Expoxy or Racedeck for Garage Flooring
- Thread starter jw
- Start date
John U
Member
My guys replicated what Sizzle Chest`s installers did and no issues 3 years later. I did what`s called a full chip epoxy. Polyurea that dries faster is pushed now.
You must grind your floor!!!
3 neighbors using "do it yourself" kits had them fail in days.
You must grind your floor!!!
3 neighbors using "do it yourself" kits had them fail in days.
Dan
Active member
Epoxy is the way to go. I did my floor myself with a buddy’s help almost 10 years ago. I had virgin floor to work with so all I did was etch twice with muratic acid. Floor still looks great ten years later. I do have a few divots from jack stands but it was the concrete that failed underneath. I’ve since switched to more gentle leg type jack stands (esco). Also did a friends floor, his was holding up great when he sold his house six years later. Even though both etches held up perfectly, a grinder is faster and better. Home Depot rents grinders for a fair price.
If you have patience and know how to do things right, you can absolutely do an awesome job. Also the products sold at the big box stores are just like most of the detailing products sold there. Marginal at best.
The only bad thing I can say about epoxy is if you want to glossy, it sure is slick when water gets on it!!! There have been more than a few falls in my garage.
If you have patience and know how to do things right, you can absolutely do an awesome job. Also the products sold at the big box stores are just like most of the detailing products sold there. Marginal at best.
The only bad thing I can say about epoxy is if you want to glossy, it sure is slick when water gets on it!!! There have been more than a few falls in my garage.
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
Yeah, that`s the double-edged sword, if it`s smooth and shiny it`s very slippery when wet, but easy to keep clean. If you add the traction additive it`s not as easy to clean, but at least you`ll live to tell about your dirty floor.
I`m speaking not from experience but from know-it-all-ism. Although I worked with a guy who said he saw a guy slip on an oily concrete floor and hit his head, who said "I thought he was dead".
Dan
Active member
The traction additive wears away too. The method of using tons of flake to give it a more rough profile seems to be a good compromise.
I did epoxy in a previous house and put the flake down and it served three purposes. One of course was traction. Two was looks as it added interest instead of a large single color. And third was that it hid a few cracks that I had repaired so it looked like a new floor in a 20+ year old house. That floor held up well and was worth the time and effort to do it right (acid etched).
Dan
Active member
Yeah, it really wakes up an older garage. And it really keeps dust down, which most of us here are probably worried about. Cars just stay cleaner. And blowing out the garage is just so easy. It keeps moisture from coming up from under the slab too, which is an issue for some garages.
Also forgot to mention, I`ve read a lot of good things about the Rustoleum Pro kit (the solvent based one, not the water based kit sold at Home Depot/Lowes). We`re moving soon and I might give that one a try next.
If you are on the fence just do it, you can get a two car garage done for about $500-1000 if you DIY. Pro installs in the DC area are in the $4-6/sq foot range.
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
Well, when I get around to doing something about mine, it will about 2067, so probably there will be some more options then, like maybe a robot that catches you if slip on the wet floor.
Moonracer364
New member
Couple of observations from 20 years of experience;
My first barn, 30x80, I put down the DYI epoxy over a third. It lasted a few years, but after 20 years its slowly worn off and you can barely tell it was there.
I put the roll out coin mats in over another third of the shop. They were ok, but they were constantly moving & getting caught up in my equipment. No amount of glue or duct tape would keep them in place.
Finally in about 2013 I put down the racedeck over the epoxy - Red & Gray.
In 2018 I built a new 48x88 shop and looked at flooring options. I had two epoxy guys come out for a fancy floor, and they both turned me down. Apparently the floor was not as level as it should have been. Hard to see with your eyes, but you could definitely feel it on the hoverboard.
I moved forward with the race deck doing Red, Gray & Black. I moved some of the older racedeck over to the new shop and after a few months you couldn`t tell the old from the new. I slowly bought new tiles and moved across the floor. I eventually found out that racedeck/snaplock makes a "cheaper" compatible alternative. I did about half the floor with the cheaper tiles. The cheaper tiles have a very aggressive tread pattern compared to the racedeck - when you move carts across it, its loud and will shake everything like crazy.
