Why Should I Choose Wolverine Over Others?

[blitzede21]

First off I have done lots of reading on this awesome site the last couple of days and it has been very helpful. I have just purchased a brand new, never lived in before house with a 2 car garage roughly ~500sf. Being this is my first home and I am starting with everything new I am looking to get the best bang for my buck without breaking my wallet.

From this site and other sites it seems that Wolverine, Epoxy-Coat, and U-Coat-It seem to be the most popular. Now I am all about you get what you pay for and it seems that the Wolverine system is a notch above the others. I understand that it is 100% solids and not water based.

Is there a reason to not go with systems like U-Coat-It, and Epoxy-Coat? I have done my previous garage in the "cheap" Rustoleum epoxy and it looks the same as it did when I applied it 3 years ago. The same goes for my Uncle's garage 3 years ago, it looks perfect still. Both were new built slabs. I work in my garage at least 2-3 a week on my cars and have not experienced lift with this type of flooring even with my R-Compounds, and my track car sitting for weeks on end without moving.

I'd like to step up the system on my new house and go with one of these 3, or a compatible system. Wolverine looks great and I hear nothing but good things about it, and Fred has done a great job in answering my questions thus far. My main issue is just with cost, not the fact that I think its too expensive, but more along the lines of my expenses are pilling up due to a new home purchase. If I can save a few bucks and still have a well performing system I would appreciate the input.

TIA

 

[blitzede21]

I'd like to add the garage will be used as a light duty shop. Jacks/stands, tool chest rolling around, and solvents are common place. I do most of my welding and fabrication at my fathers shop.

 

[roger55]

Is there a reason to not go with systems like U-Coat-It

I can give you good reasons not to go with U-Coat-It. (I used it a few years ago.)
It's really thin and really expensive!

They don't even put on their website what the % solids are or what the mil thickness is. I would guess it's about 40% (maybe 50% at the most) solids.
Get your calculator out and figure the cost per mil versus a 100% solids product. Do you want to pay $230 for 2.5 gallons ($92/gal) of 40% solids product or about $75 a gallon for a 100% solids product?
If you get a sandy texture after acid etching your floor, that's what you will end up with after the U-Coat-It epoxy since it is so thin.
I was very unhappy with the U-Coat-it I used.

 

[FFPL]

I've done wolverine twice now. I never tried anything else but I've seen the results from cheaper kits like rustoleum and they just don't compare.
Cost was never an issue though, and I always thought that saving a few bucks just to have much less quality was false economy. For my garage I've forgotten what it cost anyway. So what it looks like and how it performs is now most important to me.

Support from wolverine is excellent and both the company and Fred are very accessible.

However, you need to do what you feel comfortable with.

 

[3baysofplay]

I think that there are people on this board that have had good experiences with a given brand of floor coating, and people with bad experiences with the same product. Some people love McDonald’s Big Macs, others don’t.

Ultimately you have to decide what is best for you. If I had used a product, and had a good experience with it, I would use it again. I would trust my own years of experience more than internet postings from people I had never met. If you were happy with the Rustoleum I don't see any reason to try anything else.

Wolverine products have been used by many on this board successfully, and Wolverine and their sales people spend a lot of time posting on this board. Nothing wrong with that at all, and I think in fact it shows that they are interested in their products and the respective applications. It also probably sells their products.

I used the 100% product from Costco (Epoxy Guard) it worked well, but I am sure there are many products that would also work great. After doing research and hearing stories I think 75% of the result often comes down to proper preparation and application.