff down there, and doing a couple other
things, etc.). Originally I thought of painting it, but didn't want to
go thru the etching process if possible. A handful of people
recommended sealing the floor instead of painting it. Some of the
sealer instructions I looked at don't even mention anything about
etching, just a good cleaning (some others say it might help). All the
paints I've looked at definitely recommend etching. So the sealer is
looking like the better option for me. However, I'm curious, what
exactly is the difference between a concrete sealer and concrete paint?
I would have thought that a sealer is just clear paint, but I think
I'm wrong since it seems like the sealer requires less preparation work
than paint. If you can shed any light on this that would be great.

Also if you can recommend a good sealer to use that's easily found (ie:
available at Home Depot or similar places) that would be great. Btw,
the one that looks the best to me right now is a Stone Mason product
(http://www.usehickson.com/StoneMason...lerMatte.shtml)
... anyone know if it's any good?

Thanks,
Harry


Think of it this way. Sealer "Penetrates" the concrete and sinks in.
Paint generally sticks to the top and doesn't penetrate as far hence the
need for a better bond. I don't think sealing or painting is gonna help
your dust problem. Dust doesn't typically get generated from the ground up
(it's a gravity thing) unless disturbed. The dust is coming from above the
crawl space. An easy solution is to staple or otherwise attach cloth to
the bottom of your joists (I'm assuming this is a wood joist application).
This will catch the dust. Every few years, I'd recommend pulling the cloth
down and either replacing it or giving it a good clean. The other option
would be to do a full sheetrock install over the joists but that seems line
an awful lot for a crawlspace, particularly when you may want access to
what's between those joists sometime down the road.
Cheers,
cc