Having never seen one before, I bought a (MasterForce) "Rub Brick"
(6"x3"x1", $9.99 at Menards) thinking it may help to clean up my concrete
garage floor which is to be my workshop floor. I "applied it to about 6
square feet in an inconspicuous area using also a bucket of water and a
towel. It provides decent exercise. I may try using it to smooth some
Quikrete repairs someone else did in the past--actually, I tried it in one
spot and the result looked pretty good (not sure if I weakened the repair,
but I'll be mixing some Quikrete, sand and vinyl, in the spring anyway.).

I am thinking now that I may work around the edges (and the water softener,
etc) with the plan of bringing in an electric concrete grinder in the spring
to do the rest of the floor.

I think the rub brick may be giving me a good idea of what I might expect
from the concrete grinder (true?). Don't they use the same sort of stone
(although I know "diamond" is available for the powered units)???

I noticed in the last few minutes, online, that the tool is often used to
help prepare concrete for tiling. Is there anything inappropriate with the
way I am using it? P.S. I wore a dust mask, but, once I started using
water to help get the dust out of the brick, I don't think there was much
need. Should I be concerned about how flat the cutting stone stays (I'm
mostly only taking off paint, grime, etc.--that is, I'm not cutting deep)?
I am probably doing things the hard way, no?

Thanks!
Bill

On Oct 12, 8:34*pm, "Bill" wrote:
snip of stuff about rub bricks"
*Should I be concerned about how flat the cutting stone stays (I'm
mostly only taking off paint, grime, etc.--that is, I'm not cutting deep)?
I am probably doing things the hard way, no?

Yes. :-) I'd use a pressure washer to remove the paint & grime. Then
rub the concrete if you still need to.

"Luigi Zanasi" wrote in message
...
On Oct 12, 8:34 pm, "Bill" wrote:
snip of stuff about rub bricks"
Should I be concerned about how flat the cutting stone stays (I'm
mostly only taking off paint, grime, etc.--that is, I'm not cutting deep)?
I am probably doing things the hard way, no?

Yes. :-) I'd use a pressure washer to remove the paint & grime. Then
rub the concrete if you still need to.


Thank you for your reply Luigi.

I have never used a pressure washer, but I am surprised to hear that they
are able to remove paint from concrete (which is very porous).

I am assuming that by grinding, I am providing an epoxy covering a really
good surface to adhere to. I am also concerned about what a pressure washer
might do to my treated and untreated wallboards. A related personal issue
is
that I cannot tolerate being around fumes like ammonia (which I think
may be an ingredient in that approach).

37 years of grime from autos, a boat, welding, etc. You can probably
visualize
the picture. I covered the floor with newspapers the first day I moved in
to avoid
any of it being tracked into the house which is full of light carpet...
Even seeing
just some of the floor get cleaner tonight was satisfying (I am almost able
to see
the light at the end of the tunnel..). Up to now, it's been all talk!

Regards,
Bill

"Bill" wrote:

I have never used a pressure washer, but I am surprised to hear that
they
are able to remove paint from concrete (which is very porous).

A 5,000 PSIG washer will clean your concrete slick and claen, no soap
or cleaner req'd.

If you get careless, it will blow your drywall off the wall.

You don't want to go there.

Anything less than 3,000 PSIG is little more than a toy.

BTDT.

Lew

On Oct 12, 10:21*pm, "Lew Hodgett" wrote:
"Bill" *wrote:
I have never used a pressure washer, but I am surprised to hear that
they
are able to remove paint from concrete (which is very porous).

A 5,000 PSIG washer will clean your concrete slick and clean, no soap
or cleaner req'd.

If you get careless, it will blow your drywall off the wall.

You don't want to go there.

Anything less than 3,000 PSIG is little more than a toy.

BTDT.

IME, even the lower pressure ones work OK, they just take longer. But
go rent a good one, cover your drywall with plastic & go for it. Like
Lew said, no soap or other stuff needed, just water. And it doesn't
use all that much, so you don't need to expect a flood.

After that, Lew will direct you to what zero-emission/no-smell/
hypoallergenic epoxy you could use on the floor. :-)

Luigi

On Oct 13, 1:38*am, Luigi Zanasi wrote:

IME, even the lower pressure ones work OK, they just take longer. But
go rent a good one, cover your drywall with plastic & go for it. Like
Lew said, no soap or other stuff needed, just water. And it doesn't
use all that much, so you don't need to expect a flood.

