Garage Floor Epoxy Coating Help

Pretty cool video of a guy installing VCT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVHIVlrSx4E

 

That is a cool video, but it makes me like my stain all the more...way easier installation, and I've had to do no repairs like this guy did. His finished product does look awesome though.

 

... ^^^ ... great DIY video ... I always get some ideas from these videos ...
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I AGREE. that's about 10 times the effort i want to put in. once i use the torches and welder on that stuff .....................................

 

Aggie, any chance you were able to snap any photos? I agree the VCT looks nice but it is a lot of work. Seems like the easiest of VCT, Epoxy, or Staining is the stain. I am 99% sure I am going to go your route that you went. Just want to get your feedback on the stain. Does it get dirty easy since you went white? Have you ever had any hot tire pickup etc?

Thanks!

 

G-Floor mats. Cheapest prices by far at Sams Clubs. I have the ribbed version for squeegeeing water out the door, but they're slippery. I'd go with the levant pattern if I did it again. I bought two 10x22 mats. Not quite wall to wall (my garage is 22x24) but more than enough for under the cars. Plus in my case (detached garage in a cold climate) it provides a vapor barrier & slab insulation.

 

I'm sorry, but I have not taken any recently. Cleaning out my garage has been on my to do list so I was going to take some more photos after doing so but the weather did not cooperate this weekend...it has been cold and rainy here for the last week or so.

My garage lighting is also not that great yet for pics. I have one light bulb in the middle which does not light it up very well. I actually had an electrician come out to quote me a price on putting in florescent shop lights and a couple of exterior decorative lights on either side of the garage door.

The white does get dirty easily, especially when it's rainy like now, and we do park both our cars in the garage. But, it is also very easy to clean. I usually just rinse out with a regular hose and it gets most of the dirt out...every great once in a while, pressure wash to get really clean.

I was reluctant to use white for that reason...getting dirty easily. I used a khaki color in my previous garage and it hid dirt very well. It was an attached finished off garage so I wanted to make it almost look like another usable room, for entertaining etc.

My current garage is a detached unfinished garage, and my goal was mainly to brighten it up as much as possible and make it look less "scary" as my wife called it. So I did the floor in the brightest white possible, I'm putting up bright white peg board on the walls, and once the lighting is done, it will look a lot brighter, cleaner, less "scary".

I have not had any issues with either floor. No tire marks, not peeling up, no moisture issues (and my current garage has had plenty of moisture in it. I've been very happy with the product.

 

Awesome thanks for the info Aggie. Did you use the clear coat with shark grip or just the stain with shark grip?

 

To you guys complaining about the effort. If you do it right the first time, you only have to do it once.

The prep for my epoxy took maybe 2-3 hours of cleaning on a Friday night after work, dried all day saturday, then about 30-45 minutes of painting on Sunday morning.

 

I put on two heavy coats of the stain, and then one coat of clear with shark skin added.

If your garage is attached, you might try to have the rest of your family out of the house while doing it. The fumes are VERY strong, and when I did my attached garage, I had the door shut to house (which went to utility room) and then utility room door shut with wet towel to try to keep smell out as best I could, and it still stunk up the house for a good while.
It's VERY strong smelling stuff.

 

That's what I did. I started with fresh concrete though that had never had contaminants on it except for the construction. I mainly had to clean up dried mud and dropped paint.

I used the Rustoleum kit from Lowe's with everything in it. Got the large squeege and everything else from there too.

I prepared it very similar to the way you did, going overkill from the directions. There was a lot of water used.

I never had a problem with it. It was a great floor. It was one of the features that helped sell the house. Unfortunately I'm going to need to do it again since I'm back to concrete. I'm going to look at modular floors that are more easily repaired if damaged before I epoxy this one.

 

if your garage is gonna be a museum for your cars...go with one of the tiles or coatings.

if your garage is gonna be for parking and you want a clean look...go with a concrete stain.

if your garage is gonna be a "garage"...leave the concrete.

 

Totally agree. A clean, brightened up look is what I was going for, but it is still very much a garage that gets used for typical garage uses.

Slimcubby...let us know how it goes.

 

Definitely going to go with the H&C Concrete Stain. Just trying to debate if I should add the Shark Grip to the stain or go with a clear coat and add the Shark Grip to that?...

What way do you recommend Aggie?

 

Here's the bottom line from someone that's used all the methods. It comes down to what you can afford basically.

Basic garage floor paint to cover a 400sqft garage is under $100. It will last about three years.

Epoxy kits from Lowes,HD will run you about $200 for 400sqft and it usually last 5 yrs and then you'll see some pull up. The problem with this stuff is, once it's down, you can never paint over it, not even new epoxy. You'll need to sand to entire garage surface down to make it porous again.

High end paint with epoxy coating, the nice stuff, professionally installed will run you $800-$1000 for that 2 car garage and easily last 10+ years and it looks great..

My garage has the epoxy paint from Lowes and installed over a well prepped floor and it still looks good at 7 yrs although there are some spots were paint's pulled up...

It's all up to want you want to spend...

 

Good info Hiker.. Have you had any experience with concrete stain? Like the H&C product I am going with?

 

I had it added to the clear coat, although I don't believe it would make a difference appearance-wise. Probably 6 in one hand, half a dozen in the other.

Ask the guys at Sherwin Williams if that is where you are getting it.

Good luck with it, I think you'll be happy with the product. I'm about 6 years in with my current floor, and I'm still happy with it. Mine needs a good cleaning, a good pressure washing and it looks brand new.

 

Just bought a new house and went with the Rustoleum Epoxy. I also went overkill with prep. Swept up/out all of the leaves and sawdust (from putting down laminate floors), scrubbed with Simple Green, pressure washed with a 4000 PSI pressure washer. Simple Green and scrub brush one more time. Scraped any paint or gunk that was on the floor. Acid etch, scrub, pressure wash, squeegee, let it dry. Patched holes in the floor (the house is 20 years old). Put the coating down. I have not been back to the house since putting it down, but it should be dry by now. It went down easy enough, but time will tell whether it holds up.