For the plastic tiles here are my pros/cons:
The floor is awesome on my body - my feet & back used to hurt from spending hours on the concrete. That stopped instantly.
Its easy to change out damaged tiles, or change patterns.
Its relatively easy to keep clean.
Cons: - For a floor with imperfections, the tiles are extremely hard to assemble as the floor space gets bigger.
- The floor has a break-in period of about a year where it isn`t creaking loudly. My floor really doesn`t make noise now.
- Turning tightly on the floor will pull up the tiles. Its easy to fix, but a pain in the ass.
- When the floor is new its absolutely stunning. After a few months it will get dull. You need to mop it 4-6 times to get it looking perfectly clean, and I`ve resorted to making the kids clean it on their hands & knees before I coat it with some special shine.
- The plastic tiles do not conduct heat well. I have heated floors, and you can definitely tell the difference in heat transmission between the concrete & covered floor areas.
If I were to do the tiles over again, I would opt for colors that don`t dull. The Red & Black are really difficult to keep looking new.
My first barn, 30x80, I put down the DYI epoxy over a third. It lasted a few years, but after 20 years its slowly worn off and you can barely tell it was there.
I put the roll out coin mats in over another third of the shop. They were ok, but they were constantly moving & getting caught up in my equipment. No amount of glue or duct tape would keep them in place.
Finally in about 2013 I put down the racedeck over the epoxy - Red & Gray.
In 2018 I built a new 48x88 shop and looked at flooring options. I had two epoxy guys come out for a fancy floor, and they both turned me down. Apparently the floor was not as level as it should have been. Hard to see with your eyes, but you could definitely feel it on the hoverboard.
I moved forward with the race deck doing Red, Gray & Black. I moved some of the older racedeck over to the new shop and after a few months you couldn`t tell the old from the new. I slowly bought new tiles and moved across the floor. I eventually found out that racedeck/snaplock makes a "cheaper" compatible alternative. I did about half the floor with the cheaper tiles. The cheaper tiles have a very aggressive tread pattern compared to the racedeck - when you move carts across it, its loud and will shake everything like crazy.
For the plastic tiles here are my pros/cons:
The floor is awesome on my body - my feet & back used to hurt from spending hours on the concrete. That stopped instantly.
Its easy to change out damaged tiles, or change patterns.
Its relatively easy to keep clean.
Cons: - For a floor with imperfections, the tiles are extremely hard to assemble as the floor space gets bigger.
- The floor has a break-in period of about a year where it isn`t creaking loudly. My floor really doesn`t make noise now.
- Turning tightly on the floor will pull up the tiles. Its easy to fix, but a pain in the ass.
- When the floor is new its absolutely stunning. After a few months it will get dull. You need to mop it 4-6 times to get it looking perfectly clean, and I`ve resorted to making the kids clean it on their hands & knees before I coat it with some special shine.
- The plastic tiles do not conduct heat well. I have heated floors, and you can definitely tell the difference in heat transmission between the concrete & covered floor areas.
If I were to do the tiles over again, I would opt for colors that don`t dull. The Red & Black are really difficult to keep looking new.
Accumulator
Well-known member
They put friction media (i.e., sand) on the final layer of mine and that provided traction while still keeping the shiny look. It`s worn down a lot (steel-wheeled floorjack, jackstands, etc.) but it`s still providing OK traction when covered with soapy water during a wash.
Most of my painted concrete floors do *not* have any friction media, and yes indeed they`re a bit treacherous when wet
Dan
Active member
They put friction media (i.e., sand) on the final layer of mine and that provided traction while still keeping the shiny look. It`s worn down a lot (steel-wheeled floorjack, jackstands, etc.) but it`s still providing OK traction when covered with soapy water during a wash.
Most of my painted concrete floors do *not* have any friction media, and yes indeed they`re a bit treacherous when wet
Agreed, we did the traction additive on part of my friends and it was hard to see where it was unless you got close.
The full flake method is still glossy but not anywhere as close. It also has zero depth. I just had my new garage done that way. Lots of traction though!
Dan
Active member
Water based certainly raises eyebrows. High solids epoxy is what is time tested. What are the warranties for each? What prep work are they doing? How long has each company been in business?