Garage floors

I am remodeling and was thinking of an epoxy coating for my garage floor, but then it occurred to me, would a vinyl / laminate floor be a better solution. What about some of the rubber sheets or floor tiles?

 

We are currently looking into the same, with the clip together pvc/plastic tiles looking the best option. Cannot believe the price to do it though...

 

epoxy is by far the top of the list (best). Laminate like you would use in a home would be very bad. It's failry slippery when wet, almost zero (liquid) water proof and would tear apart if you turned a tire on it. These new rubber based resilient floorings like "allure" (home depot) install similar to laminate, are more durable than laminate, but probably not a good choice either.

Epoxy ($$$)
Tile ($$$)
rubber snap
vinyl will wrinkle after repeated use/turning
just straight concrete paint would be cost effective and touch up-able
self stick floor tile

 

Look at this thread, good info here:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/detailing-showroom/455693-epoxy-floor-costs.html

 

If you cover the floor with any kind of plastic tiles that do not allow humidity to go through, then the concrete must be 100% perfectly insulated against water ingress from below.
I think an epoxy floor is the most convenient. If for some reason the paint flakes off, it is easy to repaint.
Also easy to keep clean. Any flooring with joins is difficult to keep nice and clean.

 

avoid the speckled floor color, it's great for hiding dirt and other unwanted defects...
just don't drop anything on the floor and expect to find it easily, if ever...

used epoxy finish on hanger floors with great results and long term wear... used a light color which allowed for a lot of reflected light to help with overall lighting when working on planes... the best part was that if anything was dropped it could not hide, and was easily found...

 

I was a builder and did a lot of epoxy floors. 100% solids with anti slip is a decent coating and easy to DIY (the 2nd time.)
I keep seeing garages that look like they have a rubberized floor which makes sense if anything is dropped. The tiles seemed to be impractical due to the ridges on the ones I saw. Seems a pain to get a small screw or clip out of them.

 

I put down epoxy back in 2006 and it still looks like the day we did it. I highly recommend it.

 

The Garage Journal

Lots of good info (and manufactures deals) on this site!

 

So, we have a new shed being built in a couple weeks. How long after the pad has been laid, can we coat with epoxy?

 

It's a matter of moisture content and PH levels on new concrete ----- Moisture, depending on your location and humidity can vent in as little as 30 days BUT 90 days of curing is usually the minimum most epoxy manufactures recommend. Again --- check the Garage Journal web- site. In the Forum section there is a flooring section dedicated to answering your questions and a number of flooring specialist dispense great information for free.

 

Steve I am on that site and fell for the Legacy epoxy paint hype.
The floor turned a light olive green and the Rep could not help me.
I had to Diamond brush the whole floor for a second time and redo the process.
This time I used Sherwin Williams and it came out 100% better
Better product, better ease of application and better support.
If anyone decides to use epoxy I would recommend Sherwin Williams
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This weekend I am in the process of acid staining my garage floor. Neutralizing later this morning, yesterday was the hard day with grinding the floor surface to expose fresh limestone and lots of cleaning. Working with the stain was relatively easy. So far, so good.

 

I have an epoxy coating on mine. Been on for 19 years now. There are some marks on the floor, but a good cleaning with detergent and a wet mop brings it back looking fine.

I don't know if you can get it anymore, but I used Sherwin Williams industrial oil based coating with an epoxy additive. You had to use the coating withing a short period of time after adding the epoxy and you had to wear a respirator. Nasty stuff. But dries hard.

I expect the coating on the market today are all pretty good, but back then, the alternatives were not as hard wearing as the oil-based products.

I would avoid snap in tiles. They look cool in commercials, but just try to get small parts free from ridges and joint lines. And think about what happens to liquids that spill on the floor. The liquid will find its way between joints and seep under the floor.

Steve

 

I am paying $8 sq. ft. for staining. please post photos. is this a thing you do for a living or hobby? first time effort?

 

This is a first-time effort for me. Our garage is about 900 sq ft, roughly 30 X 30. 13 years old bare unsealed concrete floor.

I researched how to do it and weather and the long weekend seemed to cooperate this weekend.

1. cleaned and degreased the garage floor, oil stains from bikes and cars were cleaned off as best I could before starting.

2. I rented a floor maintainer and concrete prep tool from Home Depot. The prep tool is a series of diamond coated scraper that basically scratch the surface as it rotates. The goal is to remove the top of the old concrete, exposing fresh limestome so the acid stain can react.
Concrete Prep Tool

3. Friday was the worst day of the three. I ground and ground for hours. It can be done wet which eliminates the dust at least.

4. Pressure washed the floor and then mopped it a couple of times. The power or water-powder slurry is very fine and will instantly clog a shop vac. This was a royal pain.

