Garage floor paint

[cookie]

Hi,
I'm buying my first house and it was just built this fall so the garage is still pristine and I would like to keep it that way so I am looking at floor coatings to cover the ~428 sqft cement area. Look's like this:

So far at Home Depot/Lowes they have:

Rustoleum Epoxy Shield
http://www.rustoleum.com/brand.asp?f...nd_id=19&SBL=1
it is about 55 bucks for 250 sqft area

Insl-x Hot Trax Latex Satin Concrete and Garage Floor Paint
is about 23 bucks a gallon. unknown quantity required
would need concrete to be cleaned with etcher

Valspar Premium Garage Floor Epoxy Finish
34 bucks a gallon. unknown quantity required, but a guess based upon another's usage of it would be 2 to 3 gallons needed. Here is a picture of what it would look like when applied. click here

So does anyone have any recommendations? I am after stuff that won't peel up when the sun bakes on it this summer or when I park my heated jeep on it and won't absorb spilled oil like a sponge.

thanks for your help,
ty

[TObject]

You could paint something cool! Like a... checkerboard.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by cookie
Hi,
I'm buying my first house and it was just built this fall so the garage is still pristine and I would like to keep it that way so I am looking at floor coatings to cover the ~428 sqft cement area. Look's like this:

So far at Home Depot/Lowes they have:

Rustoleum Epoxy Shield
http://www.rustoleum.com/brand.asp?f...nd_id=19&SBL=1
it is about 55 bucks for 250 sqft area

Insl-x Hot Trax Latex Satin Concrete and Garage Floor Paint
is about 23 bucks a gallon. unknown quantity required
would need concrete to be cleaned with etcher

Valspar Premium Garage Floor Epoxy Finish
34 bucks a gallon. unknown quantity required, but a guess based upon another's usage of it would be 2 to 3 gallons needed. Here is a picture of what it would look like when applied. click here

So does anyone have any recommendations? I am after stuff that won't peel up when the sun bakes on it this summer or when I park my heated jeep on it and won't absorb spilled oil like a sponge.

thanks for your help,
ty

Good luck Ty, we had the maintenance bay at the ambulance company done in a light gray two part epoxy commercially applied floor finish. Good news was it was awesome looking, bad news is that they had to come back and re-do it with some sand in it because the first stuff was too slick when it got wet.

The bad news about the traction additive is that it is very small lumps and the tops wear off very fast and leave little pits that you cannot get clean.

I might do a couple of coats of a commercial grade concrete sealer before I did an epoxy floor coat.

[cookie]

hmmm.. so instead of a checkboard I could paint it to look like a big sign?

Thanks for the heads up on the possible hazard. They did have a bag of what felt like rubber sand at Home Depot to be added to one of the epoxys to make it slip resistant. I don't want to make it tougher to sweep out though. Unless something bad happens and I impale my water heater with a leaf spring, large amounts of water shouldn't be on my garage floor too often. But if an oil spill does happen the epoxy would make it even slicker... hmmm I will research that concrete sealant stuff and see how the prices compare.

thanks,
ty

[Paradiddle]

I've had three friends paint their garage floors. None have been happy. Two went with different brand "commercial" garage paint from Home Depot/Lowes, etc. Followed all the directions. One had the stuff come up when they parked their car in - the heat from the tires lifted the stuff - it was amazing.

The other had it flake off in rather big pieces.

One friend paid a contractor to do it - I don't know if the contract used "professional" stuff or not, but his lasted the longest. It still is coming up.

Blaine is right - they are all slicker then $hit when wet.

Be a man - stain the floor!

Jeff

[Daless2]

Good morning Ty and congratulation on buying your first home!

I'm with just about everyone else here, especially if the concrete is relatively new. The water content is very very high in new concrete as it doesn't fully cure for years.

It is hard to get any of the paints or epoxies to stick to it and not come up in spots.


I think Blaine's idea of using a couple of coat of Concrete Sealer is by far the best approach. I did this on mine and couldn't be happier.

While I do not remember the brand I used I do know it was a water based polyurethane. It goes on like water and sinks or is absorbed by the concrete rather quickly. I put mine on with a roller. Simply pour some out of the 5 gallon can and roll it on the floor.

The first coat disappears into the concrete. The second and third coats also sink in, but nowhere near as fast. This in effect seals the concrete so that drips and spillage do not Seep in and stain the concrete. After eight years of all kinds of spills my floor look pretty darn good.

Also, those spills that don't come up with a shop towel seam to come up by spraying with WD-40 and a shop towel. Same is true for "hot tire" marks. For the most part they come up with the WD-40 and a shop rag.

The concrete sealer doesn't seam to make the floor anywhere near as slick as the surface applications like the epoxies. I really like it and would do it again in a heart beat.

Frank


PS: If I remember correctly, the first coat goes on and is soaked in rather quickly, About 30 minutes later I put the second coat on. This took a few hours to dry. The third coat had to sit for 24 hours before it was no longer "sticky" to the touch. Also, if you do this, each additional coat has to go on as soon as possible, before previous coats fully cure.

