Epoxy for garage floor input needed.

[groumoutis]

We are building a new 3 car garage next month and I am thinking of putting epoxy on the floor. I'm not wanting to have it professionally done, gonna do it myself if I decide to do it. Any input would be great.

 

[TWISTER]

I do floor coatings for a living part time.. epoxy has a 1 year warranty and has been doing the same thing for 50 years... failing. I have gone in 3 days later and cut a Menards do it yourself floor off that a contractor put down... It will cost more to cut off a bad floor than to put down a new one the right way.. check your options in your area and see who had success with what. It will also take 28 days for your floor to cure before you can touch it with anything.. do it once.. do it right. Hardness plays a role as does hydrastatic pressure... there are lots of options besides epoxy do it yourself floors.

 

[wb's87]

I used the Behr kit from Home Depot. It was very easy. Still looks great after six years. As the op said do not put anything on a newly poured concrete floor. I would recommend waiting at least 6 months.


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[gnxtc2]

I did my shop floor myself and two friends helping. Stay far away from the box store stuff. The concrete must be prepped correctly for the epoxy to bind. I had my floor concrete grinded first. Go on Garage Journal and search the floor section, alot on info.

IMHO: if you building a new garage, speak with a concrete guy that does floors, not some dirt mason guy. Look into polishing the floor instead. A polished/sealed floor is 100x better than epoxy.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[groumoutis]

I have heard about the flaking and cracking of the epoxy floors. The reason I asked was to make sure it wasn't from the people not doing it right. I will just pressure wash it before I seal it.

 

[Eticket]

Depends on how tough you need it but I did the rustoleum from lowes or Home Depot 3 years ago to a 27 year old floor.it has held up very well, but I'm not that hard on it myself. my brother did something much thicker and professional using some expensive materials but it's obvious to me his can really take abuse. His is black and sorta rubbery

 

[DCVING 6]

Saw in the other thread about the foundation your in Indiana, where at?

Make sure you leave plenty of time for the concrete to dry if you pressure wash. Concrete is like a sponge, it will soak the water in and the sealer won't bite in.

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[DCVING 6]

As Billy said a polished floor will last just about forever. It is very expensive though, usually start at $4 a sq foot for a "home depot" finish and go up from there. Even if you are doing epoxy, it wouldn't be a bad idea to rent a grinder of hire someone to go over it with a grinder to get that mechanical bond as well as the chemical bond from the epoxy.
Depending on where you are, I might be able to help you out with someone. My company builds the best concrete grinders in the world.

Here is a picture of our test pad that we use to test machines and diamond tools. We also use it for tech dates for training.

 

[groumoutis]

I am in Crawfordsville which is 25 miles south of Lafayette. The tear down of the old one was a PITA. We are going through the compaction process since we removed so much concrete. I don't want the floor to be unstable and crack. The garage is going to be pole barn style with insulated walls and ceiling. It won't look like a pole barn you see on a farm it will look residential. I can't wait to get everything done. When we moved into this house we knew we had to tear the old garage down and build a new one. Just didn't realize it would be this much of a pain.

Here is a pic of the old one car garage.

 

[gnxtc2]

Two things that WILL happen to concrete......

- It will get hard
- It will crack

If the concrete guy is good, he will be able to get a semi-polished look when it's poured if he keeps going over it. There will be sparks flying off the helicopter on the finish.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[groumoutis]

The Amish are doing all the work with the exception of the electrical. They built my father in laws garage and they do excellent work. They don't really polish the concrete but they make it pretty smooth.

 

[DCVING 6]

You are pretty close to one of our distributors Runyon Surface Prep. They are in Carmel. They rent equipment or I'm sure they could set you up with someone if you wanted to grind a bit before the epoxy. http://www.runyonsurfaceprep.com


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[groumoutis]

Been by there several times. Never stopped in. I am going to be going to Indy in the next month to shop for a four post lift so I will stop in there and check them out. The wife is letting me build a shop/mancave so I am taking advantage of it. She even got me a new tool cabinet.