5. After allowing to dry I applied the acid stain. I should have masked the walss, but ended up repainting the trim. Applied with a garden sprayer. It will fizz and foam as it reacts. Some concrete assumed the color in a minute ir less, some took a few minutes. Let it sit overnight. I wanted to use Kemiko Tortise Sheel Black, but local availability and my wife's preference for color meant I wnet with Valspar Coffee, handily found at Lowe's. Took two gallons.
Shop Valspar Etching Stain Coffee (Actual Net Contents: 128-fl oz) at Lowes.com

6. Neutralized it the next morning with a misture of ammonia and water, also applied with the garden sprayer.

7. Mopped the floor a couple of times with a mixture of water and Trisodium Phosphate (TSP). About 1/4 of TSP to a 2-gallon bucket of water. The neutralized stain leaves behind a residue. For the coffee stain it was lamost exactly like rubbing your finger on a rusty piece of metal. Got rid of as much as I could, at this stage the stain is quite fragile and hard scubbing can actually remove it. Allowed to dry overnight.

8. this monring started applying Valspar High Gloos Sealer. First in one direction (east-west) then after a couple of hours a second coat perpindicular to that (north-south). Took three gallons for the two coats.
Shop Valspar 1-Gallon Etching Stain Sealer at Lowes.com

9. I haven't put a wax on it yet. I read a minimum of 24 hours, but ideally more like a week before waxing. So maybe next weekend I will drag everything out again and wax it. Should take most of a day if I did a couple of coats.

The progress so far looks pretty good. The floor is smooth and has variations in color ranging from very dark brown, to an orange-brown, to almost green tints in places. We will see how the gloss looks after waxing. The pictures are about 10 hours after application of the second cost and you can walk on it no problem. You can see the shoe cubbies and windows in the reflection.

I have about 35 hours in it so far (including touching up trim paint, although I would have had to mask and apply plastic sheet which would have taken time too). About $600 for rentals, stain, sealer, and other supplies. So under $0.75 sq ft.
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Photo. Hard to tell the finish. But you sure worked hard on this. Want a job. I have 5,000 more sq. ft. To get stained. So far just the garage. Photo
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We had a company do the floors and cabinets in one of our garages this spring. It wasn't cheap but it looks fantastic and cleanup is a dream.
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I have no doubt that a professional would end up with better results given they have the equipment and experience. $8 sounds like a lot, but it is probably a situation that if you saved money by going with a lower bid and it turned out poorly you would wish you had spent the extra money to have it perfect.

This was the last project on a two-year plus wallet-draining exercise to freshen up our our house rather than move. We had a pool built in 2013, and I did a lot of landscaping work to the front of the house. Last year my dad and I built 150' of retaining wall/landscape wall around the pool area, and put in sprinklers. I also sanded and sealed the only wood on our house, a small (but 20' tall) section of cedar in the back by the pool area. This winter painted the entire house interior: walls, ceilings, doors. Did venetian plaster in our master bath, that was a tricky job to do properly. Everything was roughly the cost of a 360 Modena driver, so a few hundred bucks for this weekend was a relative drop in the bucket.

In hindsight with the garage I should have polished the concrete as a second step after using the prep tool, it is smooth but doesn't have that glass look yours does. It should be noted the pictures were taken with the only light being from harsh flourescent bulbs, probably the worst to show flaws and exaggerate texture. If I would grade myself I would give it a C+. Hopefully it holds up but if it doesn't another try in a year or two including the polishing might be an option.

 

The floor looks great. I have a question. When the floor is wet, is really quite slippery? Or did you add a bit of grit to the surface treatment to mitigate that risk? Can one add grit and still retain that glossy look?

Steve

 

Your new floor looks great! I like the GTO as well.

With the Legacy stuff did you do a urethane top coat or just epoxy?

I just finished my floor today with Legacy products. I noticed the epoxy when cured took on a slight greenish hue but the pigmented urethane top coat was super bright white and seems to be staying that way.
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Whoa..........very nice!

 

the 2000 sq. ft. took 10 days and four people. floor was polished to 900 grit. they can polish to 3000 grit.

 

From what I have read for commercial floors often a matte finish sealer is used.

 

I am trying to decide between peel & stick vinyl tiles or plastic interlocking tiles for a black & white checkerboard garage floor on a new concrete floor. It's a home currently under construction in Florida on the beachfront (lots of salt air)

Cars will be making 90 degree turns in this garage so that tire scrubbing is possibly also a factor. Total area is about 2,000 square feet.

I don't think I can go with epoxy, because people with wet feet will be coming back from the beach & from the exterior showers and going across the floor will be slippery (??) and the checkerboard pattern looks tough to paint. I have also heard people complaining about hot tires wrecking the epoxy paint.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks