Steve 96C4S

Thanks, ya all. Call my decision trite, but it's been really hard to decide. I picked a very light grey - Benjamin Moore "Marilyn's Dress" in a semi gloss. Hey, I didn't name it!

It's being painted as we speak - saweeet. I'm so happy I talked my wife into letting me paint the garage, as the old darker grey was there for 16 years looking totally nasty. Put in a killer looking aluminum switchplate with a slight beaded design on the edge from Target ($5.99!), and replaced some shelves with nicer wood shelves, also to be painted light grey.

I asked this painter that's doing it about doing the floor too, as it's concrete and most of the original grey paint has come off and it looks bad, as it should 16 years later... He said Epoxy only lasts about 4-5 years and is kind of expensive. He said to do black and white tile (he did Mr Marriot's garage like this) it would be difficult and very costly. Mr Marriot has black and white MARBLE! He said the cheaper "plastic" tiles would get beat up fast... and recommended just leaving it like it is, that it's not that bad. I'll probably just do that.

I know this subject has been revisited before ad nauseum, but is there a CHEAP way to do the floor? He said painting it would be a waste as all the snow and mud in the winter and little stones and gravel would eat away at it in no time. Plus, the stripping of the old paint that's left would be tough, and the oils from the cars would furthur eat away at future floor paint.

Steve

BradB

Congrats on the paint job!

But I do disagree with your painters thoughts on epoxy floor coverings. I had mine done professionally 8 years ago and it has been through all kinds of abuse, restorations, temperature change (good ole Midwest), etc. and it is still in fantastic shape! Just get it done by the "right" guy.

A new floor is such a nice finishing touch!

Steve 96C4S

Thanks as usual, Brad!

I'll look into doing the epoxy floor when I can skim about $500 off my cash bonus's at work so the wife doesn't really get into it with me too much. She's kind of shocked I'm spending money to paint the lowly garage in the first place!

My painter told me it would be $180 or so to remove the old grey garage floor paint (there's not much left of it) with 3-4 gallons of chemicals ($80 total for the chemicals and $100 for the labor). Then it would cost about $250-300 to buy the epoxy and spread it on the floor.

Sound right?
How do I find "the right guy"?

My painter said he's done it before, but that doesn't make him an expert!

Steve

Robert Henriksen

Steve, I recently did my garage floor. Like a lot of things, it all boils down to surface prep.

I paid $900 to have a commercial concrete cleaning company come in with a 240 volt generator & bead blaster to do the prep, instead of having acid sloshed around. Then paid even more to have a commercial-grade primer, and two coats of epoxy resin, plus an anti-slip aggregate broadcast between the two coats.

It's not cheap, but nor is it likely to peel up in a few years. Floor coatings, even more than most things, you get what you pay for.

Steve 96C4S

Thanks Robert...

That's a huge chunk of change for me right now, doing the epoxy correctly like you've done it - $1800-2000. We just couldn't swing that with all the other outside painting work we're doing now (Victorian homes with porches may look great but their a bitc* to maintain...) and a 16 day trip to France in a month. At the moment, we think of every last bit of money we hold onto as "an extra night in Paris or Provence!"

[I think that's the only time I've ever used the word "porches" in a post on Rennlist. I had to look at it a few times for correct spelling, as it's hard to spell that word and not think of my Porsche!]

I appreciate the tip about how to an epoxy floor right, so in the future if I get a windfall of money, I can always blow it on the garage floor!

Steve

BradB

I found my guy by looking in the Yellow Pages under "commercial floor coatings" or something like that. Don't waste time at the local paint store. Even their best "pro" paint is junk.

I went to the place that normally did only commercial jobs and would never do a small garage job, BUT they often do jobs on the side, after the "real" jobs or they have guys looking for extra work on weekends. In my case it was the latter. The secretary gave me the card of one of their guys and said give him a call. He ended up coming out in one of their regular trucks on a weekend and doing the job at a fraction of the cost (still not cheap) of what a commercial job runs.

Like Robert, I had this pro come and "sand" my 70 year old floor completely smooth, fill any bad spots and prep it for painting with the two stage epoxy. This epoxy was not your average stuff. This guy wrapped himself in a Hazmat suit and did the job. It was some "nasty" chemicals. But it has LASTED! The total cost of my garage floor was about $700, if I remember right, but that required some serious sanding and repair that you may not need in your "new" house.

It may or may not be in the budget now, but hold out for "the good stuff".

STLPCA

Check w/local car dealers and/or independent service shops & find out who they use. Their painted floors live through real abuse.

Robert Henriksen

That's right, in addition to the bead blaster, the concrete cleaning guys used handheld grinders with, I think, diamond-impregnated heads to roughen the surface in all the areas that the big blaster machine couldn't get to. Sounds like Brad is a better shopper than I!

Steve 96C4S

Brad, that is one sweet floor you got! Oh do I have floor envy right now. I was hoping to see a pic and you came through. My wife said "what the heck is epoxy - glue?"

Frankly, I don't even know what an epoxy floor is, but it looks quite nice in that pic.

As for "professionally" painting the floor, maybe I'll look into that one day once we've settled our finances down.

Steve

RJT

There is a "budget minded" way to do black&white checker floor. Armstrong vinyl tiles! I did my garage floor 3 years ago and have had no problems at all. I pulled the engine out of my 356 using a floor jack and it didn't leave a mark. Oil drips wipe right up and no tire marks.

And NO.....I don't work for Armstrong.....I don't work at all!

John D II

Steve,

My advice is to have someone prep your floor with hand held grinders (if you put a couple of guys in the garage with hand held gringers for approximately two hours, I think you will be ready to begin painting). Then apply the Griots 2 part epoxy paint yourself (choice of gray or tan). It is a very tough product. I had my garage done with the Griots (after the Benjamin Moore epoxy paint failed) and watched the process. It is simply a matter of rolling it out with a smooth roller. An easy DIY, but be quick - the paint sets up in two hours, so you must move fast once you mix it. As others mentioned, it really makes the garage. Picture attached....

John D II

Steve,

Here is a photo of the work being done. As you can see, it's not rocket science.......If I recall correctly, materials are approximately $300

ZAMIRZ

WOW, just WOW! John that is absolutely gorgeous, the floor looks nice, but the halogen lighting and the walls make my room look like a dump.

LeeR

I had epoxy floor paint applied 3 times. The longest it lasted before peeling was 12 months. Factory paint rep came out to look at it, and couldn't figure it out, said it should last for years. Each time floor was thoroughly preped and paint was applied by professionals. Final conclusion was that moisture was coming up from under pad and that was breaking the adhesion and paint was coming off in big sheets. Concrete is porous, and if pad just sits on dirt, and dirt is wet, moisture comes up through the concrete. Where moisture is suspected, like in underground basements, proper prep is to put impenetrable shield, usually plastic sheeting, on the dirt, and then pour concrete over that. Also concrete comes in many different compositions, and some are more porous than others.

So I gave up on the epoxy paint and went to AZ Rock Vinyl Composite Tile, applied with epoxy adhesive. It's been on for a couple of years now and no problem. Comes in lots of colors. Cost of materials and labor to install was approx $1800 for approx 400 square foot garage plus steps.

Good Luck.

John D II

ZAMIRZ,

Thanks for the compliment, but don't be so hard on yourself / your garage


PS - While on the subject of garages, I recently added these air, power and lighting reels for efficiency and they are working out great - a nice addition. Something to consider if you haven't tried them yet.