Ok I have a brand new house in FL which I am moving into the end of April, with a 2 car garage. Now I want to finish it before I get in there and I am noticing two different paints for it. One is the EpoxyShield.com which will only cost me $150 and the other is ucoatit.com with will cost me alittle over $500. Now the cost is not really an option but are they they same thing? Have any of you used these and how do you feel about your floor. Thanks for your time.
Jim

 

I put the Epoxyshield on the floor of my newly-built side garage. I am REALLY happy with 99.9% of the end-result and REALLY unhappy with the remaining .1%. I thoroughly cleaned the surface per the instructions. The application went fine, and everything looked GREAT. After about a week, several small areas around the perimeter (probably 2 square feet in total) started flaking up. It was only in these small areas, the rest of the floor was great. I suspect that it was a moisture problem with the new concrete (the floor was about a month old). I'm just going to "live with it" since the dogs track mud in and get everything dirty anyway.

PS - the problem HAS NOT spread over time.

 

Thanks, I have been thinking on this same subject. $450 for epoxyshield or $1600 for ucoatit.about 1800+ sq.ft. I keep telling myself it is a workshop and not a temple. I wanted something to look nice and stick.You have answered my questions. I hope I won't have the flaking problem. My slab is about 10 mos. old now so we will see.

 

I am going to be putting up a new shop. Thanks for posting this I didn't know about the epoxyshield.

 

I was going to do the u coat it system as well, but my dad works for MAB Paints and told me about the Epoxy Shield and can get it discounted for me as well. So I figured it post the questiond to the forum I know someone here had to of used it.

Thanks RCK1999 for your reply I appreciate it. Hopefull I will not have those issues as when I do it the slab will be less then 2 months old.

 

I thought I read that the concrete was supposed to cure/dry thoroughly before applying this stuff. I suspect you may be right and you may have just applied it too soon. That is the catch 22. You need it to dry out but the longer you wait the dirtier it gets.

 

7 years ago when I built my new house in Fla. I used Coronado brand 2 part epoxy garage floor paint. I let the new concrete slab age for @ 2 months. Then I cleaned and etched the slab with a muriatic (sp) acid solution. Paint coverage is @ 200 ft per gallon and it cost me @ $55 a gallon 7 years ago. In 7 years I did not have a spot that I could not remove with a damp cloth etc. It wears like iron. One caution it is a super shiny hard finish and when it is wet you have a skating rink,it is real slippery when wet. I hope this helps you out. Hep

 

I used U coat it, its been about 3 years now , 1 little spot where it lifted, thay sent me a repair kit free. If you clear coat it , make sure you put down pleanty of grit, otherwise its slippery when wet. All in all a great product, but pricey. Good luck Jim.

 

Welcome to FL. If it's new construction LET THE CONCRETE AGE at lLEAST two months.

 

I used epoxy shield a year or two ago, it has held up great except for a few little spots.

Whatever you do, make sure to coat the floor with something. When you drop a fluid, it puddles and wipes right up. When there is loose dirt, the compressor air blows the floor clean.

 

I did the Epoxy Shield last fall over 15 year old concrete. I was very careful with the prep and use carpet runners under the wheels with studded snow tires. The floor appears to be in great shape, but I'll let you know after it gets washed. It sure looks alot better than it did.

 

I used epoxy shield and was very disappointed. The first several months were good, but then sections began flaking up. Now 2 years later it looks like crap.
I'm going to strip it and put down commercial vinyl tile.

 

This is really a wide variety of opinions. It's also timely thread for me. I'm in a new home for 14 months and coating the floor is my Spring project. It seems a person is better off with the cheaper product. But, I always am dissappointed when I get the cheaper product. I love to read more responses.

 

anyone use the U-Coat IT system???

 

Check the parallel thread titled "Custom Tile Garage Floors, any reccomendations?" For other points of view on garage flooring ideas.

 

I used Epoxy Shield.

Above are some pics showing a bit of my garage floor. It has survived 2 winters - surface prep is crucial.

 

2 other ways to go here, look into the Bejamin Moore Indusrial line (epoxy coatings) they rate epoxies on there ability to resist not only abrasions but chemicals. The 2 best choices are...1- alaphatic epoxy and 2- polyamide epoxy, I chose the latter, I put it down in 96 and never looked back, it's really tough stuff. The floor should be cured at the very least 2 months but I would opt for 4 - 6. The best way to prep the floor if its new (if it's an older floor pressure wash it 1st and use an indusrial strength degreaser)is to wash any impurities off then etch it with muriatic acid then neutralize it, this can all be done with a 5gal. pail a push broom and a garden hose) let it dry at least a week (if you can borrow a moisture meter from your local paint store its a plus, so you can check the moisture content of the concrete). Then you want to put down a clear epoxy sealer and let it dry according to the directions, after you put down the 2nd ct. broadcast an aggregate very lightly over the entire garage floor.(They make an aggregate for this, the advantage of this over sand for ex. is the man made agg. has rounded edges so it wont prematurely burn through the finish coat). Then simply broom off the agg. after the 2nd ct is dry and apply your final ct. Keep the car off the floor at least 10 days. A couple of words of caution, to many cts of epoxy or any paint for that matter can crack the finish ct. no more than 4 total cts. should be applied. Another item to be concerned about is the fact that not all floors can be painted, if its a damp floor you will get what they call efflouressence which is white flaky lifting areas, if its very damp the hydrostatic pressure of the water will push the paint off. And lastly, epoxy cannot be applied over other types of finishes, it will lift them. Sorry for the long post but hope this helps.

 

Same here. Going to go with tile now to cover the crap.
Fred

 

If you use tile, wouldn't it get torn up pretty quickly if you need to jack the car up?

 

Hi jbatjr -

I put U-coatit on my floor when I did my garage -

It has been on for over a year now.

The kits come with rollers and all the stuff you need to apply except the acid for prepping the surface. I also bought an extension handle for the paint roller so I could apply it standing up.

I did the complete prep deal with muratic acid, scrub etc. on new (cured) concrete.

It was pricey and I did have some (environmental) trouble when I was applying - I had condensation forming when I attempted to apply the clear "gloss coat" and had to abort - Not the products fault but more temprature related....

When I called the U-coatit customer service, they said that I would have to sand and re-coat with the color coat as the coats bond chemically during the cure, and if you wait more then 16 hours after the color coat, the chemical bonding cannot occur.

The U-coatit folks told me they would cut me a deal on more color coat when it warmed up enough that spring. However, when I called them to get my "deal", they blew me off. I called a few times and they would not return my calls. I was rather disappointed by the lack of customer support for such a pricey product.

All of this said, I like the coating and would buy it again.
I would not do the gloss coat though - as stated in a prior post, these coatings get very slippery when wet - so I cannot even imagine having the glossier stuff on top....

I am happy with the results - I have a few minor places where the coating came off - about the size of a dime in three or four spots. I am not sure what caused this, but it must have been something on the floor in those spots.

I have a large Kawasaki touring motorcycle, and I can put it up on it's center stand and it does not break the surface of the U-coatit.

Oil and gas wipe right up, and the floor mops up nice and clean.

I have pictures of the garage on my web site at http://www.iammoon.com/garage.html

best regards -

mqqn