Does anyone have any experience with garage floor coatings. We're gonna de-grease, etch then neutralize the cement but then what do we put on the floor? Some sort of chunky epoxy?
Thanks Brian
Does anyone have any experience with garage floor coatings. We're gonna de-grease, etch then neutralize the cement but then what do we put on the floor? Some sort of chunky epoxy?
Thanks Brian
Epoxy with silica sand in it.
Lots of discussion on this topic on Garage Junkies forum. Some BS but if you can filter thru that, there's some good advice.
It also seems that GRM had an article on putting down an epoxy garage floor a few months ago.
I'd look into a concrete stain instead of paint, especially if your slab does not have a vapor barrier underneath it.
Also try the garage journal forum (www.garagejournal.com) for info. I don't even have a garage I just oogle the people's on there and dream.
I'm going with industrial-grade tile, personally. But yeah, garagejournal forum is the place to be for long discussions on this topic. You may want to reserve all of tomorrow for the reading :)
Didn't GRM do an article on that sometime ago?
I did a lot of reading at garagejournal.com. I am almost finished with my new shop, and I came to the conclusion that there was no DIY expoxy or paint that would hold up for the long haul. I put in a new concrete floor. Existing concrete is a lot tougher. A professionally done epoxy floor would have cost more than the concrete slab itself. I went with a colored concrete so any chips or scratches wouldn't show.
There a a lot of horror stories about DIY floor coatings. Be careful. It seems like a common problem is that over time the coating pulls up in the small patches where warm tires consistently sit.
If I get tired of the concrete or it starts to look bad, I'll go with tile.
My FIL does epoxy floor coatings here in Pittsburgh. When we were in Raleigh he did our garage floor and our laundry room. It was awesome. Here in our new house in Pittsburgh he did our entire downstairs garage, laundry, hallway, and half bath with a tan version. I need to snag some pictures. The difference in the DIY and his professional gear is night an day. The pro stuff is very very durable. I've spilled gas, brake fluid, and oil all over it before. It cleans right up with soap and water.
I did UCoatIt epoxy with the gloss top coat and aluminum filings for grip on my brand new garage floor 8 years ago. Cost about $400 here in Kanuckistan. No vapour barrier. It has held up great with cars parked on it every day and lots of oil/gas/brake fluid spills. Would do again. YMMV.
After cleaning the concrete thoroughly, I did a DIY application with a kit from Home Depot. Make sure you mix in the sand, otherwise that E36 M3 gets slippery. It's held up fine, about a year later, and I've spilled all sorts of crap on it.
To me, surface prep is the key. And, you know, following the directions.
Alternatively, just dump a bunch of POR 15 on the floor. That stuff seems to stick to everything.
I also did the Home Depot kit. It was a Rustoleum product. My result was less than satisfactory with tire lifting and other areas that chipped up. If I were to DIY over again with epoxy, I'd get a higher quality epoxy and rent a grinder to grind the floor. It would be a LOT of work.
I followed garagejournal, as well, which led me to having porcelain tile installed in the garage in my latest home. It was actually a bit less than a quote I got for a professional epoxy install and it is much more durable. I shopped around for some clearance tile and the labor around here is pretty low, though.
For those of you with porcelain, how slippery is it when it gets wet? I'm picturing a skating rink in our garage when it's wet out or when snow melts off the vehicles. Am I wrong?
dj06482 wrote: For those of you with porcelain, how slippery is it when it gets wet? I'm picturing a skating rink in our garage when it's wet out or when snow melts off the vehicles. Am I wrong?
Some are slicker than others. Tiles are generally rated with a coefficient of friction that tells you how slick it is. I don't remember the numbers offhand, but there are some that are outdoor rated that are less slippery when wet. Yeah, a glazed porcelain tile with no texture will be like ice if it gets wet. The style I have is heavily textured so no worries.
The Rustoleum product has worked great for me. An excellent value. The floor was virgin, however. If you've got an old floor and you don't prep the hell out of it, no coating will last.
Very costly, but a friend with a commercial shop moved into a new space with a crappy floor. He hired a guy who nailed metal lath to the old floor, floated in a couple inches of high-strength concrete, then once it had cured did an epoxy job. It's perfect. You could eat off that floor.
I have the homedepot kit as well. Its been down since mid summer. My floor was very porous, it took a whole week for the floor to pass the plastic bag test after cleaning it. Its a 24x24 garage and we used the kit for that size. Didnt end of glossy and you can still see/feel the fiberglass strands in the concrete. But since the concrete was so god damn porous I dont think its ever going to peel up. I didnt mix the sand in, just used their chips on the surface.
