Hi all - our 3rd bedroom is on the ground level of our townhome. I want to turn this bedroom into a gear storage room because my wife and I spend a ton of time hiking, biking, and skiing and our garage is tiny. I also bike to work almost daily in a wet climate. Our home was built in 2007. It's a townhome where the lower level is garage, 3rd bedroom with sliding glass door to the backyard, and foyer. Here's a link to useful photos: [url]https://goo.gl/photos/WFTZy3q4aXuE6WQ18[/url] I have a vision of a really nice concrete floor but 1) want to do it myself and 2) have never done this before. I am open to a floating laminate or vinyl floor as a backup option. I know the key to painting/staining concrete is surface prep. So I pulled up the carpet to see what we are dealing with. Turns out there's plenty of carpet glue and tack strip popouts and there's a big crack parallel to the sliding glass door. There is also a white paint/primer/sealer that I am too ignorant to identify - help! What is this layer of whitey-ness? At this point, I realize if I want a concrete floor I need to do a moisture test and I also need to either/both strip the white paint/primer and/or add a microtopping/skimcoat before painting or staining. Ok so here are my questions: 0. What should I do? Is finishing the concrete realistic? Should I give up the idea of a nicely finished concrete floor for my gear storage room and go with a floating lam/vinyl? 1. What is the white paint-ish substance? Should I remove it or top over it? Why is it thicker along the tacstrips? 2. What about surface-cleaning (specifically using chemical to remove the glue then filling cracks and holes and cleaning with a wet-dry vac) then adding a micro-topping/skimcoat then dying/staining? 3. If I don't use a topping, is it possible to strip both the white paint/primer/seal and also the blue "carpet" tag and other blemishes? 4.That huge long crack along the sliding glass door - fill it, obviously... anything else? 5. What to do about the tack strip popouts? Thank you

Hi All, the title may sound a little odd, but I have a need for a one-time use sprayer to apply a solvent-based concrete sealer to my concrete paver-stone driveway. The company that recently did some repair work on it said they use the standard garden-type pump sprayer, and usually get a few uses out of them, so I'm considering doing the same thing. I plan on only applying one coat and should be able to do the whole thing in a few hours. The manufacturer recommends a sprayer followed up with a foam roller to apply the sealant, but chemical-resistant ones cost a fortune. The sealant I'm going to be working with is this: [url=http://www.techniseal.com/en-CA/homeowner/products/pavers/sealant-concrete-pavers-wl-1-2-wet-look-gloss-finish]Concrete Paver Acrylic Sealant Gloss Finish| Techniseal[/url] Any advice is greatly appreciated. John