Epoxy, DIY epoxy, garage tiles?

I did my 20x20 workshop with a commercial urethane a few years ago.

Was easy, but I did five coats in fairly rapid succession (all within 24 hours) and it STANK so bad while curing that the neighbors were complaining of the smell…

I did that coating because… well… it’s a workshop and has wheeled carts and sand motorcycle loft around, so needed to be TOUGH. But, when I weld, I put down a welding blanket on the floor near there as it can be burnt through.

I'm happy with it,

In my 20x30 garage I’m getting ready to do tile - mostly cars and bikes rolling out, so doesn’t need to be as tough.

Kevin

 

epoxy is easy, it's the PREPARATION of the floors that's a chore. I rented a commercial dual head grinder to clean/prepare my floors. took longer to prep than to lay it down. use clear coat as top coat. no fisheyes if prepared well. don't backroll more than recommended. use some aggregate in high traffic areas so as to reduce how slippery floor is. the smell was unreal as it gassed off, but went away in 2 days. i love it. also, if your area is large enough, you'll need more help as it has to go down fast so you're either doing half one day and half the next or you're having 4 guys laying down at the same time.

 

What he said! I did expoy/urethane on my 20x20 workshop because it was new concrete - so didn't need grinding. Still had to "acid etch" it, but that wasn't too bad.

The reason I'm tiling my garage is the floor is oily/dirty and would require grinding. F that!

Kevin

 

I did mine myself. Older concrete so I ground the entire floor with a grinder and 7" diamabrush. Wasn't fun!

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the grinding is a motha

 

Done several myself. All my shops except the last one (way too big)

I love epoxy.

I use a product called tile clad from Sherwin Williams and they have a two part clear called rexathane. I absolutely love this stuff. I've found that it works excellent. If you get an account or phone number it's actually affordable. The retail price on rexathane is EXPENSIVE but the **** is great.

Double up on the clear coat.

Do not do anything single stage. Don't do anything without clear in other words. It will stain and turn to ****.

Grinding is important as is a water vapor test.

The grinding isn't as bad as most say. It's pretty loud... It's pretty hard on your body ... With two people one using the handle and the other dangerously grabbing the head with their hands it's really easy. Just loud and dusty.

You must wear a respirator on all aspects of this adventure. Grinding.... Acid etching (if you do that) and application. It's really really bad if you don't.

As far as chips... These are mandatory. You need twice as much as you think. Don't buy the crap retail. Google it.... They probably make some in your area. You can buy it by the I think 20 lbs box. I saved at least a thousand bucks doing this.

Honestly though... The jobs are slowing down and these guys are looking for work... It should be getting somewhat affordable again.

 

full face respirator is a must. flake is personal preference. I don't like a ton of flake, to me it looks like oatmeal. I have a ton of flake left over from my job. I wanted the flake and their corresponding colors to accent the base color of the floor - not to dominate it. totally up to each individual.

 

I've done a couple of spaces with epoxy, both DIY and professional installation.

My favorite so far is a "full broadcast" treatment. That means there is no colored epoxy - they lay down a layer of clear and then literally add color chips until no more will stick. After that is dried they vacuum up the extra chips, lightly scrape to get any chips that are sticking up too much, and then apply a layer of clear over the top. This leaves a nice, uniform, slightly pebbly texture that is really easy to clean up. It doesn't seem to suffer from tire marks or discoloration like the colored epoxies do, and seems more scratch resistant, too.

 

Did epoxy with chips for garage- spectacular- but professionally done, grind, acid etch, clear coat the works the basement was done epoxy- same color but no chips- smoother more conventional surface that sees lighter use.


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