Epoxy coating for garage floors

[jaime]

Hi all.. I want to get my home's garage coated with epoxy. The commercial floor coatings, Proseal Concrete Floor is near to our place. We are thinking to get it done by them. Before that I would like to know, how much good is the epoxy coating for floors? Is there any bad effects for it? Some of my friends told that there is no need to have an epoxy distributor for the purpose. It can do it by ourselves. Is that true? If so how can we do epoxy floor coating on the floor? Please give me reply

 

[Mantilgh]

There was a tread about floor coatings a while back. From what I remember I think they said cleaning and prep are extremely important and you may want to look into staining and sealing. I've seen many flaking garage floors that I believe we're epoxy coated.

I'm sure someone here will give you some good info.

 

[GSKR]

Rustoleom makes a good product stay away from behr garage.They have had a lot of complaints in the epoxy sector.Honestly I would go with H&C xylene based coating its 23.99 a gallon at Home Depot .Get plenty of shark grip and a low gloss sealer xylene as well. Dilututed muriatic acid etches the concrete for good adhesion.sweep the acid into the concrete and rinse.Its better to use a pressure washer while etching.curing time could be up to a week,stuff really smells so protect yourself .

 

[TTQ B4U]

quick opinion is that either get the industrial coatings you see at car dealers or retail stores and and restaurants, etc. and pay extra for it or go DIY raised tiles. I've seen countless DIY Lowes or Home Depot versions peal up even when etched and prepped properly. The really good quality industrial ones like I mentioned last forever and are worth the extra costs incurred.

 

[GSKR]

H&C is a professional line I seem to think Home Depot deosnt carry it anymore.I think Sherwin Williams bought them out.any knowledgeable professional will tell you xylene base coatings are really durable.any other non xylene based coating are junk and will lift and peel.I have a lot of experience using this line.Trust me it's good as long as you do a complete prep the right way.If you are using xylene for your base,you have to stick with xylene sealer.you can't mix and match.stay away from water soluble products there junk.

 

[GSKR]

quick opinion is that either get the industrial coatings you see at car dealers or retail stores and and restaurants, etc. and pay extra for it or go DIY raised tiles. I've seen countless DIY Lowes or Home Depot versions peal up even when etched and prepped properly. The really good quality industrial ones like I mentioned last forever and are worth the extra costs incurred.

Behr paints were sued from lifting coatings .

 

[cyclops]

Can not emphasize how important prep work is, remove all oils and etching the concrete. Have to agree with pdqgp, go with industrial coatings are worth the extra money, this is something you do not want to do a second time.
Do as much research as possible, check out garagejournal.com tons of people sharing info.
Last take a look at tiles such as race deck, not for everyone but another option and EZ to install.

 

[yg1829]

There is a product called Rust Bullet that looks interesting to me. I saw it on the garage journal forum. I haven't done much research on it yet but it's supposed to be better than epoxy. It's a DIY product. No harsh chemicals to prep the floor and you can even install it in cold Temps. I think I figured around $500 or so for a 24x24 floor.

 

[GSKR]

There is a product called Rust Bullet that looks interesting to me. I saw it on the garage journal forum. I haven't done much research on it yet but it's supposed to be better than epoxy. It's a DIY product. No harsh chemicals to prep the floor and you can even install it in cold Temps. I think I figured around $500 or so for a 24x24 floor.

sounds promising as a quality product and quite expensive.But that's ok if it holds up.Its still a xylene product which is good,but would like to know more about it.site really deosnt really go into the formulation info.How ever it states if you get it on your skin it will take a week to remove it.application is quite labor intensive,lay your first coat then sand with 150 grit and apply the 2nd coat.all in all sounds like a durable product ,but for 500.00 I need to see user reviews.Theres only one negative review on it.But it was a spraying application promblem not the product itself.Good info on product thanks .

 

[lane5515]

I did my garage floor 6 years ago with Rust Oleum Epoxy Shield Professional garage floor coating and the Premium Clear Coating on top. I have a 36' wide X 28' deep garage and completed the project for around $800.

I haven't had a single issue but like several others have mentioned, prep work is the key. I rented an orbital floor scrubber and used it to degrease and also to work the acid etching into the concrete. I've coated 3 garages with this stuff and they all look good several years later.

 

[RaskyR1]

The Garage Journal has tons of threads on this and several forum sponsors willing to sell you kits, some at a discount for being GJ members. The one thing they will all agree on is prep is the single most important thing, so don't skimp on that. I would stay away from the box store kits IMO.

I'm about to epoxy the floor on my new garage addition now and I just paid a company $900 to come out last Friday and diamond grind my floors (1200 sq ft). Even though it was brand new with no sealer or stains, it was still recommended that they be grinded. I chose to do the epoxy myself and with a tight budget I will be going with a high solids commercial epoxy from Sherwin Williams and a HS urethane coating over the top. Prices will vary from store to store so call around for the best deal.

I did also talk with Greg Weiner from Armorpoxy as they are one of the sponsors from the GJ forum. Their prices with the GJ discount were very good and they will ship you full kits with EVERYTHING you need to do the job. Unfortunately my project is way over budget already and the SW stuff was the more affordable route.

Hope this helps. I'll post pics of mine when I get done.

Rasky

 

[Audios S6]

What you'll find with any of the floor coatings is there has to be a compromise between slip resistance and ease of cleaning. The grit used to add texture and prevent falls when wet also makes it difficult to clean. So it's important to consider how often your floor will be wet (if you are washing inside perhaps) and how clean you want to keep it.

