Going to be freshening my Parent's garage next week. On the list "to do" is: New lighting, fresh paint on the walls, new trim.... and.... refinishing the floor. Their floor is painted now (obligatory grey, shitty floor paint) and is peeling and chunking up from tires and generally bad installation. I figured I would bite the bullet and grind that crap off the floor to start over. :erm: Now, if I do that, I want a coating that is PROVEN to work... because I REALLY do NOT want to do it again. So, I need options. They have a standard size 3-car garage (about 20x27 or so, I think), so there is a lot of real estate to cover... Things I've been thinking about: 1. Epoxy "2 part" systems - Need to know what brand folks have used that WORKS and doesn't peel up. Also, any helpful hints would be great too. This one will be the CHEAPEST way to go, but also the most labor intensive. ($0.50/sf or $270) 2. Carpet floor tiles - Griots and others have some nice carpet garage floor "peel and stick" tiles. (SEE HERE) I don't know if I will have to grind the floor to put these down or not. But, they would be nice.... but, expensive at $3/sf (about $1600). 3. Floor "Mat" - Griots offers this, as well as Gladiator. We had this on the floor up in Michigan. It was better looking than the crap concrete underneath it... but there is no way to affix it to the floor. It just kinda sits on there. I still don't like it very much. Stuff still gets under it from the edges and needs to be dragged out and cleaned every year or so. It's a big pain. But, it's cheap! (about $2.50/sf or $1300). 4. Good 'ol Vinyl tiles - :whistle: Done this before.... If I can get the floor clean enough, they just peel and stick. They are cheap, and I could do a checker pattern on the Vette side of the garage. They tend to peel up after a while in spots tho. But, at least if that happens, I only have to replace the tiles that are problematic. (about $1.50/sf or $810) Any other ideas? :dunno2:
lmfao Jake, Go with either the vinyl matting or the two part epoxy. My preference would be the epoxy as it is much easier to clean than the mats.
Definitely do the epoxy. If done right, it will last forever......well....for a long time at least. I know Home Depot sells a kit for about 70 bucks for a 10X20 (1 car) space.
Commercial grade. Probably a Sherwin Williams product or even Napa. The Home Depot and Lowes, IMO, are a low grade quality for those on a budget. Oh yea, if you are going to grind the old paint off the floor, be sure to do that FIRST. Then paint the walls. haha
The garage has colonial baseboard at the base of the wall.... It will be taken off and replaced with new when I'm done. So, if I tear up the walls grinding the floor, it won't matter much (as long as it is less than 5" above grade). Their house used to be the model home for the neighborhood, so the garage was finished out.
Yea, but if you paint the walls first, then grind the paint off the floor, then you have to clean the walls or worse, repaint. Grinding is a dusty ass job.
Trooof! .... Thanks. I've been looking at Armor Garage products.... anyone used this stuff? http://www.armorgarage.com/
I put this stuff on. Very quick to ship and many color choices. Have not had an issue at all. You can do black base with Orange flakes. Make it Hemi like http://www.originalcolorchips.com/
Cool.... Haven't seen that stuff. Thanks! ..... LOL... "Hemi Orange". Dad would have a shit-fit. Seeing as how it's a Corvette garage. :ban:
Red base. Black flakes. This is the best kit I have used. The cheap stuff from Home Depot comes up with wet tires.
Jake...spend a little time considering and researching concrete polishing... http://www.concretepolishing.org/
Hey Jake, it's not really the product that's the issue here. It's how well you prepare the concrete. BTW, I used to do the big boy version of this stuff and various other resin floor coatings for a living. First you need to mechanically remove the existing coating, which you already knew. Then you should purchase some Caustic flake, this is a emulsifier. Using it will draw the oil out of the concrete (follow the instructions). Then get yourself a couple gallons of Muriactic acid (local swimming pool supply place). Dilute that 1:1 with water. Poor and scrub with a broom until it stops foaming and smelling up the joint. Rinse well and dry thoroughly!!. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but the coating will never "flake" off again. It will still crack and peel when hit with a hard edge, but it'll be tight.
you could also check into u coat it there web site is (ucoatit.com) i have used this before and works great but like everyone said make sure you dony skimp on the prep work
Thanks, Cam! :rock: I'm going to grind the floor (absolutly NO oil spills on this floor... even the Vette has a stainless steel drip pan under her just in case). Then I'll use Muratic Acid to wash it... once that is done, it will sit for 2 days to dry (while I'm painting the walls). Finally, we will epoxy the floor.... I'm leaning towards UCoatIt product. Have you had experience with this stuff? It seems to have the highest solids count of them, and comes in a complete kit. It will take a few days to get here anyways, so the floor should be good and clean. Any other helpful tips? :thanks:
