May I ask how much did it cost you?
I have a 3 car garage.............

 

If I remember about $1150 (that includes shipping). Go to thier web site and design you own and price out. http://www.motormat.com

 

I used the epoxy paint from Griots Garage. Looks and works great. It;s like having another room.

 

There are actually several options you can go with for a durable finish. Standard latex paint will work, but won't last as long as paint made specifically for concrete (BEHR makes a good product and Home Depot, etc. carries it).

You can also buy a variety of concrete stains. You will have to get these from a contractor supply house. Once the stain is applied, you cover it with a sealer (also available from contractor supply house). The clear sealer can be re-applied as needed in the future. For proper staining, you need to apply two coats and power wash after the second coat dries.

There is also another product called SprayRite (available from contractor supply houses). This is a two-part system. The base coat is troweled on the surface using a rubber float (same thing you would use to grout tile). The top coat is then applied using a standard drywall texturing gun. Pre-cut stencils of various patterns (brick, tile, stone, etc.) are available as well; the stencil would be placed on the floor after the base coat dries and is removed immediately after spraying the top coat.

All of these will work on any age of concrete. The key is surface preparation. The older the surface, the more cleaning is required. In your case, as long as you do not have oil stains on your floor, a good power washing with TSP (Tri-sodium Phosphate - available at most hardware stores) will be sufficient.

I would recommend the SprayRite as my first choice (no, I don't make or sell it, but have used it in a variety of applications). It is easy to apply and the finished surface has texture. It won't get slick/slippery when it gets wet like a painted or stained surface will. This product can also be used on any fairly rigid material except fiberglass or rubber. It is also easy to fix small scratches/gouges (you mix up a small amount of the material and touch-up the affected area). I would not expect much damage though; it is very durable. Color and pattern combinations are limited only by your imagination; it you can make a template for it, you can create it.

For cost comparisons: paint= $16 - 20/gallon (80 SF); stain=$25-$50/gallon, depends on color choice (150-180 SF) + the sealer cost; SprayRite= $1.50/SF professionally done (you can buy the product in 5 gal. pails for about $40/each; one pail will cover a pretty large area). Note: these are the prices for my area, yours may be different.

I hope this helps :)

If you want more info, drop me an email.

 

I must warn you all.......the BEHR "One Step Epoxy" (it's in a single gallon can, no mixing, like real epoxy should) DOES NOT WORK. I watched a neighbor put it on his floor after a very careful prep phase. He waited a full 5 days before he put his Benz on it. When he pulled out the next morning, it ripped the paint off in a full tire patch right down to the concrete, clean as a whistle. He was more than a little mad about it, let me tell you. Anyway, he ended up putting down those plastic interlocking tiles sold at Depot.....Tylok? Looks okay, but he's still fuming about that BEHR paint. DON"T USE THAT One Step CRAP!!! (They make great wall paint, by the way)

 

Like tracy, I did mine in U-Coat- It.

It is very easy to apply, has no odor, and does a good job. My garage was 30 years old had had lots of grease and oil on it. (It had very little or no Armor-All spilled on it. If you have Armor all, which contains silicones on the floor... I wouldn't even bother to try to get paint to stick to it.) I scrubbed the heck out of the floor, using Simple Green, followed by U coat It's cleaners, and then Muriatic acid. Used a push broom, lots of water to flush it afterwards.

I did have a couple of spots that lifted at the tire patch, but I assume it was due to my having the floor WAAAAYYY too wet when I applied the first coat. Damp is what is needed, NOT wet. I simply got the first coat on way too thin.

If you use the "grit" to make the floor non-slip, use about one third or half the amount supplied. I can vouch for it working, and for it being difficult to squeege with a lot of grit..... but I really like the non-skid feature, and I would use it if I did it again.

U- Coat -It were very nice to work with. I recommend the complete package, including the cleaners and degreasers. I used their repair epoxy on the wider cracks, and it worked great.

here's a couple of pics

 

Sorry for the late response. If you go to FAQ on their web page the first question answers your question. They will even give you an online estimate. I have a 3 car garage and I got the `granite look' which cost ~$1400 ( i had it done over a year ago ). You also get a 5 or 10 year warranty ( I can remember which I got :crazy:).


