Professional floor coatings

[ChucksCrib]

As a pricey alternative to the do-it-yourslf Rustoleum/You-Coat-Its of the world, has anybody made this investment. For our 28x28 garage the $ we were quoted range from about $2200 on up to about $2800.

Unless there is not a vast difference in the quality of these we will be making this investment. I've read nothing but horror stories about the do-it-yourself products.

Premier Garage is one of the national frachises, that you may recognize, that has given us a quote.

Diamond cutting, 3 coats of Epoxy, a quartz like flake colorant, and a polyurethane topcoat seem be be the process of choice for the pros.

Any Thoughts?

http://www.premiergarage.com/
http://www.total-garagesolutions.com/

[rjspitz]

I honestly think that this is a waist of money, but if you want the assurance of a pro doing the job and have the money, by all means, pay a pro.

I painted my floor with this stuff and have had nothing but wonderful results. You also get the assurance of doing it yourself and knowing that it is done right (a rising opinion with regards to the US service industry, in my opinion)
http://www.sherwin.com/apps/PickPros/display.asp?type=data&id=220
The coating is an epoxy coating, just as good, if not better than what you would get from a pro. I used 2 coats and acid scrubbed before coating. Cost was about $100 per 2 gallon kit.

[Hartz]

I'll let you know about Premier Garage in another week - they're scheduled to do my floor next week!

I, too, read some horror stories about do-it-yourself jobs. I think if you have a brand new floor that needs minimal prep, then yeah, maybe it's worth considering. My garage floor has suffered 50 years of oil, dirt, chips, cracks, stains, and lord only knows what else. The idea of paying someone else to worry about it and having a warranty on the work was quite appealing to me. I want to work IN my garage, not ON my garage. :)

Hartz

[Luckydevil]

Hartz- If you would, get some before and after pics.

[Hartz]

Hartz- If you would, get some before and after pics.

Will do.

[ChucksCrib]

Yeah, some feedback on that floor would be great. However, it's the the floors that have been layed down for a couple of years that have had jackstands, coolant, breakfluid, floor jacks and-the-like that I am VERY interested in hearing some feedback on.

[bmwpower]

I honestly think that this is a waist of money, but if you want the assurance of a pro doing the job and have the money, by all means, pay a pro.

I painted my floor with this stuff and have had nothing but wonderful results. You also get the assurance of doing it yourself and knowing that it is done right (a rising opinion with regards to the US service industry, in my opinion)
http://www.sherwin.com/apps/PickPros/display.asp?type=data&id=220
The coating is an epoxy coating, just as good, if not better than what you would get from a pro. I used 2 coats and acid scrubbed before coating. Cost was about $100 per 2 gallon kit.


The other problem which most people do not think about is physically being able to do a large size job yourself or with a helper or 2 (if you're lucky). Having never done something like this, it kind of scares me to have several hundred dollars worth of paint hardening as I rush to paint the rest of the floor.

Sherwin Williams... I totally forgot about them! Can you buy the paint from a local store?

[rjspitz]

There is a Sherwin Williams store about 5 miles from my house. I don't think you can get it at HD or Lowes.

[bmwpower]

As a pricey alternative to the do-it-yourslf Rustoleum/You-Coat-Its of the world, has anybody made this investment. For our 28x28 garage the $ we were quoted range from about $2200 on up to about $2800.

Unless there is not a vast difference in the quality of these we will be making this investment. I've read nothing but horror stories about the do-it-yourself products.

Premier Garage is one of the national frachises, that you may recognize, that has given us a quote.

Diamond cutting, 3 coats of Epoxy, a quartz like flake colorant, and a polyurethane topcoat seem be be the process of choice for the pros.

Any Thoughts?

http://www.premiergarage.com/
http://www.total-garagesolutions.com/

I wonder how they guarantee the coating when they do not know the quality of the concrete, water permeation and or the presence of a vapor retarder. All of these factors play a part in the quality of the resulting epoxy floor.

What happens if the floor fails in certain areas? Do they "patch" the area or do they recoat a larger area? How long is the warranty?

[bmwpower]

There is a Sherwin Williams store about 5 miles from my house. I don't think you can get it at HD or Lowes.

Yea, I was wondering if you could get it from Sherwin Williams store even though it was an industrial coating. From what I understand, you have to have certain credentials to purchase certain epoxy coatings because of the chemicals in the mix.

HD/Lowes are definitely out of the question.

[Hartz]

I wonder how they guarantee the coating when they do not know the quality of the concrete, water permeation and or the presence of a vapor retarder. All of these factors play a part in the quality of the resulting epoxy floor.

What happens if the floor fails in certain areas? Do they "patch" the area or do they recoat a larger area? How long is the warranty?

The woman I spoke with said they guaranteed the floor for five years no questions asked. I think the whole reason they can do this is because THEY are doing the concrete prep. They assess the concrete, they fix it, they do whatever they have to do with it, and that's that.

She also said she'd had the stuff on a floor for 15+ years and it looked as good as the day it was new. She showed pictures. I suppose there's no way to know if she was lying, but she seemed honest enough. :angel:

If it fails, they just fix the surrounding area - patch it in if you will. If you go with the marble looking stuff, you'd probably never notice. The solid colors, it might be noticable until you got a little dirt and grit on it.

Seemed reasonable to me, but then this is my first "fancy" garage! :)

[ChucksCrib]

Are you going with the solid color with some sand thrown in for gription or are you going with those texture flake chips?

[Hartz]

Solid color with texture for grip.

[ChucksCrib]

Hartz, When I talked to the sales rep. out here in CT he mentioned that they are getting away from using Epoxies and are know going to use polyurethane. Does this ring a bell?

[Hartz]

Hartz, When I talked to the sales rep. out here in CT he mentioned that they are getting away from using Epoxies and are know going to use polyurethane. Does this ring a bell?

Yes, it is a poly and not an epoxy. My sales rep spent lots of time extolling the virtues of poly and how it was technically superior to paint or epoxy. Supposedly it was invented by the Nazis as a matieral for boot heels?!? That's what she said! Not sure how that was supposed to convince me to buy a garage floor, but whatever...

The sales rep claimed poly has much better resistance - in fact, she used the word "impervious" to things like salt, oil, gas, etc.

We shall see!

[ChucksCrib]

Sounds like they attended the same "How to sell Poly-floor" seminar

[bmwpower]

:needpics:

[BetterDays]

Poly's have been used for a while.

I used to work for a major manufacturer.

You would be surprised everything that is made with this crap...

[bmwpower]

Hey Hartz,
Give us an update!

How's the floor??

[Hartz]

Well, it appears that the Michigan weather has gotten my installer a bit behind schedule. The installer said that they need the ground temp to be above 50 degrees the entire time they are doing the install. Since two weeks ago we got a half a foot of snow... well, anyway, they're supposed to start later this week.

Here's some before pics, though. It's a pretty typical 50 year old garage floor.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010008.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010009.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010010.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010011.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010012.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010013.JPG

Hartz

[ChucksCrib]

Geez, that's not bad lookin' at all for a 50 year old floor.

[Hartz]

Geez, that's not bad lookin' at all for a 50 year old floor.

Unfortunately, that's AFTER my half-hearted attempt at cleaning!

We'll see what a little acid etching and grinding does later this week...

[dwiegman@uwc.edu]

Post #12....what's gription?

[ChucksCrib]

It's a slang term we used to use a kids(but I've heard it elsewhere) combining the words grip and traction

[Hartz]

OK - we're starting to make some progress. The floor people came out yesterday and applied the acid etch. It's hard to see in the pictures, but it definitely "brightened" the concrete and cleaned up some of the lighter stains. There's still some of the deeper stains left, and they haven't started on the crack and divot repair yet. I believe that's tomorrow's task...

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010001_001.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010002_001.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010003_001.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010004_001.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/P1010005_001.JPG

More updates later...

[ChucksCrib]

Yeah, definetly looks better. Thanks for the pics.

[Hartz]

Just a quick update - it's been a busy week. Monday was spent grinding the floor and filling holes and cracks. Tuesday a base coat went over the entire floor to smooth it out. Yesterday they put down two coats of "slurry mix" to form the base, and today they're putting down the final poly coat. It looked really good last night, and supposedly the tinted poly coat makes it look even better. I am amazed at the amount of work these guys have put into the prep. I'd guess they've got 20+ man hours into it as of last night - and I'm guessing they'll spend another 4-8 today.

Pics will be coming soon...

[DiMisa1977]

the easiest, cheapest, biggest bang for the bug is a nice charcoal gray commercial carpet...will be sound proof, warm, insulated, and only cost about 800 bucks installed. i have it and i love it.