 

[wb's87]

I spilled some methanol on my Behr epoxy floor the other day. By the time I wiped it up it had already ate through to the concrete.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

I spilled some methanol on my Behr epoxy floor the other day. By the time I wiped it up it had already ate through to the concrete.

Damn! That would make 1 .

 

[TRICKSIXPA]

The epoxy I got from Lowes sucked I prepped it cleaned it and put a good 2 coats on the floor. Stuff comes off really easy with Gasoline spills. IMO spend the money and buy better paint.

 

[Mike Licht]

its all about prep shot blasting or grinding is a must or it is a waste of money, Sherwin Williams makes some nice epoxy finishes that hold up, we are doing the shop in two weeks

 

[Blown&Injected]

We are building a new 3 car garage next month and I am thinking of putting epoxy on the floor. I'm not wanting to have it professionally done, gonna do it myself if I decide to do it. Any input would be great.

I just finished my floor, the second half, and I used the BBS (big box store) Rustoleum Epoxy Shield over a 20 year old floor in good shape. It was not bad! I did the first half when I moved in to the house and knew my GN would be sitting for some time. Four years later and I finally used the second part of the kit.

The second half of the kit was in its own, unopened cans and stored in a cool place so I was fairly certain it was still good, and it was.

As mentioned PREP is the key to good adhesion. I believe the citric acid wash that comes with the kit would have been good enough because it etches the concrete (easily felt when walking in bare feet) and I could see how it chewed into it big time where I used more in an oil stained area. I say "would have been good enough" because I also power washed the floor before acid cleaning and used the power washer for the final rinse.

In the four years the car has been sitting on the floor, I have probably gone thru three tanks of gas so the floor did not see much action but there is a section of road before I get home - well you guys know how it is So when the car got put away, the tires were about as hot as they could get and then parked in place - NO LIFTING because I followed the directions on prep and then some.

It works, it looks good, floor is easy to clean and it seems to keep the moisture down. It also ain't nothing like U Coat It. The BBS stuff is a real epoxy but it goes down just like paint and covers like paint - it is not bad but the much more expensive U Coat It is not like painting the floor - it is like a new floor not just a new finish.

If I had to do it over, I would have forked out the extra $$$ for the good stuff but with careful prep the BBS stuff does indeed work.
HTH

 

[BuickMike]

So I'll throw in my experience. I have done it 3 times and all on new concrete. I waited several months on all of them since they were new houses or a new garage. By the time the building was finished, the concrete had plenty of time to cure....at least 6 months.

I took the advice of a guy who had done it plenty of times and so far so good.

Day 1, I hosed down the floor. Then, with it still a little wet, I poured a mixture of 20% muriatic acid / 80% water over the floor, scrubbed it, and let it sit for 10min before rinsing it down. This is how I etched the concrete. Next, I poured a mixture of baking soda and water on the floor to neutralize the acid. I rinsed the floor 2-3 more times until I was satisfied it was clean and let it try overnight. After that I followed the instructions for the epoxy.

I used the Rustoleum product twice and U Coat It once.

The rustoleum has lost it's shinyness a little over 10 years on the 2 garages, but it is holding up perfect. No peeling, nothing. I've spilled gas and methanol on it with no issues.

The U Coat it looked really pretty at first and has held up with no peeling, but the clear coat really shows where I've done stuff like dragged things across it and welded on it. If I had to do it again, I would go with the cheap stuff in a garage where you actually work.

 

[gnxparts]

Ok so here's my input
Unless you have it done professionally the Home Depot style dyi kits are not going to hold up
My garage was coated with the home depot stuff as per the box instructions. Years later failed and peeled
I did plenty of research on what to do
I did what I always wanted which is porcelain tile
No issues, jacking a car up on it etc easy clean up and sexy
If I considered concrete as a option I would of polished it and added some color
Hope that helps