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Got mine from Home Depot. An epoxy kit, 2 parts premeasured. All you do is squeeze the bag. Comes in tan or gray. Kit comes complete with acid wash which is way easier than it sounds. Took a day to sweep and acid wash, let dry. a day to apply the color and dry. Third day apply the clear. The kit comes with some of the flakes but not the clear topcoat. And the clear kit comes with some grit so you don't slip on the shiny new floor. Being extra cautious because I am getting to be an old man and not wanting to slip, I put extra grit down. I think it was a bit of overkill but I am completely happy with it. The hardest part was moving everything out of the garage. It also motivated me to DECORATE and turn the garage into MY GARAGE. Not many pics of the floor ( will be glad to share if you want) but check out the General Topics forum, AUTO EXTAS & MEMORABILIA forum and go to Any Cool Corvette Garage Ideas thread. Lots of motivational thoughts once you get your floor done.
I used the epoxy based Rustoleum product from HD on my old double car cement garage around 10 years ago, Do NOT use the Water based prod. They sell a filler product that is used on large cracks, but you can see where you used the stuff, so make sure it’s smooth. You will need to use a large drill to mix both gallons of the epoxy together, after you have cleaned and acid etched the floor. Follow all the instructions to the letter. My floor epoxy still looks great even after using floor jacks and the constant oil/tranny drippings from my 73. I do have an area where the garage door hits the concrete floor that has started to crack, but my house is over 40 years old, and it’s not the epoxy’s fault. Make sure to buy and extra bags of the paint fakes as they help to avoid slipping if the floor ever gets wet.
If you want paint go to sherwin Williams they are the experts. I built my garage 19 yrs ago.
they were very helpful they even sent a sales rep out to see the job. The 2 part epoxy does
smell bad but it has held up well. It did loose is shine but no pealing . I’d go talk to them .
good luck. I used the venal tile from Armstrong in my last garage it help up ok but jack stands will
crack the tiles.
Regardless of what method or product, or NONE, you use of coating if you wanna eliminate bugs, cracks were things fall into whether an expansion joint or other use polyurethane crack filler. Buy some caulk backer so you don’t waste the product. Tape the edges on Straight runs fill the self leveling polyurethane caulk. Reduce my bug population by 99.9% (and therfore vermin attractions?) including those potato bugs and ants. It remains flexible and is extremely durable. There are multiple brands out there. One of the best thing I ever did in the garage.
6 years later no damage Fills every defect in edge ..6 years later
Last edited by interpon; May 14, 2022 at 11:49 AM.
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My garage floor is so bad I'm embarrassed to post any pictures. Half tore up ceramic tile and rug glue from a previous owner man cave and the rest scratehed up floor paint. I'm too cheap and rough on floors to spend any $$ on it.
Had a painted floor with flecks one time. Looked good but really difficult to find dropped parts. Actually would bring my Labrador into the garage and after a few minutes I would invariably find the lost part in her mouth.
All concrete cracks eventually...no way around it. Chase it if you must. The thing about paint is it is almost a forever decision...you can never come back with a stain. Whatever you decide plan on doing it again in the future and figure in the cost/labor.
The most important part is getting the floor clean enough! I painted mine 20 years ago and still looks great. Preparation is 99% of the project. I used an acid wash on the floor before using a commercial garage floor paint. No peeling do to hot tires or anything!
I went simple.... light gray porch & patio floor paint. I put 12 by 12 vinyl floor tiles in the back corner where the pool table & diner booths are. I threw down a couple commercial grade rubber mats at the workbench, and my old Mobil gas station rug in the "rec" area. Simple, cheap. Only about 2 gallons to cover the whole garage.... 1000 square feet. In 30 some years, I only had to repaint it a couple times.
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After 20 years I decided to have the floor epoxied. Had it professionally installed and it looked great for a couple years. The problem we had was that when the garage was built the builder did not put a vapor barrier under the concrete and, since concrete is porous, the moisture leached through until it hit the epoxy. It then bubbled up and made a disaster of the floor.
I went with Racedeck flooring after that. Looks great. I do put steel plates under my jack stands to protect the surface. Only complaint is that they do sound "plasticy" when you drive over them.
Yes as you said the garage flooring ideas are a little different from others these areas are usually been accessed for vehicle repair and other garage works. The flooring material used in a garage needs to be tough enough to withstand tough weather conditions, such as moisture and sunshine and from engine oil leaks, wheel scrab etc. I have converted the bare concrete floor with an epoxy coating by stripping the old floor. It is always better to add epoxy coating over the floor as it is scratch resistant.
