Opinion/Experience with epoxy flooring for shop or garage?
08-20-18, 01:52 PM
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My nephew built a 4 and a half bay pole garage. Just after the floor had cured he did an epoxy coating and it is holding up well. A couple of his friends tried it on their garages with poor results - most likely that was due to poor or no preparation.
My garage is bare concrete, stained from oil drips and other spills and I don't mind that at all. After all it is a potentially nasty workspace.
My garage is bare concrete, stained from oil drips and other spills and I don't mind that at all. After all it is a potentially nasty workspace.
08-20-18, 07:49 PM
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I'm a C&V bike and classic car guy. I have epoxy painted two garage floors myself. It is a lot of work to prepare and coat the floors. Plus, the material cost is high for quality epoxy coating.
In my view it transforms the garage. It is easy to keep the floor clean. The floor reflects the light and brightens the space. It is easy to clean up all kinds of spills.
If one can afford the material cost and have the time to do it, I highly recommend it.
In my view it transforms the garage. It is easy to keep the floor clean. The floor reflects the light and brightens the space. It is easy to clean up all kinds of spills.
If one can afford the material cost and have the time to do it, I highly recommend it.
I think I'm a bare concrete kind of guy. The occasional drop of dirty degreaser, the spatter from a cutting torch, the mud and grit from a winter MTB ride all just add to the "patina."
Brent
09-01-18, 06:39 AM
#28
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This thread motivated me to paint my garage floor. I'd been thinking of it to make it easier to clean and find little parts I drop while wrenching on my bikes. I went to Lowe's, bought white concrete paint and acid wash for about $50. One day I washed the floor with the acid, let it dry overnight and painted it the next day. It took a little over an hour each day. The hardest part was getting all the stuff off the floor and out of the way.
Here's the garage before with a Warmshowers guest posing.
Here it is after. I can't believe the amount of light there is reflecting from it.
Marc
Here's the garage before with a Warmshowers guest posing.
Here it is after. I can't believe the amount of light there is reflecting from it.
Marc
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09-01-18, 07:04 AM
#29
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What is that!
You need to get the current owner a going away present for his Brit cars....
Positive earth!
verktyg
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Don't believe everything you think! History is written by those who weren't there....
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Chas. ;-)
09-01-18, 07:08 AM
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About three years ago we moved and I wanted to coat the garage floor. I knew once I moved all my junk in it would never get done since moving everything out again would be too much of a hurtle.
Of course I thought I wanted to use epoxy. After a lot of research I changed my mind. Now don't get me wrong, a quality epoxy job is probably the best you can do, but the cost/prep/chance of screwing it up just seemed daunting.
There is one more consideration that seldom gets mentioned. Repairability. Even if prep is perfect sometime something might happen to damage the coating. Can you fix it and how hard is it?
I found a company website Welcome to Legacy Industrial, Epoxy Garage Floor Coating Kits, Polyaspartic Urethane, Concrete Stain Sealers They sell all kinds of products including epoxy. Lots of diy info. I finally settled on a colored sealant product.
Products :: Concrete Sealers :: HD6525MMA Concrete Sealer
I have no connection to them.
All I did was degrease and acid wash. The stuff rolls on and dries fast. (I live in CO, everything dries fast).
After three years I recently put a new coat on. This is what I like best. Any damaged areas can be recoated and look perfect in no time. I redid the entire floor in a couple of hours (three plus car garage).
Total costs for 800+ sq feet was less than $400 and I have left over material for future repairs. It holds up pretty well. High use areas will need another coat every three years or so but it's so easy to do.
Some solvents will eat it away. I had a spot that this happened on but again, just put some more down.
Since you have paint down you're going to have to get it off no matter what product you use. I know Home Depot has a floor buffer attachment for this.
Here's the finished floor:
Of course I thought I wanted to use epoxy. After a lot of research I changed my mind. Now don't get me wrong, a quality epoxy job is probably the best you can do, but the cost/prep/chance of screwing it up just seemed daunting.
There is one more consideration that seldom gets mentioned. Repairability. Even if prep is perfect sometime something might happen to damage the coating. Can you fix it and how hard is it?
I found a company website Welcome to Legacy Industrial, Epoxy Garage Floor Coating Kits, Polyaspartic Urethane, Concrete Stain Sealers They sell all kinds of products including epoxy. Lots of diy info. I finally settled on a colored sealant product.
Products :: Concrete Sealers :: HD6525MMA Concrete Sealer
I have no connection to them.
All I did was degrease and acid wash. The stuff rolls on and dries fast. (I live in CO, everything dries fast).
After three years I recently put a new coat on. This is what I like best. Any damaged areas can be recoated and look perfect in no time. I redid the entire floor in a couple of hours (three plus car garage).
