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Cleaning the hangar floor?

txaviator

Well Known Member
Doug's post about cleaning his hangar, made me think about mine.

New hangar, 3000+ feet, and I did a really cool acid/coloration to the floor. It is a black 'marbled' type effect, acid stained, and then a clear over the top of that. It is beautiful when clean! However, the 'clean' part lasts a short amount of time. A black floor shows virtually everything.

Does anyone use a mechanical walk-behind cleaner / scrubber? I've seen the ride on Zamboni types, and they are WAY too expensive for me, and also take up a lot of storage space. Looking for a viable option, like a small walk-behind model. Something that cleans with water, and also sucks the dirty water back up. I've gone the old-fashioned way with mops, and it has tried to kill me in the process :rolleyes:

Any suggestions for a poor broke guy that just built a new home and hangar at a cool airpark?

Many thanks!
 
Walk Behind

I’ll check tomorrow the brand the local white floored Corp jet hangers use/have. If it works for white, it’ll work for black.
 
Gary,

I have a Viper Fang 20HD that I bought years ago, and consider that and the $1,400 car lift the two smartest investments I've made in my life.

You can change out the pads from 'scrub' to 'buff' in thirty seconds. It drops liquid and cleans it up all in one pass - you can add some Ph neutral floor cleaner in the water. Your shoes squeak on the floor as you walk behind it. Laying down under the plane on the floor doesn't get your clothes dirty ;^). You would be shocked at the color of the water that comes out of that thing after using it on what you thought was a pretty clean floor.

A spray bottle with a little harder cleaner rides on top to pre-treat oil drips, etc.

You're absolutely welcome to come over to the hangar sometime and try it out. Heck, I'll let you 'demo' my whole hangar floor if you want!!!! <g>. More on this unit at: https://www.nilfisk.us/products/scrubbers/walk-behind-scrubbers/fang-20hd-walk-behind-scrubbers/

I tried 100% mopping the hangar many years ago and gave in fast ;^).

On the down side, when you push your plane back in the hangar the tire tracks stand out like laser beams. I just hand mop those.

v/r,dr

FANG-20HD-Gallery1.png
 
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Doug Reeves...

I hope you are right, my friend....because my Viper Fang 20HD is bought and in route to 50F :D

(I'm almost broke now, but if it works half as good as you say, it'll be worth every penny)

Thanks again for the info!
 
We use a bucket, a bucket/squeezer thing and a mop. Works well but is a pain. Last time it took two of us maybe six hours to do the 1,900 square feet. Cheap, though.

Dave
 
Yeah, my hangar is about 3200'. Even with a drain in the floor, a giant squeegee and a giant mop, it took me hours and hours. And it still didn't look very good. Plus, my back was toast, afterwards.

This did cost a lot of cash, but I am hoping it will last me many years to come.
 
I have a Roborock S5 robot vacuum that vacuums up my 1200 sq ft shop a couple mornings a week (at 5AM). I really makes a difference and frees me from sweeping all the time. I love them. I bought a new S6 for the house and moved the S5 to the shop. Great mapping and app. If it gets low on battery, it goes back and tops off, then picks up where it left off.

It can mop, but I have some grit in the floor paint that would probably tear up the mop head in short order. Have not tried it and it is obviously not for heavy grime.

Just getting all the tracked in dirt, random shavings, on the floor, under the workbench, tools, shelves, etc. is SO cool and a big timesaver. (it also brings home the occasional lost Cleco, nuts, and washers...)
 
You're all making me jealous. I have a 60+ year old cracked concrete floor in my airplane factory. Shop vac, broom, and my shih tzu eats rocks out of the cracks in the concrete.
 
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