An alternative to epoxy is polyurea. This is typically a 2-part, spray applied coating. When I've used it in industrial applications it is hardened and traffic-ready within a few minutes (literally), which is a big advantage over epoxy cure times. It's also very chemical resistance. The disadvantage is you need a good installer that knows how to property apply a uniform film thickness. Under application will result in thin spots and the grit may pop out. Over application will result is something similar to solvent pop and you will have some ugly spots. Older and cheaper technology was not very UV resistant and the color would change and material would fail over time. Newer formulation have resolved that issue. The other advantage is you can easily blend and touch-up areas as necessary.

 

[Celticsfan]

My dad does the floors for a living, as everyone has said prep work is key, he uses those diamond blade grinders as mentioned earlier to remove anything from the surface such as the sealants and clears, it's amazing how some of the floors come out. I'd probably spend the money to do it right than to have to redo them.

https://www.facebook.com/CT-Epoxy-Floor-Systems-198532883493230/

He has a bunch of pics on his page, the marble look is amazing. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[GSKR]

The Garage Journal has tons of threads on this and several forum sponsors willing to sell you kits, some at a discount for being GJ members. The one thing they will all agree on is prep is the single most important thing, so don't skimp on that. I would stay away from the box store kits IMO.

I'm about to epoxy the floor on my new garage addition now and I just paid a company $900 to come out last Friday and diamond grind my floors (1200 sq ft). Even though it was brand new with no sealer or stains, it was still recommended that they be grinded. I chose to do the epoxy myself and with a tight budget I will be going with a high solids commercial epoxy from Sherwin Williams and a HS urethane coating over the top. Prices will vary from store to store so call around for the best deal.

I did also talk with Greg Weiner from Armorpoxy as they are one of the sponsors from the GJ forum. Their prices with the GJ discount were very good and they will ship you full kits with EVERYTHING you need to do the job. Unfortunately my project is way over budget already and the SW stuff was the more affordable route.

Hope this helps. I'll post pics of mine when I get done.

Rasky

Grinding is really the way to go as far as the ultimate adhesion.I spent 30k on concrete overlay stamped concrete with acid stain colors.I did all the grinding my self with a rotary,and now some of its lifting alittle because I didn't grind it enough.so this will be a repair this summer.sherwin Williams infinity top coat is quality product.

 

[RaskyR1]

What you'll find with any of the floor coatings is there has to be a compromise between slip resistance and ease of cleaning. The grit used to add texture and prevent falls when wet also makes it difficult to clean. So it's important to consider how often your floor will be wet (if you are washing inside perhaps) and how clean you want to keep it.

An alternative to epoxy is polyurea. This is typically a 2-part, spray applied coating. When I've used it in industrial applications it is hardened and traffic-ready within a few minutes (literally), which is a big advantage over epoxy cure times. It's also very chemical resistance. The disadvantage is you need a good installer that knows how to property apply a uniform film thickness. Under application will result in thin spots and the grit may pop out. Over application will result is something similar to solvent pop and you will have some ugly spots. Older and cheaper technology was not very UV resistant and the color would change and material would fail over time. Newer formulation have resolved that issue. The other advantage is you can easily blend and touch-up areas as necessary.

I've decided to not add the anti skid for the cleaning purposes you mention and instead will lay down some large industrial floor matts when needed since my wife has a hook up on them.

Grinding is really the way to go as far as the ultimate adhesion.I spent 30k on concrete overlay stamped concrete with acid stain colors.I did all the grinding my self with a rotary,and now some of its lifting alittle because I didn't grind it enough.so this will be a repair this summer.sherwin Williams infinity top coat is quality product.

I was going to rent a machine and do it myself but it still would have been $200+, it would have likely taken the whole day if not more, results likely wouldn't have been near as good, and the equipment I could rent locally was nothing compared to the large propane powered machine and 3 motor vacuum these guys used. $900 was went spent IMO to have a pro do it.

 

[GSKR]

I've decided to not add the anti skid for the cleaning purposes you mention and instead will lay down some large industrial floor matts when needed since my wife has a hook up on them.



I was going to rent a machine and do it myself but it still would have been $200+, it would have likely taken the whole day if not more, results likely wouldn't have been near as good, and the equipment I could rent locally was nothing compared to the large propane powered machine and 3 motor vacuum these guys used. $900 was went spent IMO to have a pro do it.

Doing it myself was very back breaking work.This was done in my pool enclosure and was very messy and I didn't cover the pool.as I was grinding away the sediment was thin on top of the water,and eventually screwed up my pool filter which ran me about 400.00 and 200.00 for the concrete grinding blades and all the clean up.so sometimes it's just worth hiring someone else to do it.But I eventually won,they wanted 3k for grinding.

 

[GSKR]

I've decided to not add the anti skid for the cleaning purposes you mention and instead will lay down some large industrial floor matts when needed since my wife has a hook up on them.



I was going to rent a machine and do it myself but it still would have been $200+, it would have likely taken the whole day if not more, results likely wouldn't have been near as good, and the equipment I could rent locally was nothing compared to the large propane powered machine and 3 motor vacuum these guys used. $900 was went spent IMO to have a pro do it.

after the pool disaster,I had my driveway redone and I let them grind it with the propane machine,pretty cool.