Over the years I have noted various methods used by many members to seal, paint or coat their concrete floors. I would like some feedback on the numerous products available today. This is for a 450 sq’ garage floor.
The existing concrete shows some severe spalling due to poor grade of concrete, overworked finish and/ or 40 years of salt deposits dripping from parked vehicles.
I have no issues with the prep work and recoating for surface repair. I do need your imput on a good user freindly, yet durable epoxy final coat.
I did a garage years ago with two part epoxy, don’t recall the brand. Hard, durable, and easy to clean. Didn’t scratch up easily. Held up well under snow & salt. The only negative I had it was slicker than whatever when wet. I would hit up a couple of paint stores such as SW or Porter and ask for their commercial products. I’ve found that most paint stores have knowledgable staff, unlike the big box stores, and will be pretty straight with you on the best product for your use. Paint is one of those things where I’ve learned it doesn’t pay to save money. The labor is so great that the small cost of high quality paint is more than paid for by not having to repaint as often.
I don’t want to get too off topic, but is this the stuff that you apply the liquid and then add the grit as it dries? I saw a product like that. I think you can buy it in different colors.
My garage floor is pretty slick whenever it is wet outside and I come in with wet soles. The garage is unattached.
Not sure where to get it since I don’t buy it, but I use International Marine epoxy paints at work. These go on tugs in a heavy salt water environment (the Atlantic ocean). If you put this in your floor you will need some type of non skid material mixed in with it as its very slick. We use a fine grade of sand, but crushed walnuts work very well. Mind you the best way to clean this after the non skid is a pressure washer, a mop will be shredded. I do believe some interior applications used dried paint chips dropped onto the wet paint. This works fairly well in showers on the tugs. If you use an epoxy, the stuff does not dry. It hardens. The mix has to be right and you have to apply it fairly quickly. Gray for some reason hardens extremely quickly, while white has a significant application time. Do not mix thinner in it, do not bother cleaning your brushes and rollers. You can keep them soft by placing them in a pail of fuel oil overnight, but they will not clean. Different brush for different colors. Best way to put the sand on it is to use an old metal coffee can or something similar. Take and ice pick and knock about 15-20 holes in the bottom. Put the sand in it, with the the lid on the bottom to keep the sand in there. Paint a layer of paint on the floor, while still wet, sprinkle the sand on, then roll over it again. I like the sand over the walnuts as its not as course and doesn’t tear up my knees. Walnuts hurt! also, the sand can be clean with a sturdy brush and water hose but PSI washer does a better job. The coverage is awesome. We are supposed to paint the boat every spring with two coats. In practice, we just touch up every year and do a good coating about every 3 years. If you put this in a garage, I feel confident it will last you for years. Look for glossy paint as some flats, turn chalky over time, especially after sunlight exposure. I a
U Coat it garage floor coating but it ain’t cheap. I will tell you that if you don’t own one go out and rent a power washer and clean the floor with a good floor soap like Zep. If you don’t the stuff won’t stick and then you have a real mess on your hands. We used it to do the brand new floor in my shop 30’x40’ and it ran around $1000
For the layout I’m building right now I painted the concrete floor with concrete colored Sikaguard-68. This a product made in Switzerland with a high quality standard, it’s an epoxy based coating specially designed for high traffic industrial flooring (names may vary in each country). There’s an even more robust coating called Sikaguard-63N that has chemical resistance. I’m not sure if Sika products are available in the US. With my years of experience as an architect and constructor a may tell you those products are the best. Basf epoxy coating is very good too. These products are expensive and not easy to work with. They dry really fast and need special techniques for application. Special chemical solvents are needed for cleaning a thinning (usually made by the same manufacturing company). They are binary products, meaning you must mix a cathalyst with a resin base in exact proportions, not all at once or it will dry in the bucket and you’ll end up wasting your money. This is the kind of stuff I recomend you to pay professionals to apply.
Home Depot is the LAST place to get “professional” advice - they’ve lost their more experienced help so they could hire some “quality” 18 year old “experts”!!
Go to a paint store in your area that caters to pro’s - they’re the people who work with the stuff full time.
