Epoxy floor covering

[powerslide91]

I am just about to close on a new house. I am toying with covering the garage floor with epoxy to make it stay nice with all the car work.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I have heard a true two part epoxy is the way to go (like Muscle Gloss), but it gets pricy. I need to cover about 1300 square feet.

Thanks!
Jeff

[dickita15]

rustoleum cam out with a 2 part garage paint kit about 4 years ago. around $50 to do around 300 sq ft if i remember right. you can use it smooth or with grit. I would like to try it in the race shop but It never has been empty and clean enought to do it. my nieghbor used it on there street car garage 3 years ago and it still looks great. i do not know if it would hod up to floor jacks though.
dick

[Greg Amy]

A lot of different places offer different epoxy flooring systems, but they're definitely not all the same. Two things you can take to the bank, though, when considering the alternatives:

- Floor pre-prep is ABSOLUTELY critical,
- You get what you pay for.

It is IMPERATIVE that you prep the concrete floor in advance, usually with muratic acid. If you do not properly pre-prep the epoxy will *definitely* lift. By the same token, the lesser-expensive systems usually do not comes with the prep materials, and even if prepped tend to lift.

I'm running the gears at full revs trying to remember where I saw a recent (last year) comparison and How-To article on epoxy floors; was it Grassroots Motorsports? If I remember correctly, Griot's Garage's system was highly regarded, as were professional installations. All of the cheaper systems were not. Regardless, they echoed those two prior sentiments in regards to prep and choice.

Good luck!

[Ron Earp]

Do not buy the mess at home depot no matter how much prep you do. I helped someone do this with fantastic prep and it still lifted when tires were turned on it.

I have some stuff from our flying club that we use in our hangers and it is absolutely great. I haven't put it on my garage floor yet, but did the work in the hanger and it has adhered very well despite pushing and sliding planes all over it. I'll track down the name and post here.



------------------
Ron
http://www.gt40s.com
Lotus Turbo Esprit
BMW E36 M3
RF GT40 Replica
Jensen-Healey: IT prep progressing!

[Greg Amy]

HIJACK!!

What do you fly, Ron?

http://www.gatm.com/flying

[powerslide91]

Thanks for the feedback!

J

[Maddog]

Many years ago I did my garage with epoxy paint from Sears. Did the acid prep and it worked great.

Don't know if they still have it or not.

[CaptainWho]

Do a search over on the Grassroots Motorsports boards, too. There was a lengthy thread about different garage floor epoxies and similar stuff a few months ago.

------------------
Doug "Lefty" Franklin
NutDriver Racing (http://www.nutdriver.org)

[67ITB]

One more tip on the Prep part.
If the garage has any oil spots on it (and whose doesn’t) see if you can rent or borrow a old floor buffer like the military uses. They have all sorts of “scotch bright” pads available as well as wire bristles. Using that in conjunction with the acid will ensure that the new paint (or whatever) will stick.
Lastly READ every precaution on that acid. Its nasty stuff

Good luck
Stay safe
Matt Bal

[Ron Earp]

grega, I am a member of a flying club here and fly Piper Cherokees, 152s, and Mooneys, although I'm not current in the Mooneys. My interests lie in biplanes and sport planes though and will probably move away from the flying club and into the EAA chapter here since they do more of what I like.

Another solution that my neighbor uses for his garage is to carpet it. Yep, works well. He uses pullout carpet from homes they are remodeling. However, if you don't have access to this stuff Home Depot can help you. Just yesterday I priced a piece of 15' x 28' for my garage and it was only $174. Not bad! The carpet has some advantages - it can be replaced easily and cheaply, is much better to lie on, insulates you from the cold floor (like we have those in NC), and as long as you don't dump oil/gas on it, it will clean up well and give you a long service life.

Even though I have the floor coating I think I'm going with the cheapo carpet. I like the look and working on it really makes a difference to my knees and back. I'm only 36 and it helps me a lot.

------------------
Ron
http://www.gt40s.com
Lotus Turbo Esprit
BMW E36 M3
RF GT40 Replica
Jensen-Healey: IT prep progressing!

[almracing]

A buddy of mine installed epoxy floors, and his only problems came with poor mixing. It seems that it is critical to mix the epoxy very well.

He also had one other issue... slippery when wet. Shortly after doing his own garage, he came home on a wet day and drove into the garage a bit too quick... he still has the dent in his air compressor tank.

