LOL. “Real mechanics” aren’t working on cars in storage units. People who will work on cars in storage units will not be cleaning them. They will leave a mess behind.
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How many people do you know who have worked on their vehicle in a storage unit?
Tester
I wouldn’t leave a mess behind but for $200/month, I expect the storage staff to clean up spills and sweep the floor before renting the unit to the next customer.
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Zero. But that was the issue in this thread.
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Real DIY people know how to proactively put cardboard down to soak up any leaks 
I wonder if a one month $200 deposit is enough to clean the storage unit if the renter doesn’t do it when they leave.
Or…they get their garage floor epoxy coated. Did mine a year ago. Wish I had done it sooner (MUCH SOONER). Some high-end home builders around here are doing it. But these homes start at $2 million.
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Oil dry by itself, once the big mess is cleaned up, (clean oil dry) can be put back down and used to scrub the floor, think of it as sliding around on the floor but with oil dry under you feet, sometimes using a block of wood to scrub the floor with oil dry works too, then there are the paint thinners and such that mechanics have around and or gas cleans pretty good, just don’t let it sit for a long time without cleaning your mess up…
If you really wanted to do something, do as Mike mentioned and epoxy coat the floor… lol
But I would think that a rental place would have all the chemicals to clean up whatever mess the last renter left behind…
Yes I have a 30 gallon trash can that I put the used but still usable oil dry in, can be used over and over again sometimes…
I can understand how rental places want nothing to do with having to clean up after messy amateur mechanics.
The main reason they don’t allow it around here is SAFETY concerns.
My comment was directed at the guys doing work in storage units. I would love to do my home garages but that kind of improvement keeps getting kicked down the list. The attached garage floor is dangerous now. It is smooth and not broom swept finish so it is an ice rink with wet shoes. Almost broke my neck a few times coming in with wet shoes. Did you do it yourself?
Have you looked into the floor tiles that snap together ? Videos show that they are not that difficult to install. I would do that myself but we are going to sell this home soon.
I looked into them. I talked to several people about them. If you do your own oil changes and any spills, the oil WILL seep to the concrete underneath. Several of the epoxy companies offered tile alternative also.
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A couple years ago the guy down the street was having his garage done so I asked the guy to look at mine. Too late in the year, product price changes etc. and he couldn’t even give me an estimate let alone bid. They DIY stuff is a lot of work and seems to peal. So I just kinda lost interest.
Then I thought the pvc tiles would be the way to go. It remains on the back burner at this point.
What did you at your contractor use to clean the floor before the epoxy was poured?
I was looking at various professional places’ web sites that describe their process. Many actually grind away at the existing surface to remove some stains and to give the surface tooth for the epoxy to bond with. They fill cracks and then they apply specialty primers before applying the epoxy itself.
They had to grind the floor with an industrial floor grinder. That’s the only way to get all the oil stains and other stains off the floor.
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I suspect if a storage unit caught fire due to someone working on their vehicle, insurance wouldn’t cover it.
As for cleaning floors, I still use an approach I learned in the dealership when we’d clean the floors every Friday afternoon.
- First splash gasoline over the heavily soiled areas, and scrub those areas with a floor broom.
- Wet the whole floor with water, and splash a strong detergent across the floor.
- Scrub again with the floor broom.
- Rinse, and squeegee the floor.
That approach worked well.
Are you saying the dealership allowed you to wash the floor down with gasoline and then let it go down the drain?
Tester
I don’t think that was that unusual in years gone by. In 1986 I was a high school kid working at the corner Chevron station. Sunday nights when cleaning the shop I would spread a gallon of solvent over the floors and scrub them down, followed by a course of floor soap, all going down the drains. The owner loved it.
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