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Hello ~ I'm moving into a new home with a three car garage approx. 800 sq ft. and deciding on a floor covering. Looks like epoxy 100% solids may be it for me. Has anyone used a company "Alpha Garage"? Or their products?
Thanks for input.
Ive not used them, but have used a few others. U-coat it (on a newer floor) and rustoleum.
U coat it held up well EXCEPT for the anti-slip coating. It was applied liberally, but after a year or so, it wore away. When the floor got wet it was as bad as black ice. Kids wiped out on it, car couldn't get over a little parking stop (one of those rubber mats). Absolutely awful.
I ended up using swisstrax ribtrax when I saw it at one of the Scottsdale car auctions, and couldn't be happier with it. Im an avid DIY'er, and its held up great. Ill never use epoxy again.
Just my 2 cents if you haven't looked at it yet.
Not in direct response to your Q, but to add another perspective. I had an older epoxy finish that needed replaced (no question, present day products are very advanced). After considerable research I found that I could do the whole thing in porcelain for comparable money. It is truly phenomenal & glad I made that decision.
Just for reference, here is a pic of the swisstrax. (sorry there are cars in the way, only pic I have right now.) I can get more pics if you want.
Nice thing about ribtrax is that it has slots so that water, slush, etc drains through the floor. Garage floor stays much cleaner during regular use.
^^^ Looks great! How does it hold up against using jack stands and such?
It seems utterly defiant to full size car traffic, jacks & stands, fluids, dropped tools, etc. Schnell G mentions the Garage Journal & that's a great resource. I was convinced of the durability of it after watching a demonstration on GJ of a guy hitting his tiles with a hammer.
It seems utterly defiant to full size car traffic, jacks & stands, fluids, dropped tools, etc. Schnell G mentions the Garage Journal & that's a great resource. I was convinced of the durability of it after watching a demonstration on GJ of a guy hitting his tiles with a hammer.
Thanks for the info. I will check out GJ as well. Looks like I have a project for this summer.
Check on the Forum "Garage Journal" - they have lots on this subject.
+996
My friend has U-coat it and it started to peel over time. I've heard good reviews so that was what was baffling. He had new construction virgin concrete so prep was very minimal. He contacted the company about it but really didn't get too much support. Now he's going to have to diamond grind the whole thing if he wants to lay down new epoxy. He does heavy car work and it hasn't held up. YMMV
I tried Rustoleum consumer epoxy at my last place and that sucked azz. Professional could be a different story.
My current garage is coated with RockSolid which ISN'T an epoxy and one of the reasons why I was drawn to it. It's made from Polycuramine which is "supposed" to be 20x stronger than epoxy. It remains flexible so no chance of chipping. It will most likely lift before it chips. 4 years of heavy car work and so far it's held up. The only thing is I didn't apply the optional clear coat and it wasn't specified that it was needed for UV protection at the time. So now my grey floor is slight yellow from the UV exposure over time.
Which ever you go with, the prep is always the key in durability and longevity. I acid brushed/power washed/etched the heck out of my floor which took the whole weekend.
Those tiles look great too! Just for reference, here is a pic of the swisstrax. (sorry there are cars in the way, only pic I have right now.) I can get more pics if you want. Nice thing about ribtrax is that it has slots so that water, slush, etc drains through the floor. Garage floor stays much cleaner during regular use.
If water, slush, etc drains through the ribs onto the floor, where does it go and how do you ever get it clean? What if oil drops on them?
If water, slush, etc drains through the ribs onto the floor, where does it go and how do you ever get it clean? What if oil drops on them?
Water, etc just flows out with the pitch of the garage floor. There are channels in the supports to let water flow.
For cleaning, I just hose the garage out about once a year. As for oil, depends on how much drips. usually, for a small amount, I just hit it with some brake cleaner and it dissipates/runs to the bottom and gets washed out with water, etc.
If you really needed to, the tiles pop out very easily; you could pop a few of them up quickly and clean up underneath. Every year, I think Im going to do that and power wash the floor underneath, but when I look at it I don't see the need....
Tiles have held up really well to oils, solvents, floor jacks, jack stands, etc.
Water, etc just flows out with the pitch of the garage floor. There are channels in the supports to let water flow. For cleaning, I just hose the garage out about once a year. As for oil, depends on how much drips. usually, for a small amount, I just hit it with some brake cleaner and it dissipates/runs to the bottom and gets washed out with water, etc. If you really needed to, the tiles pop out very easily; you could pop a few of them up quickly and clean up underneath. Every year, I think Im going to do that and power wash the floor underneath, but when I look at it I don't see the need.... Tiles have held up really well to oils, solvents, floor jacks, jack stands, etc.
03-18-2015, 03:32 PM
Epoxy for my new garage
