Garage floor coatings
 

Looking for options to coat the new garage floor. I used the Rustoleum epoxy kit at the last house and was generally happy but it was lifting and showing wear. Anything better out there for DIY install?

Options that seem to make sense

Rustoleum epoxy kit. Inexpensive but not the best wear from experience

Seal only. not as fancy as epoxy, not sure how it will hold up to oil and wear long term. Several options available.

Rust Bullet urethane. Found some good info on garagejournal but have not seen it. Any using this?

I prefer to keep oil stains to a minimum and like the ability to keep things relatively clean. Not a commercial space but I do like to make noise and am not gentle on the floor.

Thanks for any recommendations and/or experience. There are some new options available since I looked at this last, why are there so many choices?? :twisted:

Is DIY a fixed requ?

Good question. Purely based on $$ I assumed DIY was my only option. Not against pro install but the cupboard is nearly bare so I'm counting my shekels.

Flooring is such a tough thing to get right. I have the product info for a General Polymers (a Sherwin Williams company) material on my bulletin board in my office. It is called, "Chip Resistant High Build Hangar Industrial Floor" and it is a top shelf system, BUT it is not DIY. The proper install includes shot peening the floor with a blast track and grinding edges to get a good profile, and four coats: Primer, membrane, first top coat, and final top coat. I believe glass beads can be added to reduce slip. The real devil is in the moisture concern. If there is hydrostatic pressure, any system will eventually lift up. You need to have falling temps IIRC to reduce out-gassing during the application or else you will get bubbles. The literature is on my bulletin board and the material is not on my floor because i am afraid of installing a Rolls Royce floor and then having it fail or destroying it.

I've done the epoxy, too, with apparently similar results. But it is so dependent upon quality of preparation. I did mine on a fresh concrete floor, after letting it cure/dry for several months. I'm not so sure it works as well on a aged floor with existing stains/contamination/etc.

Even though the upfront cost of inter-locking tiles (like Racedeck) is higher, the more I think about it the more I like it. It installs easily, and is ready to use immediately. If something does damage it, its easy to replace a tile. And you can take it with you when you move. It looks like the cost is around $4-5/SF. And is definitely DIY.

Thanks gents

I did the garage floor in the last house before I moved in, brand new floor. I'm sure I could have done something better but did follow the instructions. There was some lifting in the normal tire areas and other spots were fubar from dropping chunks of metal and I think some chemicals over the years.

No kidding. One thing I like about the Rust Bullet stuff is you are supposed to be able to recoat later without having to grind off the old stuff. Sales pitch or real world?

A buddy told me to just apply some sealer and be done with it since nothing lasts that long.

http://dorkiphus.net/porsche/showthr...ghlight=garage

After a few years of use I am starting to see some lifting and chipping in and around the middle bay which gets use daily by the DD, otherwise its held up pretty well. Lessons learned?

-Pay somebody to do it
-Make sure you use the flakes

I just did the basement using Epoxy Coat.

Lifetime warranty, 100% solids at 9mils vs. box store water based @ ~3 mils.

Actually comes out cheaper per ft^3 vs. store bought. Special order via Lowes is cheaper plus no shipping!

Kit includes everything you need. Spike shoes (2x4 with nails duck taped to shoes) are a must and I'd suggest additional roller and brush as they get stiff/unusable as the epoxy starts to set. Maybe some muriatic acid for a deeper etch than the supplied powder.

** Edit: Yes, clean, degrease and etch the s*it out of it prior to application.

I plan to just lay down some sealer to get a sheen to the floor.
I was/am looking at Wolverine Coatings' AcryliSeal 3501
Won't lift and will keep the concrete dust at bay.
I could tint it if I wanted to, but I like the color of concrete (goes well with my paint scheme).

I would stick to commercial-grade products. If a new slab, you can probably prep unless there is a surface profile issue that needs to be dealt with. For a stained/ contaminated slab I would hire a pro. I'm probably biased there though, since we deal with coating system design and failure investigation for commercial/ institutional parking garages.