For reference: the plastic bag test, you tape a plastic bag over the concrete in an area and check it for condensation each morning. Change the bag out if there's condensation on it and move it over one spot. You cannot paint the floor if there's condensation on the bag or the paint/epoxy will just flake right off.
I recently got a quote of $3.50/sf to polish the concrete using a commercial grinder. I think I'll do that if I close on the new house. It's a bit more than DIY epoxy but not as much as tile.
I got my porcelain tile done for about $3.25 sq ft. But as I said, that was hunting down some clearance tile for $0.99 per square foot and getting a labor rate of about $2.00 sq. ft. through the tile store, which may not be possible in other parts of the country.
I was quoted $3.65 per sq. ft. for professionally installed epoxy by my homebuilder. Local independents also quoted a basic epoxy install for about that.
My garage floor had a couple of cracks and qute a few stains. It also has a pretty rough broom finish. I didn't have the budget or want to invest the time in grinding the floor smooth repairing cracks I wasn't sure would stay repaired and applying a epoxy floor I was sure would get scratched up. What I did want was a floor that would not absorb fluids and be easy to sweep.
I ended up pressure washing the floor and did a muratic acid etch. I was heavy enough on the muratic acid that the concrete fizzed quite a bit. I then rinsed the floor very well and let it dry for a couple hot summer days with no foot traffic. I coated the floor with Behr Concrete Sealer (Home Depot) mixed with Behr Concret Floor Paint (light tan) at a ratio of 1/2 gallon paint to 1 gallon sealer. I premixed everything with enough for 2 coats and the amount left over was rolled on heavy use areas. The paint added enough tint to cover the remaining stains.
Its been down for 7 or 8 years now and still looks good and has been durable. I have not had any adhesion problems. I use this area as a shop so not sure as to how hot tires might effect it. The paint/sealer did reduce the roughness some but it is still pretty rough. When I finish the project I have been working on I plan to remove everything from the shop and try pressure washing the floor to get it real clean again. That will probably be the test for adhesion. This may not be for everyone but it was very inexpensive to do and has served me well
I used Rustoleum epoxy -- for industrial applications. Put it down in our new house/garage with minimal prep and so far it has lasted almost 15 years. After 15 years it is starting to show it's age, but none of it is lifting anywhere. It is showing scratches from the road base the tires bring in from the driveway, and where the battery in my S-10 overheated and let go some of its juicy goodness, well, that left a mark.
Only problem I have now is what to do next! New epoxies all say to remove the old epoxy.....well, that is going to be harsh as I laid down the current stuff a little heavy -- lots of dust will be made if I have to grind off 900 SF of epoxy to get down to concrete. That alone has me thinking about going with porcelain or VCT.
dculberson wrote: I recently got a quote of $3.50/sf to polish the concrete using a commercial grinder. I think I'll do that if I close on the new house. It's a bit more than DIY epoxy but not as much as tile.
I've got polished concrete. I love it. It was probably done 37 years ago when the house was built. Easy to clean, smooth for a creeper, no worries about durability.
I'm going with the race deck type tiles. Found a pile of them locally for a good deal. My garage slab is over 30 years old, no way I'd use one of the DIY coatings on it, it would fail rapidly. Quotes from the pros for my garage to epoxy it were $2500. Ouch....
Rustolium here too. 4 years ago and still looks good. It is peeling in 2 spots......COMPLETELY MY FAULT....... Moving into new house and I only had a small amount of time to do the coating, parked the race car in the garage and it peeled a perfect starspec tread pattern from the front tires. Otherwise it's been great. I may do another coat on the main slab in the garage to cover te peeled spots.
Basil Exposition wrote:dj06482 wrote: For those of you with porcelain, how slippery is it when it gets wet? I'm picturing a skating rink in our garage when it's wet out or when snow melts off the vehicles. Am I wrong?Some are slicker than others. Tiles are generally rated with a coefficient of friction that tells you how slick it is. I don't remember the numbers offhand, but there are some that are outdoor rated that are less slippery when wet. Yeah, a glazed porcelain tile with no texture will be like ice if it gets wet. The style I have is heavily textured so no worries.
Thank you, that was just the info I was looking for!
I did mine last year, was pretty easy but I had brand new concrete to work with. If you live in florida there is a company called Scott paint that has inexpensive epoxy.
Oh and keep in mind if you use the flakes on the floor it could make it very hard to find dropped screws that is why I chose to do a solid color.
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