[bmwpower]

the easiest, cheapest, biggest bang for the bug is a nice charcoal gray commercial carpet...will be sound proof, warm, insulated, and only cost about 800 bucks installed. i have it and i love it.

By far it's the easiest. Not really the cheapest, though. Plus, what happens when you spill oil on it?

[PatrickW]

I use a carpet remnant to lay on when I'm under the car.

I still plan on doing an epoxy floor, which will (hopefully) look professional, and I'll still use a piece of carpet due to epoxied concrete still being cold in the winter.

- Patrick

[Hartz]

OK - follow up to the previous pics. These are the "after" pics. It's tough to get a good photo of the floor, but I am very pleased with the results. There is still some pitting and pock marks on the floor, but they're "smoother" than before.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/A.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/B.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/C.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/D.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/E.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hartzfeld/images/Unlinked/F.JPG

[bmwpower]

Lookin' gooood! So it's completely done? Afraid to drive on it yet?

[byrdman]

Looks ALL RIGHT! :thumbup:

[ChucksCrib]

Looks great from here Hartz :rocker: Do you have some heavy cabinets/tools that you'll be sliding acrooss the floor to get things into position. That would be the first test.

If you have walked on it......how is the "gription"

[OGauge4Me]

Looks really nice. Want to come to Maryland and do my garage? LOL. There are a lot of nice ideas in this thread.

[Hartz]

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. This is 8 years of dreaming and planning coming together.

I haven't decided exactly what I'm doing for cabinets yet. I can't get my head around some of the prices I'm seeing for what I like. That might have to be phase 2. I think the floor will get a good workout with the lift assembly if nothing else.

Gription is good. You can sort of see it in the first picture - there's a bit of small grain-like material in the finish which helps. It's supposed to rain ALL WEEKEND so we'll see what it's like when it gets wet from the cars soon enough.

[DynoDave]

That looks great! You must be anxious to get moved back in!

[paris401]

on monday i cleaned out the garage. tuesday i scrubbed the floor with simple green, then rinsed it. the i acid etched the floor, and rinsed again. yesterday i put 2 coats of u coat it, and the deco chips. this morning i applied the finish coat and waiting for it to dry.. so far so good... except the finish coat really smells... and it permeates thru closed doors... getting high as i'm typing...

[Wile1Coyote]

the easiest, cheapest, biggest bang for the bug is a nice charcoal gray commercial carpet...will be sound proof, warm, insulated, and only cost about 800 bucks installed. i have it and i love it.


And it will trap moisture like a mother and rust everything in your garage unless you have a complete hvac system with dehumidification.

Anything that can retian moisture does not stay under my car.

[Wile1Coyote]

Floor really really looks nice Hartz. Let us know when you are having the garage junkies open house and all of us local guys will come check it out! ;)

I think this thread convinced me to let the pros do my dream shop whenever I get around to buying the property, building the house and the shop. Better play the lotto this week. ;)

Jon

[PatrickW]

How is the new floor doing? Any lifting or bubbling?

I'm thinking about doing this too.

[Hartz]

My floor is great. No lifting, bubbling, or cracking. I've got a bit of a leak at one of the garage doors, which is driving me nutty trying to fix it, but otherwise the garage has been terrific.

[paris401]

my u-coat-it floor is now 1 week old.. medium gray with deco chips + the shiny top-coat... looks real nice, tho being at the beach, yesterday which was overcast and humid, there was a thin layer of moisture on the floor... i guess condensation... will buy a de-humit. this weekend

[428]

Getting a quote from Premier for my floors and was looking for the pics in this thread. Why can't I see them?

[carb454]

Getting a quote from Premier for my floors and was looking for the pics in this thread. Why can't I see them?

Yeah all I see is the small box with a red X in it, is it a different format?? :willy_nil

[6t7gto]

all i get are red "x"'s also.
i right click on the "x" then left click on "show picture" and nothing happens.
david

[Hammerdown]

Same, thing, I can't see any pictures as well. Hey 6t7gto, those look like dueling Goats on a Backyard Buddy Lift. Any detail pictures of your cars?

