Cody 82 ZXT Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 So I'm finally building a new house and some how talked my wife into a 3 car garage without having to make any unreasonable promises. The garage is no mega garage or anything but, will be nice for my projects and tools. I've really been thinking about putting down an Epoxy floor to help make it look better and for the cool factor. I've done lots of reasearch on a couple of other sites about brands to use but, it seems like every product has a couple of guys that love it then a couple of guys that think it sucks. All the searching has really just made me confused. Anyone have experience with these types of products? How well do they hold up to jack stands, welding splatter, and just plain working on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcelectronics Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I had light grey epoxy paint in my first 4 car garage and it stood up realy well to most things I did to it (trolly jack, jack stands, engine stand etc) also brake fluid thinners, but I did have a problem in one area, after about 6 months a patch about 4' x 1' just lifted up in 1 big "flake" but I think this may have been due to the concrete still curing. (I was in a hurry to move in). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 You have to make sure you prep the concrete properly. Usually means washing it with an acid solution (muriactic sp?). They usually tell you on the instructions. If the concrete is properly cleaned and porous, then even a floor enamel should hold up well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003z Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I've got www.ucoatit.com on my garage floor. I did the basecoat with flecks and the urethane topcoat. Its a 3.5 car garage and cost about $900 altoghether to do. It holds up pretty well, its been almost 4 years now, but its not as perfect as they say on the website. -The 6" or so that is on the outside of the garage door has had the urethane peel off from rain water - I left some drag slicks laying on the floor and they left a permanent brown circle - I let some oil and brake fluid mixed together under the car sit for a week and it left a light yellow stain (either one seperate don't stain) - brake cleaner bubbled the urethane - lastly, powdercoat powder that settles into a drop of brake fluid will leave a stain. It seems like a lot of problems, but they are all minor and overall I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I'm interested on this too as I am in a similar situation to Cody...more comments welcomed (hope you don't mind me piggy backing on your post buddy!). Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zdmz Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I did mine with a stain and epoxy clear coat and I think it looks wonderful. I applied it almost a year ago and it is holding up well. Over all I like it very much and would do it again but there are a few issues with it. It is not as indistructable as they claim. I have several deep scratches in mine from dragging things around. I do put down thin pieces of plywood when using jack stands. No peeling though. I spilled stale gas on the floor and didn't clean it up right away and it left a kind of hazzy looking spot. It is very slippery when wet. On the good side it is very easy to clean up. Dust sweeps off easily and I occationally mop it and it looks fantastic afterwards. I also get a lot of good comments about it. I had some wood delivered to my house and put it in the garage - I thought the delivery guy would notice the Z car but all he noticed was the floor. Again, I like it and would do it again, I believe there are some pictures of my garage floor in the albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatMan Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 As Pop N Wood stated, the floor prep is the key. There are other factors to consider before purchasing one floor sealer over another: what is the vapor pressure (VP) eminating from your slab? Do you want the "finished look" or is grey concrete acceptable to you? Regarding the first question, is there a vapor barrier under your slab? Do you live in a wet environment (ie, is the water table high)? If so, you may want to look into a product called Ardex, which is a ~1/4" - 1/2" slurry coat of self-levelling super hard concrete, usually guaranteed to hold up to any and all abuse you can throw at it. (Most architects in CA spec Ardex by name for remodelling large slab buildings such as grocery stores when the VP through the orignal slab is above 10-13 PSI, before laying VCT flooring) Which leads to the second question: Ardex by itself is durable, but do you want to go the extra mile ($$$) and spring for an epoxy finish over it? There is also a "diamond coat" clear sealer/hardener one can buy to make the concrete EXTREMELY tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted May 22, 2006 Author Share Posted May 22, 2006 I'm interested on this too as I am in a similar situation to Cody...more comments welcomed (hope you don't mind me piggy backing on your post buddy!). Yasin No proublem at all. Glad I brought a post that could help more than just me. Thanks for the info so far. Let's keep it coming please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I did the Home Depot stuff, as previously mentioned it stains. I did white which I figured would reflect more light, and it worked GREAT. You could really see under the car pretty well. But again, it stains, so if you're really anal go for something