Coop

Hi all,

Looking to coat / paint my gagrage floor and was curious if anyone had done the same recently. Would like to hear your thoughts. I live in Toronto, so yes, we have snow. Meaning I need a somewhat of an anti-skid surface...

Let me know and thanks,

Coop

IXLR8

I take it that means you plan to park a daily winter driver in the garage.

My garage never sees winter cars, so the epoxy paint I used in my last garage lasted a long time.

In my present garage, I plan to lay down Flex Tiles or a similar product.

wolfturbo

My old garage floor was painted with an epoxy paint that had sand in it. Looked good after 10 years. Can't remember the brand. It was green....and not slippery.

I had another garage floor that had 12x36 inch custom cut aluminum diamond plate with beveled edges that was screwed down with recessed phillips head countersunken screws. This held up well.

P-daddy

I did a two part epoxy floor coating about ten years ago, and have held up very well. No peeling or chipping anywhere. Sorry I have forgotten the brand. Griots Garage has an epoxy floor coating you may want to check out.

nathan1

I would highly suggest professional installation. I have done it myself with ok results but have had a local company do it that specializes in floor coatings and the difference is night and day. Here is my current floor:

P-daddy

^

Chris from Cali

I did a poly-urea coating (RockSolid) for my floor. We just had snow this past week and it just needs to be hosed off (or use a bucket) and then use a squeegee broom. They have different textures from smooth to rough. We did a medium texture to prevent slipping when wet/snowy. Here are some pics (this is the "Denim" color):






My garage is 525 sq ft (not including the back wall, steps, etc.) and the work cost me ~$2500. It was expensive but the end result feels well worth it...

wolfturbo

Ooooo Nathan. A metallic gold early car. Nice! My favorite color!
Show me more...please...

crw

If you are DIY type person, this product is very good.

A freind of mine uses it in his commercial restoration shop - tons of traffic and the floor holds up great and cleans up fine (after many years).

It's not the material they sell in Home Depot (which is cheap, likely made in China, and will peel in 6 months).

I just fiinished having a 24 x 36 gararge built.

Since it is virgin concrete, I will do it myself when the warmer weather comes (you need 50 degree temp).

If it is old concrete you will need someone to come in and use a machine to scuff of a few millimeter of the existing floor. If you have old grease or oil stains that is a problem.

For me, the material needed will be $700 (the clear coat is a must)

http://www.ucoatit.com/2011web/main.htm

fineito

I vote for epoxy-based professional installation. That's what I did some 6 years or so ago. Still looks fresh today. I would think a self-applied product would also work well, but it is a lot of work, judging from the effort my professional installers made. Further, there was pitting and cracking in my concrete floor that had to first be repaired. My installers did a fine job, and I would spend the money to do it all over again. I live in Chicago and the floor sees road salt. No problemo. I considered a vinyl or tile approach, as it would have been less expensive, but I was concerned with moisture seeping underneath and getting trapped.

rlme36

i did epoxy floor by a company called wolverine floors, its a diy 100% solid system. Its definitely a bit of work, but if you are on a clean floor its not that bad, the timing is key as far as applications. The one thing about epoxy is it can take some abuse, but when a wrench drops from say 5 feet there is potential for it to chip, so if you are wrenching on you car or doing any weld etc.epoxy has its limits. I really like the look, but i think the next time i do it, i would do porcelian tiles, they can take a beating and are "easier" to repair than epoxy. If you are just parking it, epoxy is great.

If you are really interested in the topic, go to the garagejournal. there is an entire section on the topic, you can search on my rennlist name to see the build/floor i put in.

Do take your time on this and do the research, each flooring has its limits and decide based on your usage.

rob

Chuck W.

I would also recommend epoxy-based professional installation. I put VCT (Vinyl Composite Tile) in 5 years ago and love it. But, it takes some maintenance to keep it looking good. I bought a high speed buffer and once a week clean and buff the floor. I enjoy it. Kind of like waxing cars.

Take a look at Garage Journal for some good idea. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/f...=20&order=desc

P-daddy

OP- But you can also do this all yourself with great result. Degrease the concrete first, then apply muriatic acid with a sprayer to etch the concrete. Rinse floor. Let dry a few days, then start your epoxy application. It's a very rewarding DIY!!

CarreraX

After much research I used a product called Epoxy Coat. It was highly rated on the garage forums. I did it myself. As mentioned earlier, its all in the prep. The degreasing can be a bitch. Brake Clean and Dawn detergent is your friend!
http://www.epoxy-coat.com/?gclid=COy...FUQw4AodNC8AOQ

killsbugsfast

A friend and I used this on his garage
Still looks good
http://www.por15.com/Floor-Armor-Con...g/products/15/