So, what should I coat my garage floor with? Its only about 3 months old, and has yet to have a car parked on it. There are no grease stains. The epoxy coating looks neat, but I hear that it rarely holds up as well as you would want. Is it all in the prep?
Any ideas?
Joey
As with anything, proper prep pays. On 'green' concrete you'll need a good sealer. The problem people have with epoxy is the lack of a proper moisture barrier beneath the pad. talk to a couple of different paint stores-Sherwin Williams etc,- and get their input. Do some research on line too. If done right, an oil based paint will hold up well, and is not expensive. Latex garage and floor paint tends to 'lift' with warm tires, although I've had some success with Dri-Lok latex on a concrete floor.
Yes, it is all in the prep.
Epoxy applied well is great, but new concrete sucks for epoxy. The surface is "sealed" and needs to opened up, either with a chemical etch (2nd choice) or meachanical means (basically a shot blast), so the epoxy can get a bite.
As minimac mentioned, if you do not have a vapor barrier and have moisture below the concrete, it can lift the epoxy. Been there, done that, seen it, had the paper from the client confirming they had a moisture barrier, which they did not. Paint breathes better, but in a home garage, a good epoxy floor is forever.
Jack, who used to sell/install epoxy flooring and sealing systems for a large national firm.
Not sure what your budget is (i.e. what I'm about to recommend is expensive), but what about just polishing the concrete? As a kid growing up the the Air Force, the garage floors my dad worked in were polished and it was really easy to clean up and keep looking good. Plus, water on them didn't seem to be a slippery as a painted floor would be.
If you do go the paint route, make sure to put just a little sand in the paint to give it grip. I coated my floors with the cheap garage floor coating stuff at my local Home Depot. It's held up pretty well, but is slick as ice with a little water. (No, I didn't use the sand).
-Rob
I do, for sure, saw the guy laying the concrete on top of it have a moisture barrier. Should I power wash the concrete before hand, or will that force to much water down in it?
Joey
Do Not Use Latex!
I made this mistake once. After three days of obsessive prep and application, it looked fantastic, for about 10 months. Then, it slowly lifted, flake by flake for ten years. Most of the flakes ended up inside the house on my shoes. There was no option to remove it completely.
I am thankful that we no longer own that house
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