Epoxy Floors?

[Gravy]

Just bought a house and I was considering doing an exopy coating on the garage floor.

Thoughts?

What brands are good? Who has done it?

I was pretty sold on the idea until my neighbor said weld/ cutting slag will put burn holes in it... what says RME?

Thanks.

 

[Slangy]

When we moved into our house the floors were brand new so I knew it would be the perfect time to put some epoxy down. I went a cheap route and did the Rust-Oleum epoxy shield from Lowes. It is tan with brown flakes. I love it, I have spilled tons of stuff on it and no problems. I have scratched it by pulling large things of metal along the floor but it never penetrated all the way to the concrete. I love it, I will never have a garage floor without it. You can see the color I used here.

 

[skippy]

My dad did his garage floor in the same stuff. As soon as I find some time where I can clear out my garage I am going to do this for sure

 

[anderson750]

I did my floor and it is great for clean up. You are correct on your concerns for welding and cutting. It will burn the paint.

 

[bschroeder]

You could go epoxy or you can go stained concrete that is etched into existing concrete. It wont scratch or burn off welding

 

[I Lean]

I did epoxy in my shop, I went with some fairly expensive stuff hoping it will last forever. Got Armor Poxy from Armor Garage--it's a two-coat deal, a two part epoxy for the base, and a two-part urethane topcoat. It's been on about 8 months now, and I still love it. So far it's really durable, the only chips I have are things that actually chipped the concrete underneath, so I lost a little chunk. (which still has the epoxy bonded to it) 100% my fault every time.

It will burn, so I try to be careful that way. It's WONDERFUL when some oil or something gets spilled on it though.

 

[Gravy]

What other brands have you guys used? Who has had theirs done a few years?

 

[lewis]

I used the rustoleum and even put the clear on top. So far not so good. I can scratch the stuff off easily.
Edit: looks like the stuff I used was quikcrete from lowes. I used the rustoleum on my MIL garage and it looks better. I may end up grinding mine off and doing it over I hate that bad.

 

[Caleb]

I'll have to verify the brand I used but I think it was Rustoleum from Lowes. I've had it five (almost six) years now and it still looks fantastic. Every spring I empty my garage and power wash the entire thing and it looks brand new when I'm done. I will say that the longevity of whatever you use will be determined by the prep you put in to it before hand. I used the acid etching stuff (muraic acid or something like that) and I had my builder leave my garage floor a broom finish. I used three cans for my three car garage and have been super happy with it. If I were to do it again, I'd would probably do the same stuff again given that I was only into it ~$300 and it's lasted as well as it has. The only places I'm getting any chipping is right at the front of my garage, about 2" of the painted floor is outside the garage, so that 2" of painted floor gets shoveled, snow blow(ed?), and exposed to all the elements and I am seeing a little bit of flaking there, other than that it looks almost brand new.

Any painted floor (wether it's super expensive epoxy or the DIY HD/Lowes stuff) will melt if you weld on it...however, it's not like it instantly melts. I've used my chop saw, grinder, etc without any issues at all.

 

[DAA]

I used the Rustoleum on the floor of my reloading room. Not as heavy duty an application as a garage floor, but I've been happy with it and wish I'd have done my garage floor back at the same time when it was new.

Ditto on the prep though. I think that's the real key to a durable application. And I think prep on a USED garage floor would be a major PITA, which is why I'll probably never get around to doing my garage with it now.

- DAA

 

[Max Power]

I have a lot of experience with paint coatings from years of experience in the industry. The Rustoleum that you can buy in the big box stores now is not the same stuff that you would have bought a few years ago. Rustoleum has switched from using solvent based floor coatings to water based. They did this because of ease of application. While the water based products are easier to put down they do not last half as long or even less based on the amount of prep work prior to installation. I would reccomend the Rustoleum profession floor coating that you can special order at the pro-desk at both The home Depot and Lowes. This is a true oil or solvent based product that is the real deal. It is rated for high traffic areas and fork lifts. The price difference is around $65 per kit for the water based product that covers 200-250 square feet and $99-110 per kit for the oil based product that covers 300-400 square feet.

There are other good products out there other than Rustoleum and they can be found at most paint stores. I would reccomend going with a true oil based product and don't let a salesman talk you into anything else.

As for prepwork I would reccomend first treating any oil spots with a good concrete degreaser or my favorite Industrial Purple made by Zep sold at THD. I would then use a good concrete etcher such as sulfamic or muriatic acid on the concrete. Be careful to fallow label instructions so that you don't damage your concrete by over etching. Most etching products should not sit on your concrete for more than 10-15 minutes and should not be allowed to dry on the surface. After rinsing the acid off your concrete let it dry and then rub your finger on the concrete. If there is a white residue on your finger you will want to rinse it one more time to remove the effervescence left behind.

As for dry times of the actual epoxy, some manufacturers will say that you can dive on their product after 3 days. I would reccomend waiting a week before submitting your epoxied floor to automobile traffic. Most products are fine to walk on in 1-3 days. I would always wait till your floor coating has zero tack to it beore walking on.

If you decide to add decorative color chips to your epoxy while it is wet I would always reccomend putting a little in your hand at a time and throwing them up into the air and letting them broadcast onto the floor. A lot of people try to sprinkle them from their hand and let them fall directly to the floor. This type of application typically relults in an uneven application and will look like someone didn't know what they were doing. Most color chips do not add a non skid layer to your floor and this is a common misconception.

I hope these few tips help.

 

[Caleb]

Good info, the Rustoleum stuff I used 5-6 years ago was surely oil based...maybe that's why it's lasted so well. It was also ~$100 per kit, I had to buy three kits for my garage.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I've got the Rustoleum professional stuff on my shop floor, I've been really happy with it. It does burn from weld splatter but it cleans up nice and has held up great to my needs.

 

[Gravy]

Great info! Thanks guys. Rust-oleum pro stuff sounds like the way to go

 

[XJEEPER]

When I was painting commercially, I used Sherwin Williams Tile-Clad 2 component oil base epoxy. Never had a call back to fix a peeling floor. I used it in shipping and warehouses, wash bays, shop floors, garages with great results.

 

[Gravy]

Thanks Jeff.

Today, I ordered Rustoleum Professional epoxy shield solvent based. And some muriatic acid etcher. Lead time is about a week.
I'll take some pics.
We'll see how well it holds up

 

[Gravy]

The stuff finally showed up at Lowes Wednesday. I hope the rain stops long enough to drag everything outside and etch and prep the concrete.

Also I found out with all this rain I need to reshingle one side of the garage...

 

[Gravy]

Ok, here we go.

I'll also spent the time to fill in all the cracks and chips in my concrete with quick-crete vinyl concrete patcher.

before.

Degreased, etched, scrubbed, pressure washed, cleaned, eteched again (muriatic acid aka hydrocloric acid), scrubbed) washed again.
I'd guess between 3 people we put 12 hours of prep into it. (but my concrete is quite old).

After:

Looks really really good.
I've given it 4 days to dry. I'll probably wait a few more until the heavy stuff goes back in.

I ended up only using 1 1/3 kits the other 2/3rds cured faster than I could find a place to use it (pot life on this stuff is only 3-4 hours).

But I'm super impressed with how hard it already is. I think I'll be very very happy with it.

 

[mbryson]

man, you make your woman drive you around and do all the garage work... Tell us the secret

 

[Gravy]

man, you make your woman drive you around and do all the garage work... Tell us the secret

I told her the truck was hers

You should come by the house and say hi sometime.