Review on 🛠️ Efficient Concrete Surface Restoration with BLUE BEAR 500MR Mastic Remover in Gallon Size by Dana Mahendra

I (surely) removed old asbestos tile in the basement and used it to get rid of the black putty underneath. The product is really effective at softening the fondant and making it removable which is why I give it so much. but the process becomes a nightmare if you don't have perfectly smooth and durable concrete underneath. TL; DR: This is an oil-based product that penetrates concrete and essentially contaminates it, preventing other coatings (including self-cleaning leveling substrates) from properly adhering to it. It's easy to apply but difficult to clean and has a lingering odor once it's absorbed into the base. By applying this product, I essentially created an oil spill in my 178 square foot basement room that was terribly difficult to clean up. I ended up using cat litter — every 80 pounds I could get at my local grocery store (sorry, cat owner neighbors) — to soak up as much of the mastic remover as possible. In the process I messed up two pairs of sneakers, a couple of scrapers, mops, brushes, mops, drywall, the floor itself. and my spirit. It took me two weeks to complete the initial cleaning, and was left with areas where the mastic had recoagulated into a tar-like mass that I couldn't remove with a razor scraper no matter how hard I tried (and oh I did tried only worked when I took it concretely). After most of the oily mess was cleaned up, I spent another week pouring gallons of industrial degreaser and repeatedly pouring concrete with a garden hose until the floor was as clean as I could get. My original plan was to use epoxy floor paint on the concrete leaving indentations and rough edges as this space would be my studio. Once the floor was as clean as possible, I painted a test patch. After complete drying, the paint was rubbed with light pressure. Plan B - Let's try the primer. I have decided on a very expensive special product that is supposed to work well in these situations. I applied one coat of $$$ primer and two coats of paint, it takes a few days to cure and the paint still scratches in places. I can see where the mastic remover is still seeping out of the concrete and showing through the paint on some of the rougher spots. Today I start with plan C - to lay the vinyl floors myself. And best of all, the room still smells of rancid oil! I really messed up using this product. I had to make self-leveling concrete or primer directly on top of the mastic. In my situation, that really wasn't the right solution.