Garage Floor

[jerry grayson]

This is a little off topic, but not much.
I want to epoxy paint my garage floor and I am concerned about the durability. My driveway is gravel and I am worried that the gravel will come in on tires and wear away the paint. Do any of you have any suggestions?

 

[Brendan]

i don't think you can beat a good finished slab. i think those finises are a lot better then they where a wile back.
Brendan

 

[Ryan]

There is a ton of experts on this subject over at garagejournal.com. It might be worth asking over there.

 

[Vic Piano]

My driveway has been (and unfortunately still is) gravel, however it has not had an adverse effect on the epoxy floor covering in the garage and I've been driving on it for over three years.

 

[jerry grayson]

Thanks all!!!!!!

 

[Joe AZ]

My driveway has been (and unfortunately still is) gravel, however it has not had an adverse effect on the epoxy floor covering in the garage and I've been driving on it for over three years.

Vic,
Was this a DIY kit or did you have it professionally installed? If you did it yourself, whose product did you use?
Thanks, Joe

 

[Frank The Plumber]

I go to the home depot in the carpet dept. they have 3 foot x 5 foot carpet runner mats, they cost about 15 bucks each, they are fantastic, your knees feel better they dont sweat and you can lay all over them, you could do the whole side of your shop 20 x 9 for 90 bucks plus tax. If you want to weld or do metal work just roll them up.

 

[Mr.34]

I have researched this topic for months and have two friends in the commercial concrete supply business and I have learned much from them. On average, to do a 1000 square foot floor will cost about $3500 to have it done professionally including bead blasting. None of the epoxy finishes are duranble! Remember, concrete breathes forever. If your floor never gets wet, you never turn tires hard on the epoxy and the garage is temp. controlled, you will still have problems at some point.

There is a newer option but I am waiting to see how it holds up longer term as a friend just had it done. The contractor grinds down nearly 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the surface to a solid base. Then they fill any cracks and pop outs. Then you can leave natural or dye any color you want and they texture the base color so it looks like marble. Since the concrete is not sealed, oil will still soak in but you can barely see spills due to the marbled finish. My advice, get it in writing that the finish you choose will not crack or peel for at least 5 years. Many companies in my area went out of business as too many complaints. Do it yourself if you want, but the prep is the key part and don't forget, you are sealing a breathing surface. Lots of you will disagree with all I say. but that is fine. If your epoxy has held up for years, you are very fortunate.

 

[Vic Piano]

Joe,

I had the floor done by a local outfit, it is a two part epoxy sealed with polyurethane. The concrete slab was new so they acid etched it before applying the epoxy. It was not cheap but it has held up very well. The epoxy is impervious to all type of fluids including gas and brake fluid and hot tires have had no ill effect on it. The epoxy has been on the floor for just over four years and, for the most pare, it still looks as good as the day it was put down. Here's a photo of the floor without too much junk on it.

 

[Steve_S]

I used a 3-part coating - primer, epoxy, poly top coat. This is the type of stuff used in aircraft hangers to resist peeling when hot airplane tires roll across it. I do general maintenance on seven cars in my garage (no welding indoors) and it has held up admirably over the past five years or so. Rolling a loaded engine stand around may scuff the top finish as can jack stands with metal edges, but the bond between the epoxy and concrete is stronger than the concrete itself. The only way I've ever managed to chip the paint was to take a chunk out of the concrete.

Like Vic's floor, it is impervious to brake fluid, solvents, brake spray cleaner, etc. I actually left a pool of brake fluid on it once by accident, and two weeks later wiped it up like nothing happened.

Eventually the top coat will wear through, even from simply walking on it. Nothing will last forever. I admit I consciously try to take care of it - place jack stands on wood, a towel under a heavy metal part before dragging it across the garage, etc. But overall I'm happy with this coating, and my wife loves that she can come into the garage in socks and walk back into the house without getting them dirty. I figure a happy wife is worth far more than the cost of the paint!

Probably not the best photo but it's what I had handy. This is the floor afer about 3 years of use...

 

[fordoholic]

I did my floor about 4 years ago, no problems. Acid etch, primer, 2 part epoxy and polyurethane top coat from "Arizona Polymers". If your concrete is clean and cured with 6 mil poly between it and the soil you shouldn't have any negative issues.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Over the years I've read all manner of comments about epoxy floor coatings. Almost every comment has been contradicted somewhere or other. It makes it tough to know what is "best". That being said, here's my personal experience.

About 8 years ago I did a garage expansion. Once the concrete floor "cured", about 3 months, I decided to give the floor a coating. I looked at several, but then figured that the Rust o leum kit available at most hardware stores was worth a shot. As mentioned above prep is everything, just like any other coating procedure. I followed the intructions to a T, even called their tech line because the instructions didn't say anything about etching the surface. They were adamant to NOT etch the surface, just use the cleaning solution they provided (wouldn't confirm if it did a micro etch, but it seems plausible). It took two kits to do the amount of floor I had, cost at the time was under $100. Over the years it's endured oil, grease, solvent, paint overspray, weld splatter, grinding sparks, jack stands, metal wheels, and all the other "normal" whacked out car guy things. Also as mentioned above, I am careful about how I drag things across the floor, but not overly so. So far not a glitch. No lifts, tears, apparent wear, or serious stains. I don't know how any other surface finish could have done any more for me. The thing I like best is how it makes cleanup easier.

The probable advantages I had were that the concrete was unused (except for drywall debris) so therefore easy to prep/clean. May or may not have been as satisfactory over oil stains, I just don't know. I do have a vapor barrier under the slab. The slab has been very stable and has no cracks. Can't speak to gravel in the tires other than sand size particles, no problem from that, though admittedly this is more of a building/storing area than a traffic way. So called "hot tires" haven't been an issue, but again, that's not a daily occurrance. For a serious hobbyist application it's been great. In a commercial application I might step up to the more expensive professionally applied system, but a home shop just doesn't warrant that.

The picture below is shortly after move in, it's nowhere near as neat or open as that anymore!

 

[fordoholic]

I used the Rust-o-lium system at my previous residence and was very disappointed. Everything from ****** fluid to tires left perminant stains. It is a much less expensive option however.