OT: Best DIY epoxy floor

[Commander_Chaos]

In a couple of weeks I'll have a freshly-poured garage floor. I want to protect it from the puddles of oil that my British vehicles like to deposit so I'm thinking epoxy. I just want a solid color, no decorative chips or faux marble. I just want a thousand square feet of solid gray.

Any suggestions?

[Paul Alciatore]

I just want a thousand square feet of solid gray.

Well, bravo on that. So do I. Makes it a lot easier to find dropped objects. I will be watching this post.

[Commander_Chaos]

I'm pretty pumped to be under a roof. After 35 years in Philadelphia we're moving to the suburbs and I can do maintenance inside. On cars.

[Doozer]

You could just "clear" coat it with boiled linseed oil.
It keep it from staining from oil and keeps the dust
down when you sweep.

-Doozer

[55fairlane]

Most any good paint store (or big box home improvements) will have a good epoxy. Please note, you want water clean up & the floor will be very slippery when wet, you can add sand to the epoxy, but that will hold dirt. Buy several large industrial floor mats.

[elf]

Check youtube for videos on epoxy garage floors. You may change your mind.

[ChazzC]

In a couple of weeks I'll have a freshly-poured garage floor. I want to protect it from the puddles of oil that my British vehicles like to deposit so I'm thinking epoxy. I just want a solid color, no decorative chips or faux marble. I just want a thousand square feet of solid gray.

Any suggestions?

Check local certified installers: even though it is a small area, they may be able to tack you on to a larger job saving mobilization costs and reducing the sf material/labor cost if you’re willing to be flexible on color.

”Epoxy” floor toppings are not easy to get right: preparation is important, application technique is critical, the floor needs to be properly placed (with a moisture barrier) and finished and aged - you can’t get good results on fresh concrete. I have 20 years experience with bad installations in a wide range of applications: not saying that you can’t get reasonable results with Home Depot/Lowes products, but getting long-lasting protection isn’t as easy as you may think (or as others may report).

Feel free to reach out for more info.


Charlie

[rws]

Good info here. First, the concrete needs a month of cure before any coating. One trick flooring people used was the duct tape a foot square of clear plastic down to the floor around the edges. Let it sit for 24 hours and see if any moisture collects. That will tell you the moisture content.

Many medical floors are done with epoxy. The trick is getting the right amount of grit in it. No grit and it's a skate board. The more grit, the harder to sweep and clean. You have to find the right balance for you. It's a one time thing. You could try some areas along the edges, under a bench, to mix a small batch to test the grit. I would suggest a grit to epoxy by weight, then it's easier to get the right ratio on the bigger mix.

[Mike279]

My garage floor is fifty years old and has been used for vehicle maintenance. Floor jacks and jack stands on almost every square foot over the years. Hard to find a single mark anywhere from them.. I like to weld things and sometimes use the torch too. I have spilled just about every liquid a car holds and many from wood working and restoration. Kitty litter has always cleaned up oil very well and small nicks can be filled with any good top bond cement. I am sure epoxy sounds like a good idea but, a good concrete floor should be very durable without anything special.

[sid pileski]

I used a product from UCoatit.
it has held up very well.
The only place it’s worn is where I stand at the mill and lathe.
20 years so far.

[Doozer]

Check local certified installers....

Feel free to reach out for more info.


Charlie

Certified installer? To paint a floor?
Acid etch it to clean it and paint it.
This is not a moon landing here.
You can't install paint. Seriously.
You don't install a ring on your
wife's finger either. Stop with the
salesman word play.

-D

[Commander_Chaos]

I used a product from UCoatit.
it has held up very well.
The only place it’s worn is where I stand at the mill and lathe.
20 years so far.

Thanks for answering the question.

Anyone else who's not a professional, has actually done this, and has a product to recommend?

[john b]

My buddy helped me put down a product called Epoxy-Coat. About 12 years ago. He liked it so well that he used it I two, three car garages. One of his garageshas heated floor. The Epoxy-Coat has held up well.

[BCRider]

Prep is everything. And that includes proper aging and full drying before you use a coating. I used a kit from Costco back 13 years ago. I acid etched the floor and dried it and the darn stuff still wanted to fish-eye like crazy. I had to hang around and keep the roller on the extra long extension going until it started to gel and only then did it lay flat without fish-eye'ing itself.

I did use the fleck stuff lightly and I also lightly sprinkled the sand that came with it. A LIGHT sand use results in about 2 to 4 grains of sand for each square inch. That's enough for a good key to your shoes but doesn't bother sweeping efforts at all. Seriously, use the sand for traction. But use it lightly to get something like that degree of coverage.

[Tobias-B]

I looked into the same thing 6 years ago, and came to the conclusion that any coating I put on
would just add to my stress level. The 'barn' is full of cars, junk, machine tools and more junk,
stuff gets dropped rather regularly, and with a gloss finish on the concrete, the oils come off
it pretty well. Yes, it gets stained, but a quick wipe with a mild solvent every so often gets most of it out.

Somehow, a divot in concrete just isn't a big deal, whereas a hole in whatever coating would bug me.

t
coming to terms with compulsion