I'd still cover the walls with plastic and tape down the edges - there
is overspray, and point the spray out the garage doors. A push broom
will help with moving the water and paint chips out the door when
necessary.

After that, Lew will direct you to what zero-emission/no-smell/
hypoallergenic epoxy you could use on the floor. :-)

Do you mean the self-applying one or the glow-in-the-dark?

R

"RicodJour" wrote in message
...
On Oct 13, 1:38 am, Luigi Zanasi wrote:

IME, even the lower pressure ones work OK, they just take longer. But
go rent a good one, cover your drywall with plastic & go for it. Like
Lew said, no soap or other stuff needed, just water. And it doesn't
use all that much, so you don't need to expect a flood.

I'd still cover the walls with plastic and tape down the edges - there
is overspray, and point the spray out the garage doors. A push broom
will help with moving the water and paint chips out the door when
necessary.

After that, Lew will direct you to what zero-emission/no-smell/
hypoallergenic epoxy you could use on the floor. :-)


Actually, I seem to be able to get away with using epoxy.
Ammonia fumes are different. I'm not sure why.

Since the floor needs some grinding over 2 or 3 long cracks (which
resemble"peaks"), and pitted areas, and old repairs, I think that's the
approach
I'm going to take. I can grind the steps and around the edges by hand
during
the cooler months, then one day with a rented power unit and that part will
be done.
Otherwise I need to spray and grind.

Related question: the garage floor extends about 1 foot outside--beyond
the garage door. I intended to apply the epoxy covering up to the point
of the door. It seems like I am likely to have trouble at that point as rain
and
snow are sure to be of some issue. Is there an easy way to make sure
it stays dry inside (I can imagine a rubber-based strip of some sort)?
I apologize for not having looked before I asked.

Bill

P.S. Finding the "rub bricks" was empowering because it allowed me to start
cleaning without renting some incovenient piece of equiptment. As a friend
of mine used to stay, "It will make you strong like bull". : )

"Bill" wrote in message
...
Related question: the garage floor extends about 1 foot outside--beyond
the garage door. I intended to apply the epoxy covering up to the point
of the door. It seems like I am likely to have trouble at that point as
rain and snow are sure to be of some issue. Is there an easy way to make
sure
it stays dry inside (I can imagine a rubber-based strip of some sort)?
I apologize for not having looked before I asked.

Bill

I double-checked and it seems that there is a piece of rubber on the bottom
of the
(electric) garage door which makes darn good contact with concrete. Even
though it's convincing, it seems like too much to expect it to be
leak-proof.
I'll keep learning about stuff, seems to be plenty of stuff to learn...

I noticed that Quikrete has an interesting book: Guide To Concrete, Plus
Masonry and Stucco
Projects. I added it on my amazon wish list. Maybe I'll pour a nice place
to stand
at the base of my deck next summer. Now, there's just 2 steps down leading
to grass.

Bill

Empirical Knowledge concerning rub brick:

It is at least 6 times easier to remove heavy paint (a type some people
paint trailer hitches with) from the driveway with a Rub Brick than it is
with a new wire brush. Not only that, the wire brush approach requires, for
proper clean-up, a strong magnet. I practically "wore out" a wire brush, and
my magnet demonstrated that those little metal strands don't sweep-up well
at all.

SWMBO arrived home to witness me performing this experiment under
atmospheric condtions of 34 degrees with very light rain and quickly drew a
erroneous conclusion concerning my mental well-being! Perhaps (but
unlikely) she may have understood better if she had any knowledge of the
fact that I had arrived home an hour earlier with a new wire brush acquired
just for the sake of this procedure/experiment..but she didn't wait around
long enough to find that out. Later questioning revealed that SWMBO could
not have even described the color of the paint on the driveway, or where, if
anyplace, we even had paint on the driveway--even though I drew adequate
attention to it more than once during recent months.... ; )

On a serious note: If you need to remove paint from a driveway--try a "rub
brick" or a wire brush! Or, use a power washer if you have one. As I
menioned in an earlier post, a rub brick can be had for as little as $9.99
and "will make you strong like bull!". My wife said one of her relatives
used to use that expression too, so it wasn't just my friend, any idea where
it came from (probably from someplace in the early 80's)?

