Garage Floor Epoxy Coating

pioneervato

Lunatic Member
A few months back I bought myself a "man-cave" and have been sprucing it up every chance I get. I have painted most of the interior of the house and replaced some carpet with wood laminate flooring. I am at the point where it is time to start building some furniture and audio racks and so I needed to set up the garage for what is to come.

I have always liked the look of an epoxy floor instead of regular, hard to clean, concrete and yesterday I finally finished the rest of the garage. I went with an industrial 2-part epoxy I ordered online instead of the cheap stuff they sell at Home Depot and Lowe's. A friend helped me with the first 2/3 of the 3-car garage and I finished the other 1/3 myself. Here are some pics to show the work.

Now I can start building storage cabinets for the entire garage and move on to some furniture, audio racks, LP storage, etc., etc. These projects will keep me off the streets for a while. :D

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Looking good Vato. I am about to do the same thing to my workshop floor. Get it away from the Abu Graib look.
 
I've used that before but never saw a finish like the one you have! Excellent!

Really gets to the head while you're painting!:smoke:
 
I swear, AK is just like Alice's Restaurant..."You can find out anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant!".:D

I've been looking at that finish. You've done a spectacular job of getting the little speckles evenly distributed. Was that difficult?

What kind of cleaning did you do to the concrete before you started? I'm assuming this isn't a brand new floor. Were there grease stains?

Were there any normal settling cracks in the floor? Do the instructions for the epoxy finish give you any suggestions for filling small cracks before you begin?

I might just give this a try in my garage this summer.

Nice job!
 
I swear, AK is just like Alice's Restaurant..."You can find out anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant!".:D

I've been looking at that finish. You've done a spectacular job of getting the little speckles evenly distributed. Was that difficult?

What kind of cleaning did you do to the concrete before you started? I'm assuming this isn't a brand new floor. Were there grease stains?

Were there any normal settling cracks in the floor? Do the instructions for the epoxy finish give you any suggestions for filling small cracks before you begin?

I might just give this a try in my garage this summer.

Nice job!

+1 one on more details

Alan
 
Good scrubbing with de-greaser (more if heavily soiled), followed with muriatic acid to etch the concrete for proper bonding of the epoxy, followed with application of baking soda to neutralize the acid, hosed off, squeegee, and let dry completely .

The paint flakes were distributed by hand at random and I used more for a heavier application and had to order extra flakes to make it so. Cracks in the floor can be filled with an appropriate concrete patch (maybe even Bond-O?) if necessary and sanded flush. Small hairline cracks generally will be filled by the application of the epoxy finish. The stuff I used puts on a much heavier layer and is spread with a squeegee first after pouring the mix immediately onto the floor parallel to a wall then backrolled with a paint roller for even distribution. You use a brush to cut in areas where the squeegee or roller will not reach. Ten minutes after the first backroll you backroll a second time and then you can spread the flakes if you choose to use them. The flakes really sets it off nicely and adds some anti-slip grip to an otherwise very slick surface.

18 hours later it is dry enough to walk on and it cures completely in about 3 days. I would give it a couple extra days before driving the car on it just for added measure. The finish has a 20 year wear warranty.
 
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The stuff I got came from epoxy-coat.com. It is pricier than the stuff H. Depot and Lowe's sells but it is a much better product. I know because I have used the cheap stuff before and there is no comparison. Like anything else, it is all in the prep work. My garage floor wasn't too bad since the house is only 5 years old and was well taken care of. When using a de-greaser you may need to use it full strength or with less dilution for tougher grease stains.
 
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Epoxy floors

Looks great! That's evidence of a lot of hard work!

When I built my new house 2 years ago, I coated my garage floors as well. I used the U-Coat-It products and have been well pleased. I dd have the advantage of a virgin floor and didn't have to degrease, but the acid wash is still required, primarily as a pH corrector.

I did the floors in a 4 night process. First night was acid wash and rinse. Second night was slighly dampen and apply base coat. Third night was to apply color coat and flecking. Fourth night for AF topcoat.

I have attached a picture of the garage after the final coat has dried.

I was a lot of work and the materials aren't cheap, but certainly well worth it!

If I can answer any questions anyone may have about the process, I will be glad to respond!
 

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Hmmm Looks familiar? Great job there Jess. Those floors will last a looong time and look great doing it. Congrats!
 
Did you put silica salt down when you did it? I know you live in a warmer climate but if that stuff gets wet watch out, it gets damn slick. My folks did their floor and during the winter I fell more than a couple of times.
 
Did you put silica salt down when you did it? I know you live in a warmer climate but if that stuff gets wet watch out, it gets damn slick. My folks did their floor and during the winter I fell more than a couple of times.

It came with the silica but the flakes add some "grip" to the floor without making it too gritty and harder to sweep and clean. I left the silica out and just used extra flakes.
 
Did you put silica salt down when you did it? I know you live in a warmer climate but if that stuff gets wet watch out, it gets damn slick. My folks did their floor and during the winter I fell more than a couple of times.

Maybe you would've fell anyway? :lmao:
 
It came with the silica but the flakes add some "grip" to the floor without making it too gritty and harder to sweep and clean. I left the silica out and just used extra flakes.

Agree with this. The kit comes with aluminum oxide powder for anti-slip, but the flecking provides enough grip for me as well.

Not being in a "wintry" climate, the only risk of wetness is bringing a car in wet from the rain, and that only ever occurs in 1 bay, the others don't give driven in the rain!
 
Cracks in the floor can be filled with an appropriate concrete patch (maybe even Bond-O?) if necessary and sanded flush.

Bondo maybe in the low traffic areas would be fine. It might be too soft though for traffic or load bearing but it is definitely worth a shot. Your floor looks great too. I could never get anything even close. My floor is so salt-spalled it would take a tremendous amount of work. On top of that is my penchant for buying heavy machines. Most are in to stay.
 
It came with the silica but the flakes add some "grip" to the floor without making it too gritty and harder to sweep and clean. I left the silica out and just used extra flakes.

Yeah, my parents decided that they didn't like the look of the flakes for some reason, so they left them out. I actually like the look of the flakes.


Maybe you would've fell anyway? :lmao:

Probably.......
 
Hey Jesse...

How is this floor holding up for you after 3 years of use?

I'm considering doing the same to the garage floor in my new place.
 
Henry, they debate the hell out of that stuff at www.garagejournal.com so I would head over there. The brand he used is very reputable. I just used a densifier, I abuse my floor too much to have epoxy.
 
Hey Jesse...

How is this floor holding up for you after 3 years of use?

I'm considering doing the same to the garage floor in my new place.

Henry, after three years of lots of traffic and many wood working projects later it is holding up extremely well. It still has a nice shine to it and every once in awhile I wet mop the floor to clean up the dirt that gets tracked in by my truck. The coating is very tough and I really haven't babied it. However, I am careful not to drag sharp heavy metal objects across the floor. I highly recommend the stuff.
Maybe I can snap some shots of what it looks like now but it won't look as neat as it did before I moved I'm all my tools.

Thanks for asking.

Jess
 
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