• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Recommendation Garage Floor Epoxy/Paint

HeliPilot71

Well-Known Member
Local time
9:48 AM
Joined
Jan 23, 2015
Messages
171
Reaction score
19
Location
Edmond,OK
Good Evening All,

A new 30x60 shop building is going up and prior to moving all my projects/stuff in the shop, I plan on putting some type of epoxy/paint on the floor...

For those of you that have done this or have any experience, I sure could use your recommendations. I want to seal the floor and have it look nice as well.

Thoughts?
 
:popcorn2:I am thinking about this too, so watching...
 
Me too...:popcorn:
 
Me 3.... inquiring minds want to know!
:popcorn:
 
I can add that I know what I won't use. When we built our house on 2006 I used the Lowes/HD Rustoluem Epoxy stuff. Seemed like a good choice and may still have been. After 12 years I have/had the following problems.

- hot tire pickup, so bad in on bay that I re-did the garage floor in that section.
- epoxy flakes up around roadmap cracks. Not sure if moisture is coming up through those or something.
- shine has left the epoxy. Floor is dull but does clean up. This stuff does not handle UV well at all. Bays that have sun exposure when doors are open, are very chalky.
- IIRC the kits show a certain SQFT but I remeber them being short, needed an extra kit.

I see that the Lowes/HD stores have a new and improved version of these kits. Not sure how they work.
 
I used extra coats of clear concrete sealer on my shop floor although certain chemicals do dissolve it on contact but it always hardens back up. I use a cutting torch so I wanted a tough surface that would stand up to molten steel. Now I do have epoxy in my wood shop (light gray) and it cleans up well except it is prone to rubber streaks from shoe soles but, they wash off. I have been using my main shop for 18 years now and it still looks good. I do use oil dry compound whenever it's needed.
Mike
136.JPG
IMG_0073.JPG
 
We used a commercial grade epoxy on our 40x60. It has worn very well, the only solvent/ chemical that has affected it was brake fluid.it doesnt lift it but makes it soft until its cleaned up.
It was easy to put down, the hardest thing was getting the new concrete cleaned with muratic acid.
Ill get the name of it this weekend

20131109_172843.jpg
 
Last edited:
I also used the Rustoleum epoxy. Have the same issues as mentioned above. I think it is a residential product, not for a working garage. The surface in my garage is beat up now after restoring 2 cars. The product scratches easily with the floor jack, engine hoist, etc. It is better than the bare concrete floor but I had hoped for a more durable longer lasting product.
 
I used the Griots Garage epoxy 10 years ago and its held up very well.
 
Anybody have a comment on a wet floor and ending up on your ***?
 
Anybody have a comment on a wet floor and ending up on your ***?

A lot depends on the finish your concrete has.i think ours was a light broom finish
You can also mix it with a little or a lot of sand depending on the texture you want to prevent that.
You can crawl, roll or slide around on ours without it chewing you up. Not even close to a slip yet.
 
Anybody have a comment on a wet floor and ending up on your ***?
Ours was pretty slick when it was new but now that the gloss is gone it's not slick. I never had any problem but if the kids were tearing around and not paying attention they would end up on the floor if it was wet. We also have floor drains so not a lot of water unless I was washing something down.
 
Years ago when I refinished my hard wood flooring in the house I used urathane as the sealer. I was told by the supplier that this is what is used commercially. That being said I decided to use it on my concrete floor in the garage and after about 25 years it still has held up. Wasn't cheap but well worth it.
 
Here's my 2-cents plus a nickel on all this.
1. Epoxies are the most chemically resistant coating in general. Amine-cured (part B) ones are slightly better, but they set up very fast (45-60 min?) The Polyamide-cured (part B) can be rolled on, dry slower & easier to work with.
2. Epoxies definitely discolor/fade in sunlight
3. Urethane coatings are less chemical resistant than epoxy, but do not fade from sunlight hardly at all.
4. Neither epoxies or urethanes will resist DOT3 or Skydrol (aircraft brake fluid) all that well, but epoxies are better.
5. Some people put a thin layer of polyurethane over and epoxy.
6. Yep....they're slick as hell when new/wet. This gets somewhat better with age. You can put some type of sand/grit into either type of coating when you apply it to make either "non-skid", but the texture also makes it hard to clean.
7. Rustoleum's industrial coatings are only so-so.
8. Moisture "wicking up" through the concrete (salt in ground & moisture) will peel up any coating.
9. Clear concrete "sealers" (sodium silicate) are pretty darn good, but do wear through much, much faster than epoxy or urethane coatings. Also, epoxy/urethane coatings have a very hard time sticking to concrete sealer. Hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid) can dissolve sodium silicate & open up the pores of the concrete for better adhesion. The acid must be rinsed afterwards with water & the concrete allowed to dry super, super well before coating.
 
