The Rustoleum kit at Home Depot or Lowe's works great. The key is prepping the floor correctly. Acid etch it with the acid that comes in the kit. If oils stains remain after etching, do it again until they're gone. The concrete must be clean or else it will flake. Another important thing is to put the Rustoleum clear coat over the epoxy/flake kit. Home Depot and Lowe's did not carry the clear coat, so I ordered it online. It adds a beautiful shine to your floor and it will keep the epoxy from flaking or chipping. Overall cost was about $200 for a two car garage.

 

well... i guess the only way to sum this thread up:

You know what they say about opinions right?

 

Just finished my garage floor using BEHR 1 part epoxy paint made for concrete floors. First put down 1 coat of of their bonding agent and then 2 coats of the paint. Look on their web site and you'll see many photos, info, etc. It came out great. Just type in Behr paints.

 

Three car garage, 33'9" wide x 23' deep in the two car section (approx 21' wide) and 21' deep in the 1 car section (12'9" wide). It was actually going to be about $2900 for the BASIC coating, not the 1/4" flecks (I didn't like the rough surface finish of that). Total space was 750ish SF in the garage. That's an all inclusive price at $3.95 per SF, but still, considering we'll be selling in 3-4 years, it's too much to swallow. I'm probably going to do an acid-etch and then some light grinding myself and do a u-coat-it.

 

I can not recommend U-Coat-It.

I had mine "professionally" installed in July of last year. It took nearly one week to cure (installer claimed that it was bad material from U-Coat-It). There are still areas that did not cure and are still tacky (does a great job cathing spiders). Now there are several areas that are peeling. The installer and U-Coat-It are still supposedly "trying to figure out what needs to be done to make it right"

I'm sorry U-Coat-It but I've been silent about this floor situation for 10 months - it's time to step up and make good on your warranty!

Buyer beware

 

Here's another plug for VCT. I've had mine down for (2) winters and my wife brings in the salt, snow and rain. Just clean and polish each spring and they're as good as new. Here's a pic

 

Sounds like the contractor mixed the product wrong or not enough... generally what you dsescribes is the result. Epoxy in general is dated though; there are much much better coating options out there these days. Just out of curiosity have you contacted U coat it yourself? Or is that just what the contractor told you? Obviously he did not prep correctly either if it is peeling... Your end result is unacceptable and i hope you did not pay for it!

VCT isnt bad there is a reason it is in a lot of comercial buildings however there is too much maintenance for a homeowner... if you do not keep finish on the tile oil and everything else will permanently stain the tiles because they are very pourous. In general you have to pull mostly everything out of the garage and strip and wax the floor twice a year costing about 100 dollars in product every time... do the math of your labor and material cost to maintain the floor and it doesnt make sense in a garage. Even at once a year refinishing it. However if you keep it maintained it will last a very long time and look good most of the time.
-Matt

 

A question I haven't seen addressed is how do you remove the peeling Rustoleum type coating? I assume you've got to basically strip the whole floor before recoating but how do you accomplish this?

 

A concrete grinder polisher... this is a very expensive machine with very expensive tooling on the bottom. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!

This is something best done by a pro... however homedepot has some rental machinery that can remove the coating but it is expensive and slow!

Removing the coating any other way is a PITA

any other questions just pm me...

 

Yep, I have tried speaking with U-Coat-It.

They are hiding behind the fact that their warranty is with the installer (an authorized U-Coat-It distributor). U-Coat-It won't give me the time of day, their approach to "Customer Service" stinks.

10 Months and no resolution.

 

If you are lucky, a power washer will do it. It depends on the quality of prep done prior to using the Rustoleum (or whatever brand is failing). You can rent a shot blaster at Home Depot for a reasonable amount and shot blast the coating off, however you need to be skilled at using one of these or you will pit your concrete something fierce. You can pit the concrete if you intend on resurfacing or using a self-leveling floor coating that will fill the pits, but that is EXPENSIVE. I was fortunate and did not have that kind of trouble. Here's what my garage looked like 2 months after Rustoleum was applied by the previous owner -




I used a GOOD power washer - not one of those Home Depot specials. 3000 psi at 3GPM. You need good water flow, not just psi... The Rustoleum came off in sheets -



You can see the concrete underneath was smooth - poor etching. I re-etched the floor with muriatic acid and water and let it dry for a couple days with fans blowing on it. You can also see that I didn't get the floor PERFECTLY cleared of the old coating, but it has made no difference in the performance of the new one.



And then I finished with Sherwin-Williams Tile Clad II Epoxy - just a standard 2-part industrial epoxy; nothing special.



I'm on my 3rd summer with this coating and it looks just as good as the day I put it down. Prep is the key, quality product is a close second.

 

Yes this product does peel if you don't prep it right, I did mine with this and am trying to sell house, cheap product and looks good. But does not last, going to try U-coat-it check out the web..

 

I just found out that POR-15 has a kit now.....pricey, but given their reputation, I may give it a shot.

 

I did the whole Rustoleum thing nine months ago. Floor six mos old, prepped as per instructions and TODAY tire marks showed up!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yes... DONT SHOT BLAST! Not an ideal way of removing a coating and it actually weakens the concrete! A pressure washer... you would have to be very lucky to get it off with that!

If a homeowner must do it sanding disks or a grinder is still the way to go.

 

Well...

I just finished having my garage done by a professional this weekend and all I can say is WOW! I will post pics tomorrow. I was going to wait until I finished the whole makeover but...no need to wait.

I did everything myself in the past with other garages to save money from painting, to carpet, to you name it. Yes, they all looked great for the 1st year but after that..things started to wear and back to Lowes I go for a touch up. I always ended up having to re-do or simply live with it. Those who actually use the garage daily...meaning, they park their daily driver on it and are in and out of the garage a lot will put the product to the test quicker than one who does not.

My garage floor gets used and some times abused by the cars, bike and lawn equipment. Entry & exit of the house 90% of the time is through the garage. So this time I wanted a floor that will stand up to the test and look good today and 5yrs from now under what I consider NORMAL wear and tear. I calculated the cost of materials, labor involved for the applications (1st time and re-do time) and decided to go with a pro.

So I found a professional installer here in Florida who convinced me he had a product that he guaranteed would work. I trolled this thread for a while, enhancing my knowledge base and was ready for the work to be done. The work was performed this past weekend and I was able to put my car and bike in the garage in less than 24hrs! Cured, shiny and hard as a ROCK! The floor looks AWESOME and shows promise. The preperation and wait time between coats took more than the actual application itself. So prep work is the key. I'm sure there are machines out there to rent. So if you do not use a machine and the right chemicals to prep the concrete....good luck. As they where doing the work, I was going over in my head what I did in the past. I thought I did over kill in the past but I was not even close to what went into this prep job.

The only issue I have is the Sh*ty paint job I performed prior to the floor work.. I had a vision and went with it. Oh well....

So stay tuned as I will post pics tomorrow.