Anthony R.
ITA #86 NER

[spnkzss]

My father just coated his 27'x 57'(no that's not a typo) garage floor with U-Coat-It or something like that. It's been on the floor for about 8 months now. The stuff is great. My only thing I don't like is when it is wet, just water wet, it IS SLICK. We even used the sand they supply, which made a huge difference, but still too slick for my liking. You may also need a dehumidifier if this garage is part of your house. I never realized how much moisture in the air was absorbed by concrete until we finished the floor and it was always damp.

[itbgti]

How ironic this post is right now for me:

I purchased a couple months back the "U Coat It" system and I am actually painting the floor this Friday/Saturday. If anyone wants, i can take photos of the whole process, and let you know how it goes. The only problem I had with the kit was that I was borderline on much material I needed...I had to order an additional half kit for my 34x40 garage (their standard kit covers 1150 square feet...could have saved me $400)

On paper, the stuff looks pretty impressive.
http://www.ucoatit.com/

Regards,
Alan

[powerslide91]

Thanks for all the leads, Alan, let us know how it goes for you if you don't mind.

Seems like the guys on GRM like the Rustoluem product...

Jeff

[JIgou]

Friend of mine did the U-Coat-It stuff on his shop floor. My only complaint about it is the black flecks in the white background make it kinda hard to see little pieces when you drop 'em. http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/biggrin.gif

Other than that, it's held up very well for a couple of years so far - brake fluid, gasoline, floor jacks, jackstands, it hasn't even blinked.

If I ever get my Miata shop set up, that's likely to be on my floor.

Jarrod

[tac911t]

I had epoxy put on the floor of the house I built (20' x 30') for about $1000 by a professional. After 5 years the floor still looks good, the flooring has pulled up on a few small places on the outside concrete apron (there is about a foot of concrete outside of the garage door), and it has pulled up under the wheels where the race car (and the prior weekend sports car) sits.

Since I was building the house, I was able to have a plastic sheet placed on top of the gravel, then have the concrete poured on top of this plastic, then skip putting sealer on top of the concrete. Skipping the sealer step provided a better contact surface for the epoxy, and I am sure the concrete was still etched with muratic acid.

The floor does become slick when wet (I do use strips of old carpet for the high traffic areas). When working on cars, the floor becomes scratched from floor jacks, dragging transmissions out from underneath the car, dropping tools and heavy parts, and I spend way too much time cleaning the floor.

[SilverHorseRacing]

I bought the two-part from Sherwin Williams a couple years ago, and did a 2000 sq/ft industrial shop. There was enough left over that I was able to do my new 600 ft garage in February, all for 600.00, and that's 2-3 coats deep. The stuff is wonderful, and has held up to vehicles, fluids, and even forklift traffic, so I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking.

FWIW, I had the cheapo stuff in my old house, and while it is definitely better than bare concrete, it doesn't hold up well to much of anything other than gentle traffic.

------------------
-Marcello Canitano
www.SilverHorseRacing.com (http://www.SilverHorseRacing.com)

[lateapex911]

Originally posted by tac911t:
...... and I spend way too much time cleaning the floor.


But at least you CAN clean the floor!


------------------
Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]

[mlytle]

i used the rustoleum stuff on my shop floor. two years now of race car use. still looks great. no issues.

this was on a new concrete slab and i cleaned the crap out of it with acid. no matter how much you spend on paint, the coating is worthless if you don't do the prep correctly.

[itbgti]

Question:

Those that did the "prep"....how much are we talking about. I purchased four gallons of muriatic acid, and I plan on scrubbing the floor with a stiff bristeled (sic) broom. Is that enough?

Also, was at HD to buy the acid, and noticed BEHR now has garage floor paint/systems....looks better than the Rustoleum kits. If I had the opportunity to purchase all over again, I may have gone with the Behr (1/3 the cost of UcoatIt).

We shall see.....pictures to soon follow (I do not have a place to host them, any volunteers?)

Regards,
Alan

[B Schley]

I used to install epoxy floors for a few years after college. Here are a few tips.
1. The ratio of water to muriatic acid is
3parts water to 1 part acid.
2. After acid etching the floor (the term
for acid washing) rinse the floor with
water. Then, scrub it again with a mix
of water with a little Simple Green or
a like detergent degreaser. Rinse
again with water. This will help
neutralize the acid in the concrete
even more.
3. The higher the solids content in the
coating the better. This will make a
heavier coating giving more durability
4. Regarding what product...I don't know.
The retail stuff is way different from
the commercial grade stuff I used. I
did use a Rustoleum product that was
OK. Valspar makes good products.
5. The prep is very important as others
have stated.
6. To protect against slippage use
white aluminum oxide and spread
it like you are feeding chicken.
It is harder to clean though.
I have been trying to figure out what product to use and am leaning toward Griots. I will have to check out U-Coat-It
--Bill
P.S. I am in no way responsible for anyone using my advice and screwing up their floor.

