Floor striping is a must for maintaining a safe and orderly warehouse environment. This is a top solution for marking hazardous areas or directing floor traffic. Floor striping can also reinforce 5S strategies to achieve a lean warehouse. These days, however, warehouse needs change on a regular basis meaning floor marking strategies must be highly adaptable.
At times, floor markings will need to be adjusted to accommodate evolving layouts. It’s also common for businesses to purchase warehouse spaces that have old striping that needs to be eliminated to make room for new striping. Whatever the striping removal reason may be, you will want to have a solid strategy in place — one that streamlines marking paint or tape removal without damaging concrete surfaces or compromising worker safety.
Each floor striping removal strategy has its own set of advantages and challenges. To bring clarity to this process, we’ve outlined the essentials: how to know when certain paint removal strategies are preferable and how to proceed.
How to Remove Striping Paint From Concrete
This can be a large project for businesses depending on the size of the warehouse and how the striping was applied. The ‘ideal’ solution will largely depend on budget, the amount of space, the type of paint or tape used, and the eventual need to re-stripe. When in doubt, these strategies should take care of unwanted striping paint:
Paint Stripper
Also known as paint remover, paint stripper can chemically eliminate old paints and finishes to reveal the original surface. These solvents work on many surfaces and are generally easy to use and easy to apply. A pressure washer and protective gear should be used to handle chemical paint removal safely and effectively.
Pros and Cons
Preferred for small projects or a small budget, paint stripper is a solid choice in a pinch, although it may fall short of ideal for sizable painted surfaces.
Pros:
- Simply put, this product gets the job done. This is a reliable option for removing paint from concrete.
- Paint stripper can be affordable, especially compared to solutions such as diamond grinding.
Cons
- By far the greatest downside is that the chemicals can be highly hazardous and safety precautions must be used. Common chemicals such as acetone are not only flammable, but can also cause dangerous side effects when workers are excessively exposed.
- Paint stripper is best left to small projects that cannot be sufficiently addressed with scraping. For more extensive tasks, however, shot blasting and diamond grinding will still prove preferable.
Paint Scraping
Offering a manual and often safer alternative to chemical paint removers, paint scrapers are easy to use: they simply run over the painted areas where removal is desired and scrape off the existing paint. Many people use small scrapers for household tasks, but larger, industrial versions may be preferable in the warehouse environment.
Pros and Cons
Paint scrapers are ideal for smaller DIY jobs, especially when chemical paint strippers, shot blasters, and diamond grinders are too complex or difficult to use. This approach is also preferred when there are no immediate plans for repainting.
Pros
- Paint scraping is one of the most affordable approaches to removing paint from concrete and will definitely cost less than shot blasting or concrete grinding.
- This process is a lot quieter than strategies involving power tools, even when industrial scrapers are required.
- Paint scraping is sometimes the only viable option in small, cramped spaces such as tight corners.
- Minimal training or prep work will be needed to remove old paint via scraping.
Cons
- Paint scrapers will certainly get unwanted paint off concrete, but this process can be time-consuming and it will not be enough to prepare for repainting.
- Depending on the surface or the situation, they may be minimally effective. If scraping doesn’t work after a test run, other strategies from this guide may prove necessary.
- When cracks appear in the surface of the concrete floor, paint may be difficult to remove via industrial or even manual scrapers.
Floor Shot Blasting
A common resurfacing strategy, shot blasting is similar to sandblasting in many respects but involves metal pellets or beads. These are shot at the floor as the blast wheel spins, with the high velocity chipping away the paint to expose the surface beneath.
Pros and Cons
Shot blasting can be an excellent strategy for large projects, especially if scraping doesn’t get the job done. Cleanup requirements are modest and there is no need to use toxic chemicals.
Pros
- Shot blasting can be surprisingly affordable, especially for larger projects. This is definitely a more cost-effective solution than diamond grinding.
- The shot blasting process doesn’t take long, so less time is required as compared to diamond grinding.
- This is an effective and reliable strategy for removing paint without leaving considerable debris.
Cons
- In some situations, shot blasting results in distinguishable blast lines (often referred to as tiger stripes). This is, by nature, a more aggressive approach to removing paint and can be difficult to dial back.
- Given the sheer size of shot blasting machines, this approach does not work well for removing paint in cramped spaces.
Diamond Grinding
As a high-level concrete restoration technique, diamond grinding promises to correct issues such as pits or divots while also providing an opportunity to remove unwanted paint. This process draws on the power of rotating discs with diamond-tipped blades. As these spin, they clean and level the surfaces on which they’re used.
Pros and Cons
If repainting is required, diamond grinding is by far the most reliable solution since it was purposefully developed to prepare surfaces for new coatings. It is precise and, while this increases the cost, could be the epitome of “you get what you pay for.”
Pros
- Diamond grinding gets the job done. Simply put, this is the most effective strategy not only for completely removing paint but also for delivering a smooth surface and even flooring.
- Although it’s more expensive, diamond grinding may be a longer-lasting solution. Once treated via grinding, targeted surfaces will remain smooth far into the future.
Cons
- This is by far the most expensive approach to removing paint striping. It may be more time-consuming than shot blasting.
- Like shot blasting, diamond grinding is not ideal for tackling small or cramped spaces.
How to Remove Floor Tape From Concrete
Floor tape offers many advantages, both in terms of application and removal in a warehouse environment. This is a more flexible strategy than paint, as it takes little skill to apply tape and, in most situations, it can be removed just as easily. Still, some residue is likely and, chances are, two of the most common paint removal strategies will also come into play when removing floor tape:
- Scrapers. Hand scrapers are acceptable in tight spaces or when residue is minimal, but many situations will call for industrial scrapers. Either way, the approach is similar: manually use the scraper to remove residue and use a preferred cleaning strategy to address the debris.
- Grinders or buffers. The need for diamond grinders will largely depend on the quality of the floor, but this extra step can provide reassurance — once completed, all adhesive will definitely be removed and the floor will be even. Shot blasting generally doesn’t work for urethane coatings or for adhesives, unfortunately.
Take Care of Your Floor Striping Needs with DASKO
As you prepare to remove existing floor striping tape or paint from your concrete warehouse floors, contact DASKO for the knowledge and experience to make your project a success. Keep in mind you will also want to have a strategy in mind for future floor striping and markings. The experts at DASKO are here to guide you every step of the way, revealing which products or strategies will deliver the best solutions for your facility and operations.
Reach out today to learn more about our floor striping solutions.