Bill

On Oct 15, 9:28*pm, "Bill" wrote:

As I
menioned in an earlier post, a rub brick can be had for as little as $9.99
and "will make you strong like bull!". * My wife said one of her relatives
used to use that expression too, so it wasn't just my friend, any idea where
it came from (probably from someplace in the early 80's)?

From anyone who lived in a country that had cows. The phrase has been
around forever.

R

My last post had a typo..fixed below:

On a serious note: If you need to remove paint from a driveway--try a "rub
brick" NOT a wire brush!

"RicodJour" wrote in message
...
On Oct 15, 9:28 pm, "Bill" wrote:

As I
menioned in an earlier post, a rub brick can be had for as little as $9.99
and "will make you strong like bull!". My wife said one of her relatives
used to use that expression too, so it wasn't just my friend, any idea
where
it came from (probably from someplace in the early 80's)?

From anyone who lived in a country that had cows. The phrase has been
around forever.

R


My friend said it as if he were from the Soviet Union (he wasn't). But I'm
sure
they had cows there... Me, I grew up in the city--what did I know about
cows? ; )

On Oct 15, 6:55*pm, RicodJour wrote:
On Oct 15, 9:28*pm, "Bill" wrote:

As I
mentioned in an earlier post, a rub brick can be had for as little as $9.99
and "will make you strong like bull!". * My wife said one of her relatives
used to use that expression too, so it wasn't just my friend, any idea where
it came from (probably from someplace in the early 80's)?

From anyone who lived in a country that had cows. *The phrase has been
around forever.

The version I heard is said with a Russian accent: "Strong like bull,
smart like streetcar."

Luigi

On Oct 16, 1:42*pm, Luigi Zanasi wrote:
On Oct 15, 6:55*pm, RicodJour wrote:
On Oct 15, 9:28*pm, "Bill" wrote:

As I
mentioned in an earlier post, a rub brick can be had for as little as $9.99
and "will make you strong like bull!". * My wife said one of her relatives
used to use that expression too, so it wasn't just my friend, any idea where
it came from (probably from someplace in the early 80's)?

From anyone who lived in a country that had cows. *The phrase has been
around forever.

The version I heard is said with a Russian accent: "Strong like bull,
smart like streetcar."

I like that!

I've heard Italians, Spaniards, Mexicans, Portuguese, etc. say the
phrase, and that's no bull.

R

Luigi Zanasi wrote:
On Oct 15, 6:55 pm, RicodJour wrote:

On Oct 15, 9:28 pm, "Bill" wrote:


As I
mentioned in an earlier post, a rub brick can be had for as little as $9.99
and "will make you strong like bull!". My wife said one of her relatives
used to use that expression too, so it wasn't just my friend, any idea where
it came from (probably from someplace in the early 80's)?

From anyone who lived in a country that had cows. The phrase has been
around forever.


The version I heard is said with a Russian accent: "Strong like bull,
smart like streetcar."

Luigi

Supposedly the phrase originated with the character "Uncle Tonoose"
played by Hans Conreid on the Danny Thomas show "Make Room For Daddy"
back in the 1950's.

Conreid later when on to do voices of characters on "The Rocky &
Bullwinkle Show" cartoon and the phrase was used by the character "Boris
Badenoff".

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

"Dave Balderstone" wrote in message
news:161020091321378871%dave@N_O_T_T_H_I_Sbalderst one.ca...
In article
,
Luigi Zanasi wrote:

On Oct 15, 6:55 pm, RicodJour wrote:
On Oct 15, 9:28 pm, "Bill" wrote:

As I
mentioned in an earlier post, a rub brick can be had for as little as
$9.99
and "will make you strong like bull!". My wife said one of her
relatives
used to use that expression too, so it wasn't just my friend, any
idea
where
it came from (probably from someplace in the early 80's)?

From anyone who lived in a country that had cows. The phrase has been
around forever.

The version I heard is said with a Russian accent: "Strong like bull,
smart like streetcar."

Here in western Canada, it's with a Ukrainian accent, and "Strong like
bull, smart like tractor."


You can say it even better after you've pushed the rub brick around for an
hour or so.... or the equivalent, of course! It should come from way down
deep. ; )