PSS: I have a friend who installed commercial grade floor tiles in his shop. 1'x'1 squares. I believe he is very happy with that setup, but to be honest I always feel like I am driving into someone's family room when I pull in there.

PSSS: I believe there are also concrete "Stains" that can be add to the water based sealer too. I have never used any, but that might enable a "darker" color selection if you wanted to go in that direction.

[mrblaine]

Ty, contact a commercial hardwood floor installer or laminate like Pergo. They glue that stuff down and the concrete has to be sealed for the glue to work correctly.

Find out what they use. It will be some of the best because they have to warranty the floor.

[Allen]

I'm with the others.....

Seal the cement rather than paint it.....

Allen

how's this stuff? http://www.racedeck.com/racedeck.htm

i am also looking at something to seal/paint the garage floor with, but I have a three car garage, so the cost is a concern.

[Paradiddle]

Originally posted by mrblaine
Ty, contact a commercial hardwood floor installer or laminate like Pergo. They glue that stuff down and the concrete has to be sealed for the glue to work correctly.

They glue real hardwood down, but all the Pergo type stuff actually floats on a piece of foam on the concrete - they can lay pergo over linolium (it's not a good idea though) - it is only glued to itself, tounge and groove.

Jeff

[RipCurl]

We have epoxy on the floors of our hangars at work. Stands up to just about anything, but I bet it's expensive. And yes, it's slicker than snot if you spill anything on it. However, it's really easy to get clean; it might be something to look at.

[Cutch]

Originally posted by Paradiddle

Be a man - stain the floor!

Jeff

Sure....stain the sheets...stain the floor

We stained our Garage floor this summer/fall. Looks good...not too slippery and seems to hold up...only time will tell. Actually just started parking the vehicles in it recently. Cleanups seem good so far.

[Anders Karlsson]

Originally posted by Paradiddle
They glue real hardwood down,
Jeff

We just did our living room in 3/4 inch oak, first they put down a moisture barrier (plastic sheet) then nailed 3/4 inch plywood to the concrete, then some kind of thick paper and finally 3/4 inch oak nailed to the plywood.

After doing some research this was the method recommended.

[ChrisO]

Sorry to hi-jack this thread, but since were all talking about concrete..............

My floor got the expansion joints saw cut, after the concrete was set for a day. Looked great when new.

After a few years of use/abuse the once sharp (3/16" wide) cuts have chipped the edges, and in some places chunks as big as a quarter and 1/2" deep.

I also have a few places where dropped jack stands etc. have chipped small areas out. These areas are land-mines if your on a creeper, or have a lot of weight on the cherry-picker.

Is there any good way to patch these areas and have it stick?

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by ChrisO
Sorry to hi-jack this thread, but since were all talking about concrete..............

My floor got the expansion joints saw cut, after the concrete was set for a day. Looked great when new.

After a few years of use/abuse the once sharp (3/16" wide) cuts have chipped the edges, and in some places chunks as big as a quarter and 1/2" deep.

I also have a few places where dropped jack stands etc. have chipped small areas out. These areas are land-mines if your on a creeper, or have a lot of weight on the cherry-picker.

Is there any good way to patch these areas and have it stick?

They typically use a levelling mix or a good patch mix with a latex modifier to improve adhesion when laying linoleum over concrete. They have to go and patch and level all the areas they plan on placing the floor covering on. These patches are typically very smooth, stick like crazy, and set up pretty rapidly.

A flooring contractor supply will have some.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Anders Karlsson
We just did our living room in 3/4 inch oak, first they put down a moisture barrier (plastic sheet) then nailed 3/4 inch plywood to the concrete, then some kind of thick paper and finally 3/4 inch oak nailed to the plywood.

After doing some research this was the method recommended.

That is probably the best way if the adjoining rooms, doorways, cabinets, and such can handle a finish floor adjustment of an inch and a half.

[Chris L]

Originally posted by ChrisO
Sorry to hi-jack this thread, but since were all talking about concrete..............

My floor got the expansion joints saw cut, after the concrete was set for a day. Looked great when new.

After a few years of use/abuse the once sharp (3/16" wide) cuts have chipped the edges, and in some places chunks as big as a quarter and 1/2" deep.

I also have a few places where dropped jack stands etc. have chipped small areas out. These areas are land-mines if your on a creeper, or have a lot of weight on the cherry-picker.

Is there any good way to patch these areas and have it stick?

go to a building material yard and ask for an adhesive called plaster weld or weld crete {high strength/bond concrete glue}. Brush in areas to be filled with the glue. Does not matter if it dries or not, the wet mud will re-inact the bonding adhesive. Get some Rapid set morter from home depot {brown and white bag} Mix small amounts in a coffee can size container {goes off fast} mix on the wet side. Use tile grout bag to fill areas. sponge float to finish if you wish.

CRACKSPACKLER

[ChrisO]

Thanks for your input. I'll try to patch it when I have the project I'm working on complete, and let you know how it worked out.

CO

[upnovr]

composite quartz tiles


floor paint


look at it here http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....080&L3=L3_3080 three pages of cool floor stuff.