Looks nice. Here is a link to the "Garage Journal's" flooring forum. There's some good info over there on garage and shop design / construction.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/f...splay.php?f=20

 

I have had mine done for four years now and it is still perfect.I have tried the do it yourself kits before without long term success.I reccomend a professional installation with commercial grade products.
I used www.premiergarage.com and it came with a 10 year warranty against lifting.

 

Since I'm a registered architect, I'll have to advise you that I'm not licensed to practice in your state and my comments are solely as a Rennlister. Regarding professional ethics, my commenets are not intended as a review of your architect's work.

If you have not poured the slab yet, the BEST floor you could do is not a coating, but the application of admixtures to the concrete itself. A few years back, I was the project manager for a new 250K sf world headquarters for Hughes Tool Company in Houston. (Howard Hughes original drill bit mfg. business that made him all the money to do those other things.) They have 120k sf of machine tools that leak oils and coolants, and forklifts that grind metal shavings into the flloor. We researched systems and used a hardened concrete.

The top suface of standard concrete had steel particles and ground quartz/marble applied with a "shaker" device to the surface before troweling. Normal bull-floating and troweling embeds the particles down about 1/4 - 3/8" into the concrete. The quartz results in a bright white, highly reflective surface that remains beautiful throughout just about any abuse you could imagine. The surface is so dense that fluids cannot soak in. In the samples we studied, the concrete would break through the standard concrete substrate then break horizontally under the hardened surface because it was so hard.

You should look at the hardened systems on line. They result in a beautiful floor, almost like a solid slab of marble. Brightness is so good that it's great for reflecting the light when working under the car.

Anything you apply to the suface will eventually wear away and is subject to damage. But if you do an epoxy coating yourself, read the instructions carefully and follow instructions to wear a good ventilator, and then stay away until the coating fully cures.

That's a good looking elevation. I can imagine a great second floor space. Only unfortunate thing IMO is that the design (and proably your deed restrictions, POA Rules or zoning) require you to use the single width doors. They are obviously consistent with the design character, but I always liked a double wide door when working on my cars. In good weather, it's more open, and allows you to easily pull the car in between spaces for more room to move around on big jobs.

Good luck with your project!

 

I recommend perusing the garagejournal.com site also. Tons of info, though you have to wade through the rednecks.

I am about to do my garage and have settled on the Wolverine coating system (diy). Not cheap - around $1000 for the materials for 600 sq ft. From my research, Wolverine - which is a 3 layer commercial system - seems to be the best. Look for a guy on garagejournal named "Fred @ AlphaGarage" or something like that...he distributes the product to the diy market and has been very helpful.

One tip...if you are planning on putting in a lift, make sure you overspec the concrete if the architect spec'd 3000 psi...I'd go 4000 psi. That way, if they screw up the mix, you have some wiggle room on the compressive strength. Similarly, go for a 5" thick (minimum) slab. The cost of the concrete material is cheap compared to the rest of the project.

I think I saw you had 10' ceilings...good...I upped mine from 9' to 10' and it was the best decision I made on my project. Also, make sure you get the jackshaft-style wall-mounted garage door openers so you can run the doors up all the way to just underneath the ceiling.

 

Guys, thanks for the replies. The garage journal site is full of info that will be helpful.

altarchsa---can you direct me to a couple of manufactures of the hardening products? And what is the cost delta between that and coatings roughly?

My wife and I could not agree on a double door as she thought it threw off the balance of the building....I kind of agree but I'm sure it would really open up the space. There won't be any columns in the garage space so hopefully it will be a good working environment.

I'm hoping to get started in the next few weeks and I'll post some photos as we go along.

 

[QUOTE=Jonnygo1;6953459]altarchsa---can you direct me to a couple of manufactures of the hardening products? And what is the cost delta between that and coatings roughly?
QUOTE]

Just go online and get contact info for Euclid concrete products. Use the mfg., or find a distributor in your area, for recommendations and pricing. While most of these producs are used in large industrial applications with sophisticated "shaker"machines that distribute the particles evenly at a prescribed rate over the surface, I think a good residential concrete sub could do it with nothing more than a bucket with holes in the bottom.

As for cost, for a residential project there's not enough area to make it that much more expensive than epoxy products. If you're really going to seriously DIY in that garage, you won't be sorry you spent a few dollars more for this. Have them provide you some pics of the more "cosmetically attractive" installs and send you a sample chunk of concrete. You'll see what I mean.

 

Here you go. Looks good

http://www.euclidchemical.com/produc...select=288#234