Epoxy floor paint

Did mine with a kit. Had to buy it in San Diego County because it cannot be sold in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside or San Bernardino Counties. VOC's, you see.

Took 2 days for prep and application. Cost me 5 years of my life with the fumes, etc. Don't do it yourself. The stuff is nasty. I definitely will hire it our next time.

BTW, it did come out pretty nice.

 

There is a thread about this in the already somewhere in the detailing forum, but I cant find it. I'm in the epoxy floor business. Custom Closets, and Custom Garages to be exact.

I'll give my professional advice, so ask away.

The few quick points: Stay away from DIY coatings ( The lower the solid content, the higher the VOCs, the more DIY it is, and the thinner the coating will be)

Prep is key! Grinding is better than acid etch. Acid etic is slightly better than nothing.

Top coat is an absolute! Especially if you use flake. IT locks in the flake in a "clearcoat" and provides adds a protective layer.

Smell is an indicator of poor quality coatings. They have a high solvent content.

Flake floors (AKA full broadcast) hide a lot of uglyness in the concrete.

If cracks are not filled they will show through. Nothing ruins a nice floor like cracks which weren't dealt with.

A lifetime warranty is crap. Dont believe it, or fall for it. No company / product will stop a slab of concrete which weights 20,000 lbs from cracking or heaving. Proper slab preparation will help a ton, but this is rarely done - unless you did it yourself, dont bank on it.

IF moisture is an issue you can put down a moisture primer. Usually there is a reason for high readings. The biggest thing I see is crappy drainage just outside the garage door, like a downspout that dumps a ton of water at the foundation. On that subject.. Moisture is a tough thing to measure properly. Its in constant fluctuation. Your reading is really only accurate at that time.

IF you're going to hire someone, price is usually a great indicator of quality. It costs me $3.xx per Sq foot.


Hope that helps shed some light.

Shaun

 

This thread on Garage Journal discusses porcelain tile on garage floors: So Can Your Floor Do This and Not Have Any Damage? - The Garage Journal Board

 

We've ripped up a few floors which have had these down. Moisture gets trapped under the tiles. It never really dries out fully. Short term its good, long term its messy. Will hold a musty smell.

Good thing is that can be buffed out and waxed.Afterwards they'll look brand new.

VCT is the more common term. Vinyl Composite Tile.

Shaun

 

Porcelain is what I'd most like to go with, if I can find some tiles that I like. If not that, I'd like to use TuffSeal tile.