[Modified by gustavob, 5:15 PM 11/26/2001]

 

I need to chime in on this too. I've noticed a bunch of posts on this in the last month or so. Since I am currently unemployed, what a great time to spend some quality time in the garage. I had seriously thought about doing the Armstrong tiles in the checkerboard pattern, but figured between the tile seams and the softness of the tile, clean up would be tough, and I wasn't sure how the tile would hold up under floor jacks and stands and such. So I ended up going with paint. One poster mentioned Behr paint and his dislike. I used Behr. Followed all the steps in the process. Degrease first, then acid wash. Those two steps took one full day to get the floor completely clean, then dry. I probably etched 3-4 times. The key is letting the floor dry. The next step is a concrete bonding primer. This is supposed to coat 300 sq ft per gallon. I have a slightly large 2 car garage...a little over 420 feet. So I mixed two gallons of primer in a bucket. Wouldn't you know it...barley used any after the first coat, so I ended up doing about 3-4 coats of primer. Another day to dry. Then the top coat. Also did two coats of this. Coverage is as advertised on the paint. It was their one part epoxy. Odor wasn't too bad. Then waited about 4 days before moving cars back into garage. The instructions recommend putting cardboard under your tires for the first week or so. I did this and have had absolutely zero hot tire pickup. The floor looks GREAT. Nice shine, not too slippery, and oil and other gunk cleans up easily. The only issue I had was getting the primer mixed properly. It is the consistency of milk, with this gooey stuff in it. Some of the gooey stuff would not mix into the primer and stuck to the roller. This then stuck to the floor and made a mess. I had to scrape these chunks of goo off the floor before I top coated. I think I missed about 3 spots, and sure enough, that is the only places the top coat isn't perfect. Hope this helps.

 

Black 2001-

Congrats on getting the BEHR one-step to work. Have you parked hot, wet tires on it yet? Hopefully, your extraordinary preparations for getting this stuff to stick will continue to be worth the effort. But be careful with brake fluid.....

But.......for the rest of you, why risk it? :confused: The UCOATIT product that I rave about (in my earlier post) is a full, complete kit with EVERYTHING you need for a 2 car garage except muriatic acid and a garden hose, and the cost is $250. Rollers, brushes, a five gallon bucket to mix the ingredients, paint stir sticks, protective gloves and goggles, instructional video (and good written instructions) and a huge thick plastic bag to throw it all away with. No primer, per se....just two very thin coats. The first coat is a 3-part mix of color, activator and "bonding agent", the top coat is a 2-part mix of the same color and activator (in separate cans!!). It all comes in several gallon and pint cans, so there is no measuring to do, at all. Just dump the stuff in the bucket, stir a bit and you're ready to go. The hard part, just like with any painting project, is the preparation (cleaning and acid washing of the floor). The more time and effort you spend on that step, the better the results will be. Scrub, scrub, scrub!!

This is so clearly a superior product....impervious to everything. Tires only leave a faint black mark when turning the wheels, etc, and this wipes off with a damp rag (this is on my light gray floor. The dark grey, red or blue is probably even better) And the cure time is 24 hours, period. Once this epoxy stuff "flashes" to the cured stage, it's all over. I had some paint left over that I kept in a sealed can and put in the refrigerator to use for "touch ups" the next day. It had become an absolute solid, hard block of plasticy junk, overnight. :eek: That's when I knew I could pull the car into the garage without any worries.

If you want to get fancy, you can mask and apply different colors, i.e. checkerboard. But that would be a nightmare, IMHO. I just wanted a nice, clean, shiney, permanent floor.

Caution: It is slippery when wet. Like a friggin' ice rink. Just ask my dog....poor thing bounces around in there like a hockey puck when her feet are wet!! I did not use the supplied grit, because I wanted super-easy broom and squeegee cleanup. In retrospect, I probably could/should have used a tiny amount in the main walkway area. (the grit gets sprinkled on the wet top coat....it's NOT mixed with the paint in the bucket)

I'm totally sold on this product, as if you couldn't tell.


[Modified by tracy, 11:12 AM 11/27/2001]