Epoxy Garage Flooring

Merlin

Merlin

A Miracle Detailing
I'm getting ready to do my garage floor and I'm interested in getting flake epoxy installed.

Any feedback or thoughts would be appreciated.
 
I used a kit from home depot at work in a concrete entrance to the building... over a year later it still looks awesome. Lots of foot traffic, dollies, and rolling bowling bags. No chips or anything.

Can't speak for it having cars parked on it, but I plan to do my garage floor with it as well at some point
 
get a seasoned professional to do it. tire lift can be a problem with lesser jobs in hot areas like florida. they will do a proper prep similar to polishing a car before wax. in my case they had to sand off 6 years of repeated home depot failures. it was a line x dealer with accessories that did it for me.
 
I did my garage floor myself and had no tire lift until we were flooded during the hurricane. Now it is a PITA becasue epoxy really only sticks to roughted up or eched concrete.

I used a waterbased system but the "better" systems are solvent based. Mine lasted 5 years flawlessly and I park a sports car with wide, hot tires on it with out issue. You can see where the tires "sit" but this can happen to tiles and paint or bare concrete as well. It is very light but i am sharing my experience.

First time around I used Multi-Clean waterborne it. I am looking at a solvent product from Westcoat if i choose to move up to a nicer looking floor with a clear coat. My Multi-Clean looked great east to clean and was not slippery. I wonder why I am looking at other coatings. I guess it is the part of me that loves my garage.
 
Merlin said:
I'm getting ready to do my garage floor and I'm interested in getting flake epoxy installed.

Any feedback or thoughts would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
I installed the UCoatIt system 7 years ago when I built my home. It was both pricey and took me over 40 hours to install in a 1700 sq. ft. garage. That said, when washed it looks like the day it was put down. I've loved it. Holds up to welding fairly well, squeaky stuck jack wheels not quite so well.
 
You will need a industrial type of Epoxy Coating from a professional paint store and maybe have it done by a professional painter that will back up his work. Once done I recommend you stay off of it to give it time to cure so you won't have problems later on...like hot tire lift off......
 
I've been researching for quite a while, Merlin. Like everything else, it's all in the prep. At the very least you'll need to be thoroughly etched, at the worst you may need some grinding.

The box store stuff. IMO, is the Turtle Wax of floor coatings. An industrial application will stand the test of time. U Coat It is spoken of consistently highly by DIYers. I'm going with an outfit called Armor Coat because they're within an hour of me if I need another gallon of this or that.

I'd prefer to throw money at it and have it done by professionals. My current streak with "pros" tells me I may as well do it myself. It's getting so you can't hardly pay anyone to do anything right anymore. Plus I can't have motorcycles, tool chests and detailing equipment sitting outside for a couple of days while someone else does the work. I'm going to have to move things around and do 1 bay at a time on a 3 1/2 car garage. Just another thing on the to-do list :-[

FWIW, solvent-based epoxy is almost a thing of the past due to VOC constraints. Reports I'm seeing say the water-based industrial strength applications are worthy. Sure has to be easier come clean-up time for brushes, rollers, etc.

TL
 
zoomzoom mazda5 said:
You will need a industrial type of Epoxy Coating from a professional paint store and maybe have it done by a professional painter that will back up his work. Once done I recommend you stay off of it to give it time to cure so you won't have problems later on...like hot tire lift off......
Click to expand...

"Hot tire liftoff" is what I always called it, I find that isn't the case. Rubber in it's natural state is hard like a hockey puck. What lifts paint where the tires sit is due to the softening agents integral to tires to make them pliable enough to be useable.

TL
 
I seen so many problems with this when the curing process is not taken and when a car park over it and the epoxy is taken right off from where the car was park and then pulled out.
 
I ordered a 100% solids epoxy to get a higher build than the OTC products. I flaked it to a heavy broadcast and layed down a chemical resistant urithane topcat for shine and uv protection. Same as detailing a car, all in the prep. Do yourself a favour and do it yourself. Save probably 4 bucks a square foot in the meantime.
 
TLMitchell said:
I've been researching for quite a while, Merlin. Like everything else, it's all in the prep. At the very least you'll need to be thoroughly etched, at the worst you may need some grinding.

I'd prefer to throw money at it and have it done by professionals....Plus I can't have motorcycles, tool chests and detailing equipment sitting outside for a couple of days while someone else does the work. I'm going to have to move things around and do 1 bay at a time on a 3 1/2 car garage. Just another thing on the to-do list :-[

TL
Click to expand...

I'm getting "pros" to do mine...In my case I'm thinking about ordering a unit from PODS and getting it delivered.
I'll empty the garage into the POD and secure it. Then put the stuff back a week later when the floor has cured.


9435200_orig.jpg


Garage%20floor%20woman%20iStock_000004290276.jpg
 
TLMitchell said:
I can't have motorcycles, tool chests and detailing equipment sitting outside for a couple of days while someone else does the work.
I'm going to have to move things around and do 1 bay at a time on a 3 1/2 car garage. Just another thing on the to-do list :-[
Click to expand...

That's a BIG garage!

I wound up borrowing a friends trailer and putting motorcycles, tools chest, detailing equipment etc. In the trailer and parked it right in front of my house.
It sure was easier. Everything can stay locked up until the floor dries (and a couple of days extra to be sure it's cured). Cleaning the garage was the pain!
 
Wow! That's looks awesome! Looked like a ton of prep work involved. Were they leveling/smoothing out the floor with that big machine?
 
Here's my 3 car garage. I had the floor done before I even moved onto the house since it was a brand new house to begin with I figured might as well epoxy the garage. A year later the floor is holding up awesome and I added new lights, Air Conditioning/heat, and Lista cabinets to the garage.



 
ski2 said:
Those of you who have Epoxy floors--Is the floor slippery when wet??
Click to expand...

I can only speak for my set up but I put enough flake in the finish that you need not tread lightly when the floor is wet. If I had it to do over I think I'd even put a bit more in it.
 
ski2 said:
Those of you who have Epoxy floors--Is the floor slippery when wet??
Click to expand...

Mine is not ultra smooth. It has tons of flakes and a few fine particles of ground glass for traction to the first coat of clear (over the flakes) and a touch of diamond crystals.

ShaneB said:
Wow! That's looks awesome! Looked like a ton of prep work involved. Were they leveling/smoothing out the floor with that big machine?
Click to expand...

Just like detailing "Preparation is the key". It was not as much about leveling as creating a surface on the concrete that felt like 80 grit sandpaper before the muratic acid wash.
They guy with the hand grinder did the entire floor then the big machine went over the whole thing. I believe this was to make the concete surface smooth after the hand grinder.

Garage25.jpg


Here's some of the cabinets installed.
Garage32.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top