Why Concrete Dusting Happens and What You Can Do About It

Why Concrete Dusting Happens and What You Can Do About It

Most garage floors are made of concrete. Conventional wisdom (and not just from garage remodeling contractors) states that concrete, even bare, uncoated ones, are highly durable. They don’t suffer structural damage even under extreme compressive stress, high temperatures, or staining—you can simply sweep a concrete floor to remove dirt, unlike other materials such as tile, which need to be reapplied with grout when it cracks. 

While we’re on the subject of sweeping, however, you might find that even if the garage is unused, or even if you’re vacuuming your garage every day, a thin film of dust is always present on the floor. If you’ve eliminated all sources of dust and this still happens every day, it might be concrete dusting.

What Is Concrete Dusting Exactly?

You can blame how concrete is made in the first place. Concrete is made from a mixture of sand and/or gravel, water, and Portland cement. The water acts as an emulsifier, which allows these disparate materials to mix, but the same water can also be responsible for concrete dusting. When there’s too much water in the mix, cement powder and other fine particles will rise to the surface, creating dust or fine powder.

Closet renovations and garage remodeler Innovation Spaces also cite other culprits in concrete dusting, such as improper curing of the concrete or too much silt or clay in the mixture. However, the most common is excessive water.

How to Deal With Concrete Dusting

The easiest way to do it is to find a densifier (which often comes with a concrete sealing chemical) and apply it on your floor. A densifier will fill the pores in the concrete surface and create a chemical film that holds the concrete together, adding up to 40% more strength to the concrete surface.

However, a densifier/concrete sealer mix is effective only for light dusting. For heavy concrete dusting, we recommend using the epoxy coating. This creates a shiny veneer over your concrete floor, but it also “glues” the entire surface together and protects it from damage. It, however, requires prepping your garage floor by grinding it, but once applied, it’s a far safer and more permanent solution to concrete dusting.

Innovative Spaces is the area’s premier garage organization and remodeling, contractor. We also do closets for all kinds of storage needs. For more information about us—or additional tips to prevent concrete dusting for your garage—call us today at (574) 247-1999. You can also fill out our form to request a free quote.