Total costs for 800+ sq feet was less than $400 and I have left over material for future repairs. It holds up pretty well. High use areas will need another coat every three years or so but it's so easy to do.
Some solvents will eat it away. I had a spot that this happened on but again, just put some more down.
Since you have paint down you're going to have to get it off no matter what product you use. I know Home Depot has a floor buffer attachment for this.
Here's the finished floor:
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09-01-18, 08:36 PM
#31
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Nice work on the floors guys! Thanks for the alterative suggestions.
still 10 days out from closing, so I'll have a better idea once I see it empty.
Current owner is planning to drive both cars to his new place (3 blocks away). One needed resr diff work and the other had no seats when I was there Faw weeks back.
My dad owned a 1968 Triumph Bonneville. Electrics were a mess and it dripped oil. It was black, no fenders, and had straight pipes. It also had a "Clear Hooter" horn.
still 10 days out from closing, so I'll have a better idea once I see it empty.
Current owner is planning to drive both cars to his new place (3 blocks away). One needed resr diff work and the other had no seats when I was there Faw weeks back.
My dad owned a 1968 Triumph Bonneville. Electrics were a mess and it dripped oil. It was black, no fenders, and had straight pipes. It also had a "Clear Hooter" horn.
09-02-18, 11:10 AM
#32
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Concrete flooring is hard! That's the only thing I don't like about it. If you drop something, it is almost certain to be damaged or broken.
What would I do?
1. Start with an empty garage and pressure wash (spray) the floor. If that was not satisfactory,...
2. Home Depot also has a special attachment for their pressure washers rentals which is designed especially for cleaning concrete floors..
3. Some sort of resilient flooring sounds good to me.
Ceramic or porcelain tile is something I would not do. It is still hard! Dropping the wrong item (like a hammer or chisel) or putting too much localized pressure will crack the tiles. The grout is even more porous than the concrete. There's no gain.
What would I do?
1. Start with an empty garage and pressure wash (spray) the floor. If that was not satisfactory,...
2. Home Depot also has a special attachment for their pressure washers rentals which is designed especially for cleaning concrete floors..
3. Some sort of resilient flooring sounds good to me.
Ceramic or porcelain tile is something I would not do. It is still hard! Dropping the wrong item (like a hammer or chisel) or putting too much localized pressure will crack the tiles. The grout is even more porous than the concrete. There's no gain.
Last edited by Bad Lag; 09-02-18 at 11:16 AM.
09-11-18, 07:08 AM
#33
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Well, we closed on the house yesterday!
Aside from the little British car "leavings", the floors are in really good shape. Much better than I expected.
I'm thinking degrease/wash and then see where things are at. Probably go with a non-epoxy option. Thanks again for all the good suggestions.
The PO left behind some nice benches, full pegboard, and a Union Jack license plate.
Aside from the little British car "leavings", the floors are in really good shape. Much better than I expected.
I'm thinking degrease/wash and then see where things are at. Probably go with a non-epoxy option. Thanks again for all the good suggestions.
The PO left behind some nice benches, full pegboard, and a Union Jack license plate.
09-11-18, 07:41 AM
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Looks good. Good luck!
Although I'm guessing the little lady has one or two projects to do before the garage floor!😁
Although I'm guessing the little lady has one or two projects to do before the garage floor!😁
03-09-19, 11:05 PM
#36
Still learning
03-09-19, 11:29 PM
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Heh. Replacement wiring harness smoke. When I was helping a friend with his 1975 Jensen Healy one night, we found the original wiring harness smoke was still in pretty good supply. 
Up until that time, both the MGs I'd owned, and my Rover TC2000 had led exemplary electrical lives and I couldn't understand why so many people made those jokes about "Lucas - Prince of Darkness." That Jensen gave us a facefull of it, though.
Up until that time, both the MGs I'd owned, and my Rover TC2000 had led exemplary electrical lives and I couldn't understand why so many people made those jokes about "Lucas - Prince of Darkness." That Jensen gave us a facefull of it, though.
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● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
03-09-19, 11:57 PM
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nice A & B
nah looks like he's only doing routine maintenance & minor tinkering, not really "restoring" nut&bolt
But guarantee you'll have floors stained with LBC (=Little British Car) fluids... engine oil, gearbox oil, diff oil, Armstrong shock oil, steering rack oil, SU carbs oil & fuel (but these usually drip onto exhaust manifold first), coolant overflow, leaking fuel... they like to mark their territory
Ben
03-10-19, 09:30 AM
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No experience with the stuff myself, but while in Phoenix recently, I've seen a few driveways also done up with the stuff. So don't be a cheapskate & only do the garage floor. 😆😉
