Painting Shop/Garage Floor. (suggestions?)

[Ken K.]

Here is a non car question. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to use to "paint", "stain", or "epoxy" my garage floor? I'm thinking about doing this in the spring. Its a normal 3 car garage that I also use to play around with repairing Corvettes. I would need something that resists chemicals, is easy to clean, and wouldn't peal off with the "hot tires". Is there a product out there that you are happy with? So, any suggestion? Thanks Ken

[Mark L.]

Re: Painting Shop/Garage Floor. (suggestions?)

Ken, I recently built a garage and decided to go with an epoxy type floor paint. The product I used is made by Duromar however there are others out there. It was a three step process; wash (etch) with a dilute solution of muriatic acid, apply a sealer and the next day apply the paint. Since the sealer and paint are two part systems they must be mixed just prior to application. After curing the paint is crosslinked and not soluable by anything that I'd want in the garage. The adhesion has not been any problem and it is not slippery when wet. Duromar basically deals with industrial accounts and as far as I know does not have direct employees who do the application. You will need to do it yourself or find someone in your area who has the experience. If you are in the New England area I might be able to help find someone who does applications. The cost is $1 to $1.50 sq ft.

[John H.]

Re: Painting Shop/Garage Floor. (suggestions?)

There are more and more DIY products out there now for garage floor coatings ("U-Coat-It" epoxy, etc.); what really matters for adhesion/durability and no lifting from hot tires is the substrate preparation. Traditionally, cleaning the concrete has been done with muriatic acid prior to painting or epoxy-coating, but that's marginally effective, especially with an older floor.

The only sure-fire preparation is to have the floor steel shot-blasted, which cleans it and opens up the pores under the concrete "skin" to give the epoxy something to hold on to (particularly important for a newly-poured floor). There are lots of franchise outfits springing up that offer the shot-blast and 2-part industrial epoxy coating treatment; I had my (new) floor done four years ago by Home Pro Floor Coatings ( www.homeprofloors.com ) in the Detroit area with their standard "Classic Floor" system (shot-blast and two coats of 2-part industrial epoxy applied 24 hours apart, tinted light gray with a little fine silica sand sprinkled in the final coat for non-slip when it's wet), and it's indestructible, impervious to all automotive fluids (including brake fluid), dropped tools won't chip it, it's easy to keep clean, and hot tires won't mark or lift it. Cost $1.92/sq ft at that time, turnkey - all I did was write the check. Still looks like it was poured yesterday.

[Chas Kingston]

[Mike M.]

Re: Painting Shop/Garage Floor. (suggestions?)

John: god forbid my wifie ever lays eyes on your garage.should she, i'd guess she'd be looking to trade me in on a new model. regards, mike PS my shop usually resembles the hole they pulled Sadam out of recently.

[Roy B.]

Re: John please please

John! would you please please ADOPT me, I'll take care of your little red car and wash your tools every day. please please please!

[Patrick H.]

Re: John please please

The red car is gone. He's back to all American iron at the moment.

Patrick

IhavevisitedtheHinckleygaragemehal

[Ken K.]

Topic - Floor Coating!!!!!

Thanks for all the information on the "Red Car"! Is there anymore suggestions on the floor coating?

[John M.]

Re: Topic - Floor Coating!!!!!

Ken,
I used Sherwin Williams Armorshield 1000 HS floor epoxy. It is a solvent-based industrial epoxy floor coating that wears like iron. We use at work on all our shop floors and I have been very pleased with it for years. I spent about $500 doing a 900 sq/ft shop with me doing all the labor. It is money well spent! The included pic is not great, but it is the only photo that I have up on the site now that shows the floor. It is way glossier than the pic makes it look and it is an extremely light color. They will mix any custom color you like.

Regards, John McGraw

[Patrick H.]

Re: Topic - Floor Coating!!!!!

The red car is nice.

I have used the U-Coat-It product, and find it to be very nice. In fact, I think I would use it next time I have the option. I might use it when I have to repaint my current floor.

I currently have the Enterprise brand of epoxy floor paint. I purchased it at Lowe's almost 8 years ago. I have found that for an inexpensive covering it has done very well. Preparation is the key with it, though (lots of muriatic acid time). I think it is now packaged as the Valspar brand of epoxy floor paint at Lowe's. After almost 8 years it still looks very good. Yes it will chip, but only if something hits it hard enough to chip the underlying concrete anyway.

My Dad recently used a new one by Rustoleum. Paints have come a long way in 8 years and I have to say I like this one (link below) a little better than my own floor. It was a PITA for him to have to stay off it a week, though. An easy to use product if you want to do it yourself relatively inexpensively.

I hope that helps.

Patrick




Rustoleum Garage Paint

[Sydney G.]

Re: Topic - Floor Coating!!!!!

Ken,
You might want to explore a uerathane (solvent free) coating as opposed to the harder epoxy. You will get an excellant result as long as you do pay extra attention to the prep work. Using a blasttrack machine (beadblasting), and them being extra careful not to contaminate the exposed concrete will maximize your adhesion. Uerathane, I hoped that I spelled it correctly, is far more flexible than epoxy coatings and resistant to spills and abuse. If you drop something heavy years from now when your topcoat has dried out some, there is farther less of a chance that you will chip or damage your floor because of it's superior flexibilty. Settling of your foundation might also cause your epoxy floor to crack etc. The main problem with all of these coatings is when they are chipped. Once you have a hole, water and such go in. With the weight of the cars the water etc., is forced to go underneath and "pancakes" the area making a larger and larger hole. Epoxy is the harder of the two to repair.
Good luck! We should all have a museum garage like that red car guy's!!!!
Syd

[Gary S.]

Enough about flooring

What engine is that and what car?
Gary

[Pete Whelan]

Re: Painting Shop/Garage Floor. (suggestions?)

Ken,
I used an industrial epoxy sealer (Rescon) that I bought from a local construction supply house. Five gallons with hardener ran about $125 in 1992 and was more than enough to cover a typical 3 car garage floor (20 x 30). My floor was new at the time and I prepped it with a mix of muratic acid and water. The surface has held up well over the past 12 years with only a few chips here and there. No problems with hot tires (I live in Texas), thinners, or brake fluid and spills can be cleaned up easily. As others have mentioned, surface prep is critical to long life. In summary, two-part epoxies that are designed for concrete floors do a good job.

Pete

[Lenn #40977]

Re: Topic - Floor Coating!!!!!

This place proposes to do an epoxy basecoat and a polyurathane top coat:

http://www.thegaragepros.com

(563) 381-4427

I've seen floors with and they look great, but I haven't seen any over time so I can't personally comment on durability.

[John M.]

Re: Enough about flooring

Gary,
That is a completely numbers matching 59 corvette! LOL
Actually it is a SRIII chassis with C4 fromt and rear suspension with a LS1 engine and 4L60e trans that will have a 59 body. I will send you some pics of it when I get home tonight.

Regards, John McGraw