[Ron Earp]

This is what you want:

http://www.tnemec.com/

http://www.tnemec.com/2004-144858-278.asp

It is expensive, but it is the best and works very well. You get what you pay for with this stuff and if you're planning on staying where you are for many years pay the cash, prep it well, and this coating will do a fantastic job for you.

------------------
Ron
http://www.gt40s.com
Lotus Turbo Esprit
BMW E36 M3
RF GT40 Replica
Jensen-Healey: IT prep progressing!

[volante]

There is a number of good products out there,I do not mean the store brand stuff either.I have applied the Ucoat-it product a number of times and it is awesome.They send you everything you need and anyone can put it on.Floor prep is key,but easy to do.A large 3 car garage was about $750,seems like alot but you will love it.Call them,they are very nice.
Dave V.

[ITZ34]

I did my garage floor last year with a two part epoxy purchased from the local ICI coatings store. I followed their instructions for prep, acid etching (twice). I even rented a floor sander. The floor looked great at first, but it started to crack from the weight of the car on the jack every time I jacked it up. Also welding really screws it up. If I did it again, I would definitely have the floor bead blasted. This was recommended after I had the cracking problems. But all in all it still looks good.
PS: It was hard to keep clean until I spilled some Castrol Superclean on it. That cleans it like crazy. Spray it on and mop it off with a wet mop.

DC
ITS 240Z

[B Schley]

DC-
The reason your floor cracked is not because of the prep you did. Epoxies are very brittle and do not deal well with things being dropped on them. A clear urethane over the top gives much better elasticity. Yes, welding will mess up the floor. Most coatings are not going to be high temp resistant. Ask the manufacturer of the product if the floor can tolerate tools being dropped on it etc.

[lateapex911]

Another option is VCT. Vynl Composite Tiles.

They have the advantage of ebing MUCH less sensitive to prep, can be done a half garage at a time, eliminating the need to empty the garage for days, faster application, easy cleaning and maintenance, and the ability to repair just a local area if there is damage.

Plus the cost is about a quarter.

If there is interest I'll post links to a current thread with pictures on the Pelican site.

------------------
Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]

[badal]

Plus the cost is about a quarter.

Jake, I can do my whole garage for 25 cents? Now I can afford to build that NB!

------------------
"Bad" Al Bell
ITC #3 Datsun 510
DC Region MARRS Series

[lateapex911]

Originally posted by badal:
Plus the cost is about a quarter.

Jake, I can do my whole garage for 25 cents? Now I can afford to build that NB!




Ummm.. yes...provided your garage is 6" by 6"....

[JIgou]

Jake, consider this "interest". Please post the link.

EDIT: Found it: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread....ht=garage+floor (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=180959&highlight=garage+floor)

Got distracted on the way, though....
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread....20&pagenumber=1 (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=179652&perpage=20&pagenumber=1)

Jarrod

[This message has been edited by JIgou (edited September 09, 2004).]

[itbgti]

Well, better late than never...THE FLOOR IS DONE! http://Forum.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

I know I was supposed to take photos of the process, but my workload at the office did not permit me to take Friday off (damn Oracle implementation), so I had to squeeze the entire process into two days.

Random Notes:
-Did the muriatic acid wash (stinky stuff)
-Floor needs to be damp/wet before you start painting
-DO NOT leave a mystery puddle of water and roller through it....makes a big mess and takes a little while to clean before continuing
-Use the granular stuff to add grip....whereever I let it go too thin (corners, etc) it is slick when wet
-I should have left a thicker coat during the intial base coat....I have paint left over

So far I am VERY satisfied, just waiting to see how it holds up to heavy work (and welding). Below are some photos of the finished product which do not do the floor complete justice.

Put here any questions and I will be happy to answer them.

Regards,
Alan

http://www.flatout-motorsports.com/images/...misc/Alan_1.JPG (http://www.flatout-motorsports.com/images/misc/Alan_1.JPG)
http://www.flatout-motorsports.com/images/...misc/Alan_2.JPG (http://www.flatout-motorsports.com/images/misc/Alan_2.JPG)
http://www.flatout-motorsports.com/images/...misc/Alan_3.JPG (http://www.flatout-motorsports.com/images/misc/Alan_3.JPG)
http://www.flatout-motorsports.com/images/...misc/Alan_4.JPG (http://www.flatout-motorsports.com/images/misc/Alan_4.JPG)

Thanks to Flatout Motorsports for offering up some server space!