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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
I was all ready to paint/seal the floor of my garage, but now I am not sure. I want the floor to look nice and do not want the paint to wear or chip off. So, my question is, has anyone used a garage floor paint/sealer that holds up really well? Also, my uncle recently had a coating sprayed on to his garage floor -- I think it is the same or simliar to stuff that is used to undercoat vehicles. Does anyone have experience with anything like this?
I figure I will clean out the garage and do the floor once -- then it will sit full of stuff for many years -- so I want to do it right...
Thanks!
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
I used a stain on new garage floor 7 years ago or about half of it, stuff was sitting on the other part (still not done). So far car wheels has not damaged it with daily use of front wheels on it for front wheel drive, nor has any thing else in house garage. No chemicals or very little have been on it. My paint store recommend it as it would not flake like paint. Did have to use acid wash first, again it was new concrete. Depending on how you will clean the floor (broom or such) a textured floor may be a pain. Have used paint and it did flake on another garage floor.
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
Be careful on putting anything liquid on concrete that hasn't fully cured--the industry standard is at least 30 days (it's actually much, much longer than that).
There are epoxy coatings out there that are fantastic in protection and appearance. A friend had his 3 car grage done in a light blue base coat with dark blue/lite blue white and black chips/flakes in it. Nearly smooth as glass--'cept the chips--and nearly just as shiney. He washes his cars in there and it cleans up really nicely. There are companies that will do it for you or there are do-it-yourself kits too. It's about a half-day job but worth it.
I have commercially installed what is called "rubber flooring" which comes in different colors/mixtures, thicknesses. It was intended for skating rinks and athletic locker rooms. I was using it for self-storage offices. It's made of ground-up tires then reheated and stuck back together to form a thick sheet about 3/8" thick. It gets glued down with urethane glue--once down it will never come up.
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
I built a new shop last year and before I did anything I had the 2 step epoxy professionally applied. It takes at least 30 days for the epoxy to cure before you can do anything with it and then very carefully for another 30 days. Once cured it is great stuff. Very durable, easy to clean and just nice to have the floor always looking nice. There are "do it to yourself" epoxy solutions out there but I would not recommend them. Do it right once and forget about for the rest of your life!
It's a bit pricey....I think I paid about $500 for a 22X36 shop.
Brian
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
Brian, that epoxy taking 30 days doesn't sound right. The point of using epoxy is that it cures very quickly--like a half hour. Then maybe a half a day at the most to really set before it's used.
And pricey at $500? errrr? That's only 63 cents a sq foot! That's cheaper than carpet or even cheap tile!
The spray-on bed liner stuff which is expanded urethane, typically wears well until it is exposed to the sun. Then it will turn white and start breaking down. Eventually it separates from what ever it's sprayed on.
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
EW,
The stuff that my guy put down took a good 30 days to cure. He told me it was epoxy and it was the same stuff that they put down in aircraft hangers, and it sure looks and feels like it. I know there is epoxy paint out there for garage floors that any idiot like me can use, but this stuff is tuff. When it fully cured, it is hard as a rock. It cleans up very easily. I know what you say about normal epoxy setting up pretty quickly, but there was definately a cure time to this. He prepared the concrete with an acid wash, let it dry out again for a week or so and then applied it. I park my tractor on it, put the FEL and the box blade down on it and invariably when I start it up I forget to raise one or the other soon enough and I can't even sratch this stuff.
As to the cost, you make a good point about the cost per sq. ft. or compared to other floor coverings. I just figured a paint on floor wouldn't be that much. Glad I did what I did.
Brian
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
When I did my then new garage 9 years ago (I thought the stuff was pricey at $75 to $100 per gallon), I used a Home Depot epoxy garage coating that supposedly did not need an acid wash, nor even a dry surface.
Well I am happy to say the flaking from tire tracks finally ended about 2 years ago because there just isn't any epoxy where the tires go (had to end the torture by pressure washing the last of it off in the tire track area). Somewhat reluctant to do it again, probably need to coat it should I ever sell this place.
Bvance, did they add any flakes to add to that stuff you used to get some friction? I have been in hangers that have it ( I almost broke my neck in the rain in dress shoes getting off a jet, whoooosh!).
Dennis
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
My shop floor at the company yard as well as my hangar (both poured by the same company) were both coloured with a very fine powder while the concrete was still wet right after it was trowelled smooth.
This style of finishing results in a colour that is part of the concrete and in fact goes down some 1/2" or so too.
It was also ridiculously inexpensive. If I remember right it cost me about $100 to do the hangar floor which is a little over 3,000 sq. feet.
I've yet to find a surface coating that didn't come off and or be insanely expensive in the first place.
Best of luck.
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
Dennis,
No flakes...other than the owner ...but I have never slipped on it. And it rains sometimes in Olympia WA! The floor is exaclty what I had hoped for in every way.
I too tried some of that "epoxy" from the local hardware store and it begin to flake right away in the tire track area. I have a collector vehicle that is in my shop and it is parked in one place for quite a while some times so if one were to get some flaking, that would be when you moved it after it had set there for 60 days or so.
Brian
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Garage Floor Paint Stain or Nothing
The product I'm referring to is a 2-part epoxy with colorant that has to be mixed. Before the epoxy cures the colored flakes (also made of cured epoxy) are hand spread or sprinkled on. The loose or non-adhering flakes are then broomed off.
The epoxy paint is just that. Paint.
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06-18-2007, 14:28 
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