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Rust-oleum RockSolid Floor Coating Reviewed!

One thing to think of....if you are doing welding and torch cutting....epoxy floors will not stand up to the heat of hot slag. It will burn holes right through it. We had to convert an epoxy coated floor area at work to a "hot work" area, and the epoxy floors are looking really bad in a short time.

The sealed concrete is a good idea...and they also offer stains to color the concrete that look pretty nice. Staining/sealing doesn't do too much good if you already have the complimentary oil stains....they won't cover that whereas epoxy will cover that after thorough cleaning and etching.
 
Mate did this on his garage floor and it's still looking great, will find out what it's called...

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Happy to report the floor is holding up well. Today we moved the lift in. Had a tractor, trailer, jacks and cherry picker on the floor. Sliding tools and heavy lift parts around. After we got the lift together and everything cleared out I could not find any chips or scratches. This stuff cured really hard.
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If there's one thing I've learned it's that you can't trust the DIY people's ratings on things that involve PREP work. Most of us that know a little about bodywork take preparation seriously, when it comes to coatings that's the difference between complete failure and success.

Looks great, I'll keep that in mind for my addition that's being added.
 
It’s been a few months now and I just wrapped up some work on my Power Wagon. Did a little bit of everything on it. Jacks, stands, big hammers, grinding, welding, brake clean, brake fluid, oil, trans fluid, PB Blaster, creepers, air tools, rust. Anyway, lots of activity. I washed it down for the first time today with Simple Green.

When I used SG on the epoxy product it took the shine right off it, on my other garage I used it on. I was anxious to see if that would happen today. I did not, still nice and shiny like day 1. Still a little water on the floor in the picture. No chips, tire pick up, or marks on the floor yet. Holding up well. I did some MIG welding right over the floor and I didn’t see any burn marks either.
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Flooring is just over a year old. No lifting or anything I would consider an issue. It does scratch when you drag an engine block across it. Oops. Other than that I have a very small tire stain and some very light scratches from big stuff. Jacks, stands, engine hoist, engine stand, none of that even marked it. Washes down very easy. No chemical or fluid yet has done any damage or even changed the gloss.

Anyway, I would do it again.

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Thx. I did another floor with the flakes in epoxy and I didn't mind it. Just have to get down a little lower and look across the floor.
Turn the lights off and use a flashlight down low across the floor. We used this technique in crime scene searches for footwear prints in dust and to locate hair and fibers on the floor.
 
You're right, gloss kinda goes away. Overall, I'm satisfied with mine. 30yr old concrete & probably not good enuf prep. Got a little liftoff of concrete underneath. Devin, it oughta work real good on new concrete. My youngest has had no problems with any lifting.
 
Every so often I'll see a thread asking about floor coatings and there seems a lot of questions from the DIY community, me included. This Fall I had the opportunity to build a garage and I had to make a decision on what to do with the floor. I like the look of a painted floor and I wanted a tough coating. After what felt like months of internet surfing I chose the Rustoluem Rocksolid stuff you can buy at the big box stores locally or Amazon. All the pro-products seemed to be well over $1k for material. For reference I'm working with a 800 sqft space.

This stuff has a 50% rating, 3 stars or less on most websites and YouTube videos. But, nothing out there has a good rating in the DIY space. Here's what people said the problems are:
- Poor coverage - they said double what they say you need.
- Color issues - not matching between kits.
- Bad Finish - gloss in some areas, dull in others.
- Fish Eyes, Seperation

After all this bad stuff you'd find a good rating scattered in, but consistently coverage was a problem.

Here's what I chose:
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Next was to put a plan together. I could tell the most of the issues were prep and not understanding how this stuff would flow out. This is not 'epoxy' but rather Polycuramine. Same principle, two parts mixed and you have 45 minutes of pot life @70*F.

Clean, clean, clean, and then clean some more. This being a new pour I didn't think it was that dirty, wrong. I cleaned the floor with simple green and stripper first then did it again with a pressure washer, in hindsight I should have done it once with the pressure washer. Once cleaned and dry I had to decide wether to add a step and apply moisture block. I did make this choice just because I didn't know if I had moisture and I didn't have time for the moisture test. Minor step and small cost so it was a no-brainer.
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Etch then moisture block and dry again. Follow the directions on both, simple as that.

Ready to paint!

Heat - the instructions say 40-90*F but I wouldn't recommend anything less than 60*, cure time goes way up and you risk moisture issues. This time of year you can't do this without heat.

The box says 400-500sqft cover for a 2.5 car garage. Based on all the reviews I knew that wasn't going to work. I got one extra 2.5 car kit giving me 1200-1500sqft of coverage in my 800sqft project. The texture of the floor really plays into this, the etch makes it like a 150 grit sanded surface. Rougher surface takes more product.

Color issue - I mixed all 6 kits together, color side only, in order to make sure the color stayed the same. I used a smaller bucket to then measure and mix in smaller portions. I did find that one packet of color was way off, it would have been an issue.

All-in-all I'm happy with the product. I did not run into any of the issues (sort of) except coverage but I was ready for that. I did use almost all the 6 kits, only a bit left. I did apply it thicker once I knew we had plenty but 4 bags would not have been enough.

Problems?!? For a DIY product none really to mention but I'm super critical of my own projects. I had a spot fish eye because of something silicon based on the bottom of my bucket, touching the bare concrete. No clue what it was but I have a spot that has the imprint of half a bucket bottom. My dispersion of the paint chips is not the best but once we get some traffic on it and load the garage up I'll never notice it. The gloss level is great and it's not slick at all with the chips in it. I also see a couple spots where color is different. No clue why because all the base color was mixed and the 'Part B' is clear. Very, very minimal and you have to look for it.

Time and Cost:
Time - a lot! Prep is where it's all at in any project. Time to paint with a helper trimming was under 4 hours.
Cost - $700. Kits are $209 at the Home Depot and Moisture Stop was $18/gallon, 3 needed.

In contrast the same prep is needed no matter what you do but product is half the cost of the pro grade stuff. I had an install quote with pro stuff at $7sqft, $5600. No thanks. I do realize how much labor is required on the prep side.

It's only been a couple days, I'll report back in a few months and let you know how it's holding up.
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Hi 69L48Z27
I'm thinking about using rocksolid for my garage floor too. How has it held up over the last 4.5 years? If you still recommend, do you have any thoughts on me adding a clear coat with grip additive over it?
 
Keep in mind that the high cost or a "pro" job will often include blasting or grinding of the surface as part of the prep. This is well worth the extra cost. And also keep in mind the "pro" job comes with a warranty !
 
Keep in mind that the high cost or a "pro" job will often include blasting or grinding of the surface as part of the prep. This is well worth the extra cost. And also keep in mind the "pro" job comes with a warranty !
A good prep is key!
 
Hi 69L48Z27
I'm thinking about using rocksolid for my garage floor too. How has it held up over the last 4.5 years? If you still recommend, do you have any thoughts on me adding a clear coat with grip additive over it?
Yeah its still good. The only thing that really hurt it was paint stripper. Was doing some body work and the air craft stripper discolored it and in a spot I went to clean it up with a putty knife and it lifted an area. I should have put some paper down. The gloss is dying back but that from harsh cleaners, over spray, spilled paint then cleaned up with acetone. Use and abuse. No other drama. I would do it again for sure. I’ll put it this way, there‘s no lifting or damage that I didn’t cause. The side with the lift still looks like the spray I did it.

No idea about the clear, I guess it would just build the thickness. I don’t think it would have helped with anything I noted. It only gets slick when I wash the floor down, other than that no slip issue.

4.5 years, how time flies.
 
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