I used epoxy-coat.com and it turned out better than expected. Gray based coat purple, gray, white and black flake, glow in the dark flake on stairs clear epoxy on top, and a polyurethane topcoat. I'm still organizing garage so I haven't driven on it yet but have knocked over a heavy box of vintage tools & files from 4 feet and not a scratch. I also used a diamond grinder from HD to prep the floor. I had a couple of buddies come help...pizza and beer labor!

20180715_101951.jpg 20180714_103743.jpg 20180713_204354.jpg
 
Last edited:
I sell paint for a living. The most durable coatings for garage floors are 100% solids epoxy. Like PurpleBeeper said above, the open working time is only between 30-60 minutes, so you have to have the floor prepped and ready to paint before mixing. Yes, they are a high gloss so very slippery when wet but that is also what makes them so durable, nothing sticks to it so it stays clean. You can lessen that problem by broadcasting an aggregate ( very course sand-like substance- regular sand is too fine) in the final top coat when it is still wet. This reduces the slippery problem but also allows dirt to accumulate in the rougher surface. One of the reasons why it is so durable is because one coat of the epoxy is equivalent in thickness to 10-15 coats of regular floor paint. So even if it's 2-3 times the cost of regular paint, you are getting much more for your money in the long run. The brand I sell is Corotech, which is made by Benjamin Moore. I have a customer who is a painting contractor who does multi-million dollar homes and he uses this product on all the garages. I'm attaching the TDS ( technical date sheet) for you to see what's involved in using this type of coating.
 

Attachments

  • 20170317 Corotech V430_TDS CAE.pdf
    87.5 KB · Views: 384
I used a solvent based epoxy on the floor of my old garage. Loved it. I had the crete guys do a broom finish on it when the finished as opposed to a trowel so it could have a better grip surface to adhere to. Kept it covered up with flattened hood/fender boxes, worked at a body shop so no cost, for 90 days until it was time to roll it. I did do two blunders. One was it was still damp in places from washing it off the day before. I tried to dry the spots by putting brake clean on it to dry. Wrong! It blistered up from the trapped moisture. Should have used heat or waited. The other blunder, which became obvious half way through the job, that even though my buckets were the same color, tan, they were all a different shade. Every 100' sq section I did was a different shade of tan. Next time I'll dump all the color into one big bucket, mix it well, then put it back into the smaller ones for the final mix with the 2nd part.
 
What product was that? I would hope the same lot would be really close to the same color. One of my friends did his garage and it was different colors too. He used the Lowes/HD Rustoluem stuff.
 
I used a solvent based epoxy on the floor of my old garage. Loved it. I had the crete guys do a broom finish on it when the finished as opposed to a trowel so it could have a better grip surface to adhere to. Kept it covered up with flattened hood/fender boxes, worked at a body shop so no cost, for 90 days until it was time to roll it. I did do two blunders. One was it was still damp in places from washing it off the day before. I tried to dry the spots by putting brake clean on it to dry. Wrong! It blistered up from the trapped moisture. Should have used heat or waited. The other blunder, which became obvious half way through the job, that even though my buckets were the same color, tan, they were all a different shade. Every 100' sq section I did was a different shade of tan. Next time I'll dump all the color into one big bucket, mix it well, then put it back into the smaller ones for the final mix with the 2nd part.

The two mistakes you made are quite common. The first with moisture : concrete is very porous. You will get moisture two ways.
One, from cleaning and not allowing the concrete to dry long enough. One way to speed it up is to put dehumidifiers in the garages. they will actually suck the moisture out of the concrete floor. The second way is if you have a high water table under the garage and/or no vapor barrier was put down. That's a problem that will be ongoing. Also, if relative humidity is too high outside on the day you paint, drying time and finish will be affected.

The second mistake of different shades is also common. Even if what 69L48Z27 said is correct, about all cans being the same lot, it is recommended to "box" the paint ( mixing multiple cans together in a large container to get consistent shading). This is a must do when using custom colors!!!
 
Since I'll be doing all types of fab work including welding I didn't think epoxy would be a good choice and instead acid stained mine then sealed it. My thoughts were epoxy burns and will get burn marks all over it from the welding whereas sealer should hold up better, be easier to touch up and can be waxed as well. My floor was stained to mimic natural stone/slate so the variety of color also makes blemishes less noticeable. I can take a better pic but this is all I have at the moment.
20180520_205034.jpg
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top