Epoxy coating for garage floors

[RaskyR1]

The Garage Journal has tons of threads on this and several forum sponsors willing to sell you kits, some at a discount for being GJ members. The one thing they will all agree on is prep is the single most important thing, so don't skimp on that. I would stay away from the box store kits IMO.

I'm about to epoxy the floor on my new garage addition now and I just paid a company $900 to come out last Friday and diamond grind my floors (1200 sq ft). Even though it was brand new with no sealer or stains, it was still recommended that they be grinded. I chose to do the epoxy myself and with a tight budget I will be going with a high solids commercial epoxy from Sherwin Williams and a HS urethane coating over the top. Prices will vary from store to store so call around for the best deal.

I did also talk with Greg Weiner from Armorpoxy as they are one of the sponsors from the GJ forum. Their prices with the GJ discount were very good and they will ship you full kits with EVERYTHING you need to do the job. Unfortunately my project is way over budget already and the SW stuff was the more affordable route.

Hope this helps. I'll post pics of mine when I get done.

Rasky

[Audios S6]

What you'll find with any of the floor coatings is there has to be a compromise between slip resistance and ease of cleaning. The grit used to add texture and prevent falls when wet also makes it difficult to clean. So it's important to consider how often your floor will be wet (if you are washing inside perhaps) and how clean you want to keep it.

An alternative to epoxy is polyurea. This is typically a 2-part, spray applied coating. When I've used it in industrial applications it is hardened and traffic-ready within a few minutes (literally), which is a big advantage over epoxy cure times. It's also very chemical resistance. The disadvantage is you need a good installer that knows how to property apply a uniform film thickness. Under application will result in thin spots and the grit may pop out. Over application will result is something similar to solvent pop and you will have some ugly spots. Older and cheaper technology was not very UV resistant and the color would change and material would fail over time. Newer formulation have resolved that issue. The other advantage is you can easily blend and touch-up areas as necessary.

[Celticsfan]

My dad does the floors for a living, as everyone has said prep work is key, he uses those diamond blade grinders as mentioned earlier to remove anything from the surface such as the sealants and clears, it's amazing how some of the floors come out. I'd probably spend the money to do it right than to have to redo them.

https://www.facebook.com/CT-Epoxy-Fl...8532883493230/

He has a bunch of pics on his page, the marble look is amazing. Let me know if you have any questions.

[GSKR]

The Garage Journal has tons of threads on this and several forum sponsors willing to sell you kits, some at a discount for being GJ members. The one thing they will all agree on is prep is the single most important thing, so don't skimp on that. I would stay away from the box store kits IMO.

I'm about to epoxy the floor on my new garage addition now and I just paid a company $900 to come out last Friday and diamond grind my floors (1200 sq ft). Even though it was brand new with no sealer or stains, it was still recommended that they be grinded. I chose to do the epoxy myself and with a tight budget I will be going with a high solids commercial epoxy from Sherwin Williams and a HS urethane coating over the top. Prices will vary from store to store so call around for the best deal.

I did also talk with Greg Weiner from Armorpoxy as they are one of the sponsors from the GJ forum. Their prices with the GJ discount were very good and they will ship you full kits with EVERYTHING you need to do the job. Unfortunately my project is way over budget already and the SW stuff was the more affordable route.

Hope this helps. I'll post pics of mine when I get done.

Rasky

Grinding is really the way to go as far as the ultimate adhesion.I spent 30k on concrete overlay stamped concrete with acid stain colors.I did all the grinding my self with a rotary,and now some of its lifting alittle because I didn't grind it enough.so this will be a repair this summer.sherwin Williams infinity top coat is quality product.

[RaskyR1]

What you'll find with any of the floor coatings is there has to be a compromise between slip resistance and ease of cleaning. The grit used to add texture and prevent falls when wet also makes it difficult to clean. So it's important to consider how often your floor will be wet (if you are washing inside perhaps) and how clean you want to keep it.

An alternative to epoxy is polyurea. This is typically a 2-part, spray applied coating. When I've used it in industrial applications it is hardened and traffic-ready within a few minutes (literally), which is a big advantage over epoxy cure times. It's also very chemical resistance. The disadvantage is you need a good installer that knows how to property apply a uniform film thickness. Under application will result in thin spots and the grit may pop out. Over application will result is something similar to solvent pop and you will have some ugly spots. Older and cheaper technology was not very UV resistant and the color would change and material would fail over time. Newer formulation have resolved that issue. The other advantage is you can easily blend and touch-up areas as necessary.

I've decided to not add the anti skid for the cleaning purposes you mention and instead will lay down some large industrial floor matts when needed since my wife has a hook up on them.

Grinding is really the way to go as far as the ultimate adhesion.I spent 30k on concrete overlay stamped concrete with acid stain colors.I did all the grinding my self with a rotary,and now some of its lifting alittle because I didn't grind it enough.so this will be a repair this summer.sherwin Williams infinity top coat is quality product.

I was going to rent a machine and do it myself but it still would have been $200+, it would have likely taken the whole day if not more, results likely wouldn't have been near as good, and the equipment I could rent locally was nothing compared to the large propane powered machine and 3 motor vacuum these guys used. $900 was went spent IMO to have a pro do it.

[GSKR]

I've decided to not add the anti skid for the cleaning purposes you mention and instead will lay down some large industrial floor matts when needed since my wife has a hook up on them.



I was going to rent a machine and do it myself but it still would have been $200+, it would have likely taken the whole day if not more, results likely wouldn't have been near as good, and the equipment I could rent locally was nothing compared to the large propane powered machine and 3 motor vacuum these guys used. $900 was went spent IMO to have a pro do it.

Doing it myself was very back breaking work.This was done in my pool enclosure and was very messy and I didn't cover the pool.as I was grinding away the sediment was thin on top of the water,and eventually screwed up my pool filter which ran me about 400.00 and 200.00 for the concrete grinding blades and all the clean up.so sometimes it's just worth hiring someone else to do it.But I eventually won,they wanted 3k for grinding.

[GSKR]

I've decided to not add the anti skid for the cleaning purposes you mention and instead will lay down some large industrial floor matts when needed since my wife has a hook up on them.



I was going to rent a machine and do it myself but it still would have been $200+, it would have likely taken the whole day if not more, results likely wouldn't have been near as good, and the equipment I could rent locally was nothing compared to the large propane powered machine and 3 motor vacuum these guys used. $900 was went spent IMO to have a pro do it.

after the pool disaster,I had my driveway redone and I let them grind it with the propane machine,pretty cool.