Best material to refinish a cement garage floor ?

I had my garage floor Epoxy coated six years ago and I am extremely happy with the results. It stands up to all of the abuse that I have given it when working on my vehicles. I do place small carpet pads under the legs of Jack Stands but I have not been able to scratch of mare the surface. Moving Hydraulic jacks around the garage does not harm the coating. You can see a small section of it in the attached photo. I think the pro's are: relatively inexpensive to have installed. I had some flaking of the original surface and the floor did not properly pitch to a drain in the center stall. The company that did the coating smoothed the cement while re-pitching it so that water would flow properly to the drain. After coating, adding the flakes they applied a clear Epoxy the next day. They even coated some of out exterior concrete at that based of the pillars that separate the garage doors. Gave the entire job a nicely finished look. I also find that the floor stays cleaner and is also much easier to wash. I have found no drawbacks or "Cons". I am in the Chicago area so cannot help in NY. If you are interested in reading more you can check the website of the company who did my floor. I would think someone in NY does similar work. Check: https://www.windycitycoating.com/

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I do not recall any odor at all. The grinding, color coating with flakes were applied one day and set up over night. The next day they applied a clear Epoxy coat and I let that sit for the remainder of the day. My floor was done in July. At the time I paid $2300 for my 3-Car garage (30'x20'). That included all of the work mentioned above. (grinding, re-pitching for the drain, coating and also the small outside coating). They offered a large number of color options, both in paint and flakes.

The first year I was extra carful about using jacks and stands on the coating but over time have learned how durable and tough this material is. While I still am careful, I have learned that I can do all of the work that I used to do when the concrete was not coated. It really is that tough. I've also walked in the garage in my stocking feet. I would never do that on the original concrete.

 

I also got quoted $6 a sq ft in NY


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Mission epoxy is the only way to go in NY... Instagram mission_epoxy to check his work.


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I just finished building a garage and at first wanted to do the floor fancy but after living with it for a while, I've grown to like it natural.

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Hello,

I can’t comment on the cost for a contractor to do the work, as I did it myself 26 years ago. Total cost was about $600.00 for one 50% diluted base coat and three 10% diluted topcoats, IIRC.

I can attest to the durability of the finish... It has held up superbly for 26 years and it’s super easy to clean and maintain. In addition, it has survived hot tires and lots of car related tools, jacks, hoists and chemicals without any damage.

My coating is a light grey, with no added flecks or other adjuncts. 100% satisfied with my epoxy floor coating. Take care and best wishes to you and yours.

Cheers!

 

My garage was coated six years ago so pricing and labor appears to have gone up in that time frame.

 

For edification, my car park is ~1,000 sqft, which brings my DIY cost for materials (free labour of course) to $.60 per sqft. The work was easy peasy... It took three days and then Bob’s your Uncle!

I waited a week before parking on it though, as the house and car park were brand new and we were just moving in and getting settled.

Cheers!

 

I got quoted $6.50 for a really nice looking epoxy floor with chaotic patterns in it, all kinds of swirls and color/hue changes, the basic color is silver. I don't have a picture of it. We are redoing our garage right now so this is a good thread.

 

www.garagejournal.com has an abundance of garage flooring information.

 

Go to that site and search for porcelain tile installs.

 

I did my garage with racedeck tiles. I like the look and if you get tired of the pattern you can redo the tiles. The tiles are hard plastic so if I need to work on the floor I use squishy gym tiles. After you install the tiles you can immediately use the garage. And if you sell the house or move you can take the tiles with you.
My neighbor did his with epoxy. I also like the epoxy floor look but the setup was too much for me, especially if you have oils stains it cracks in your floor. And once you are done you can't use the garage until the epoxy cures.

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I have a Racedeck floor I put down in 2014, so 6 years with it. I'm happy with it - it has some "cush" to it when working on cars that I like, and its also much warmer in the winter time. I wash it out 2x a year. Quick install, I put this all down in 4 hours from out of the box.. This photo taken when it was five years old (March 2019). These are the extra cost "glossy" tiles which i would highly recommend over the standard dull tile finish.



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The garage right before I installed it in 2014

 

I had Racedeck's lower-cost line in my last garage and liked it for durability, cost, ease of installation, and ease of cleaning. However, the edge pieces that abutted the garage door would temporarily warp every time the sun hit them and it was super annoying. When I built my current home I went with epoxy over chips as others have done, and I couldn't be happier. We are two years in and the durability and ease of cleaning are as good or better than the tiles. I would 100% do epoxy again.

 

^^ I have epoxy and love it. You can add a sand type material for a no slip finish. I just have the chips on top and that is fine for me.

 

As another member posted, you can add an abrasive to the final top coat to increase traction. At the time I did my floor, I do not believe the flakes were available...

I opted not to add any abrasive to my epoxy, because I wanted to make it easier to clean and mop. It can be slippery though when it’s wet!

To reduce any problems, I walk backwards as I mop towards the man door, so I’m never on the wet portion. When cars come in during a rainstorm, we have anti-fatigue mats on the primary walk areas, so easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

My Ferrari 458 shares the car park with a SonderKlasse Benz and my wood turning and soon to be installed metal turning/milling/ fabrication workshop. Therefore, most of the walk paths are covered in anti-fatigue mats for comfort and get pulled up as necessary for cleaning.

Cheers!

 

Best covering - tiles
Most durable - porcelain tile
Most expensive - marble or onyx tile
Most impractical - anything other than porcelain
Quick & cheaper - epoxy or polished concrete
Nicest looking - entirely up to the individual

 

I hade the same criteria and went with epoxy. DId a DIY and couldn't be happier. Found a company that offered commercial grade products . Cost me $1k and 2 days versus $3k-$5k .