[6t7gto]

Hammer,
you have a PM.
david

[428]

Premier garage rep came by last night. 2 car attached is no problem. About $1000 to have it solid color coated. 575 sq. ft. I didn't care for their selection of granite finishes.
The 3 car detached is another story. I have bad cracks that have to be filled and ground. Up to 1/4" wide x 1/4" height difference at the worst spots. $2000 + $300 floor and grinding work. 1000 sq. ft. The floor is about 10 years old but it still seems to be cracking. So many it's hard to tell new from old.
Tax and all about $3500 to do both at the same time.

But full 5 year warranty even with the floor issue. He said temp really isn't an issue either. Above freezing is all.

Any opinions on this system? :headscrat

I'd like to cut it out and re-pour but probably looking at close to 5K for an all new floor.

[bmwpower]

What other prep are they doing? Just sweep and then coat?

What epoxy are they using?

What does the warranty cover? Material or material and labor? To what extent?

[428]

Prep work, they acid etch, fill cracks and grind the surface. My 3 car will take above and beyond normal filling and grinding, which I already knew. That's another reason for me to hire it out. Renting a grinder and learning floor repair on the fly isn't my idea of fun.

Warranty is 5 year. Lifting, peeling, staining, etc... they come repair at no cost. Chipping and scratching with jacks and such is not covered.

They don't use Epoxy, some type of hybrid polymer. Basically a chemical plastic that hardens and is then covered with polyurethane.

I guesstimate this will cost about twice what DIY Epoxy would be. They also said they can do both garages in 2-3 days. It'd take me 2-3 weeks minimum and I have way to much stuff to leave outside that long.

[bmwpower]

It sounds like a good deal, but I don't see how they can complete all the prep work AND coat the floor in 2-3 days. It takes a couple of weeks alone to get the floor dry in temperatures like this.

[BoostAddiction]

Everyone is different, and each of us has a different tolerance for initial investment vs long-term costs, maintainability, compression strength, reflectivity, etc.

My garage uses the same epoxy flooring as many of the NASCAR shops I visited in the Charlotte, NC area. They use it to keep their shops clean, bright and attractive for the staff and sponsors. I first saw this at a Busch series shop while dropping off a truck I sold to them. I got a tour and was really impressed with the entire operation. Nothing in the shop was done on the cheap- they wanted the best, and they evidently had it.

I asked them where they got the floor and after some research, came to the conclusion that, for me anyway, I wanted to do the same thing.

The materials for my < 800 ft garage were around $2000 all up, including sandpaper and sander rental, which seemed reasonable to me, especially as I was getting quotes of as much as $6500 for an installed floor I thought was of lesser quality.

I got the materials at Precision Epoxy and it took me about a week (a little more, because of a mistake I made) to install.

For reference, here's a picture of one bay in the garage.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a70/BoostAddiction/Charles148.jpg

Not saying everyone has to do this, just that I found it to be a great solution for my requirements.

-Will

[oldgoat]

Here at work they put a coating down called Stonehard that they claimed was the best of the stuff. What we didn't like about it that when any liquid got on it you had to walk like you were on eggs or risk falling even though they had put grit in it for traction. Another thing is that when something heavy drops on it and chips the coating then you have a problem with patching it. My son in law works for a company called ICI (delux paints) and he has given me a list of options to seal or paint the floor. After the work experience I don't think I will paint it knowing that if anybody will have a oops it will be me. I think I will go for the sealer option, but haven't figured out which one yet.

[Hamptons]

Premier Garage installed cabinets and did the floor in my garage last year. I can definitely say that it is far superior from any do-it-yourself product that you can buy. It doesn't discolor, disbond, or chip and the floor finish is thick (just get a cutaway of a sample on some chipboard). The floor still looks brand new and has retained its satin sheen despite all sorts of abuse from gravel, salts, gas, chemicals, shovels and ice picks etc.

The non-slip grit they install is also key. It is just enough grit so that it is not slippery, but not so much that you lose the skin on your leg if you slip. When wet, there are no issues with slip and falls like a painted floor.

It is very impervious. Keep a mop handy for the low spots because nothing goes through the floor and in the winter, water can pool from ice and snow on the underside of your car.

The stuff stinks when it is installed. Do it in the summer when you can properly air out the house if your garage is attached.

[tez929rr]

We had our 2400 sq foot workshop done by a San Antonio firm last spring for about 3200.00. The results were outstanding. No visible damage - even the tractor tires have done no damage, and the no skid has kept it from bein slippery when wet. Two coats of epoxy after etching and a 5 year warranty. It took it about a week to harden enough for vehicles.

http://michelleandjoe.com/small.jpg