dark. If you don't have a NEW, perfect floor than you can expect the results not to be perfect. My garage floor had an oil spot about 2' in diameter. I cleaned it as the directions stated about 10 times, then prepped as stated, and the one area where the oil spot was did peel a bit. Also it did chip in a few places when I dragged a jack over it sideways. I talked to the landlord for the business I worked in at the time, and he told me they did "food grade" epoxy there, and the only way the epoxy would come off the floor there was if you chipped the concrete underneath. It was insanely tough! Also very expensive to buy, and requires a full rebreather to put down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003z Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 oh yeah, the great thing about ucoatit is it is water based, and the first coat is applied extremely thin, almost like whitewash, so it really soaks into the concrete and acts as a primer coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeK280z Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 You have to make sure you prep the concrete properly. Usually means washing it with an acid solution (muriactic sp?). They usually tell you on the instructions. If the concrete is properly cleaned and porous, then even a floor enamel should hold up well. Pop N Wood is on the money - Prep is everything. There is already a thread on HybridZ (somewhere) on this subject. At the advice of other members, I used Sherwin Williams AmorSeal 1000. Two years later it is still holding up great. Sealed concrete makes, clean up is extremely easy. The strongest cleaner I use is Windex. No permanent stains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest znow white Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 CODY thanks for a great post I was about to post some thing up similair but no one replies I am 100 % doing this to my garage due to all the work I have done greased up the garage and it looks horrible. Besides I have done most of the dirty work and will probally not to any major swaps for a long time unless the occasional oil speals which are easy to clean in smooth epoxy floor. MY question is I have concrete in my garage that has been brushed on when they put it in do I have to sand/grind that smooth? before putting the coats on. And IF I do grind and sand that I dotn have to the acid cleaning right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted May 24, 2006 Author Share Posted May 24, 2006 You can rent a large sander from Home Depot to get rid of the brushed finish. I had the builder get mine as smooth as he could when the slab was poured. Mine still needs to be sanded some more in my opinion. I think I would degrease the floor very well before sanding. It would suck to grind all the muck into the conrete and have it come out after you put the finish on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildky Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 garagejournal.com, lots of posts there about the garage floor coatings and panels, Sherwin Williams seems to be the favorite coating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted May 25, 2006 Author Share Posted May 25, 2006 Here the link to the site. It's no where the site that Hybrid Z is but, it seems to be growing and everyone has been real good so far. http://www.garagejournal.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsommer Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 I have a "paint chip" epoxy floor in my garage. It does scratch if you you drag something sharp across it however with all the different colors it's hard to see the scratch. As far as jack stands/the drive on lift I have, I place carpet pieces down as a precaution. It is a bit slippery when wet but cleans up great! I painted the garage and trim to match along with the cabinets. The floor is kind of hard to see in this pic but you get the idea. I have a lift like this: Another pic of the floor: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil280zxt Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 Anyone know how these products stand up to winter road salt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBK Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 DSOMMER, can you send me some info on that lift, getting ready to build my SECOND garage since I lost the first due to DIVORCE! B*tch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iaconsultants Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 Just a big hint for you guys planning the floor painting. Make sure you clean it so well you could eat off of it and allow much more time for it to cure, especially if it is humid or cool outside. I watched my brother drive his Viper in on what should have been cured and he lifted some wide tire marks right out of the painted floor. That was not the worst part the worst was the rework of the floor (stripping the old paint, re-cleaning, re-painting, wait 2 weeks to cure, then perfect). Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmanzo57 Posted June 2, 2006 Share Posted June 2, 2006 I recently finished putting down the first two gallons of epoxy in my new shop. I bought this stuff for $45/gallon from a local manufacturer of industrial finishes. The concrete was badly stained with mud when we put the building up in the middle of winter. I used muratic acid to clean and etch the concrete. 1 gallon of acid mixed with 1 gallon of water would etch about 200 sq/ft. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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