The problem we had was that when the garage was built the builder did not put a vapor barrier under the concrete and, since concrete is porous, the moisture leached through until it hit the epoxy. It then bubbled up and made a disaster of the floor.
This is an important distinction to point out for folks reading this. Concrete will absolutely transfer ground moisture to the surface. What that means is that even in a garage, your car is subject to air with higher humidity coming from underneath which will cause surface rusting. Unless you have a newer slab with a vapor barrier underneath, any surface treatments need to be able to withstand the moisture or allow it to pass through. I just have plastic sheeting under my cars during the winter when ground moisture is off-the-charts.
A couple thoughts I've toyed with are the industrial Armstrong flooring tiles (tough, but somewhat difficult to remove if needed) or sheet vinyl from big box (cheap & easily replaced) - the ultimate would be an old-school, end-grain wood block like used in factories of the 1800-1900s. Talk about decadent!
This is an important distinction to point out for folks reading this. Concrete will absolutely transfer ground moisture to the surface. What that means is that even in a garage, your car is subject to air with higher humidity coming from underneath which will cause surface rusting. Unless you have a newer slab with a vapor barrier underneath, any surface treatments need to be able to withstand the moisture or allow it to pass through. I just have plastic sheeting under my cars during the winter when ground moisture is off-the-charts.
The above is basically what I was going to reply. It was well-worded. Concrete still has to 'breathe'. It would be nice to have someone core through your concrete to see what's underneath. Is it insulated below? how well? If it is, I bet it isn't much. But at this point, it's probably a moot point.
How about just getting ...or having an outfit come in and grind smooth the un-level areas where the cracks are (if there are unlevel surfaces). And then re-stain it? You could tape off and stain a pattern if you wanted. Once good thing about cracks is they let moisture through ..believe it or not. And they are your defacto expansion joints too. I've known a few homeowners who spent some coin getting their old garage floors re-leveled and epoxied. Looks great for about 2 or 3 years, then starts flaking off, cracking where it was cracked before. If the concrete below isn't really good, yer going to have problems eventually.
If you could get a good deal on bulk tile, or leftover lots, you could apply that. Tile is really hard. Where the cracks are, you'd want to use like a latex caulk (in strips parallel to the crack/s) as an adhesive underneath (where tiles bridge the cracks). ..so the floor can move and the adhesive can 'flex' beneath ...and not break the tiles. The cracks are your defacto expansion joints now. The concrete made them. You could keep handy a few pieces of 3/16" metal to put under jack stands and your floor jack wheels to protect the tiles.
And tiles are easy to remove too ...if the day comes to take them off. A pneumatic hammer with a wide spade bit will flake them right off!! LOL
in August I installed a Race Deck flooring system
it took about 2 full days following there recommendations for installation
it went down easily with any cutting along one side and the back area of the shop
it really pays to get the measurements right as I found all my diligence paid off when I got to the exact location of support poles in the center of the 2 car garage area and since I opted to have a light color surround and a dark color directly under the cars it was imperative that it all line up
Its the best thing I have done in my fun place it has stopped the duty dirty conditions from the concrete floor it cleans easily and my tool chests roll way over it and do not get stuck
my case maybe different but the 721 sq ft space looks great thanks for all the suggestions painting it would never have come close be it epoxy or paint
yes, i thought about the warping issue. And jacks/jack stands.
but, which of the floor tiles is better? don't they compress if i use a jack/stands?
what floor prep would be needed?
thank you,
just did my floor .. this is want I did .. I used Benjamin Moore 2 part epoxy paint than I used a separate clear coat on top make sure when you apply clear coat it must be applied within 24 to 48 hours after paint !! Step 1 wash concrete floor with muriatic acid Then power wash thoroughly… Let’s try for 24 hours then mix Epoxy paint follow direction carefully. Apply paint with a 1/4 inch roll , If you need a second coat unfortunately you have to buy another gallon of paint and the Epoxy mix because the paint will dry up overnight in the can .. if you want to put down the flakes for an added touch now is the time to do it.. Then put on your clearcoat 24 to 48 hours after the Epoxy paint.
I waited five days then I pulled in the good old 75
I would have loved to have done that, but my option was easier.
My garage floor is 35 years old with numerous spills oil stains, and cracks.
I had 2 people in the paint industry look at and both said the only way was to grind the floor.
now that would have been expensive and time consuming, then fill the cracks, and prime and then coat it
all told it would have been 2 to 3 weeks with everything out of the garage.
in stead, everything was out 1 weekend. All done, no wait to cure looks great i will post pics later
