Wolverine Coatings Garage Floor

[mben118]

Now that the holidays are over, I was finally able to find the time to write this post about the process to refinish our condo’s nasty garage floor. In deciding what we wanted to do, we read through a lot of posts here on GarageJournal, watched youtube videos, and talked with friends. The most influential factors in deciding the route we chose were roger55’s and FFPL’s posts here on GarageJournal. Here are the links, in case they’re useful to anyone else:

roger55: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26308
FFPL: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13347

I’m going to break things up into several posts instead of one giant post, so here goes!

Summary / Overview:
We worked on this project over the course of a few weeks at the end of October/beginning of November 2015. Our garage is 360 sq. ft. with no expansion joints. There were 3 – 4 layers of peeling epoxy paint on the floor that a previous owner had put down. Then underneath all the paint was a clear sealant, so no wonder the paint wouldn’t stay down!

We used an epoxy concrete patch from Legacy Industrial to repair the damage due to 40 years’ worth of road salt from New England winters. We also used Wolverine Coatings 100% solids epoxy system. I can’t thank Scotty from Legacy Industrial and Bert from Alpha Garage enough for thoroughly (and patiently) answering all of my countless questions over several phone calls each. You guys rock!

Here’s a breakdown of what we ordered…

Legacy Industrial:
- 2 5-gallon kits of HD 110 Epoxy Concrete Patch in Natural (sand color)
- 1 gallon of Silax-Seal penetrating sealer

Alpha Garage (Wolverine Coatings):
- 1.5 gallons of BondTite 1101 for the primer coat
- 3.75 gallons of LiquaTile 1184 as the body coat in SAND BEIGE (TN4A)
- 1.25 gallons of EnduraShield 2254 for the UV resistant clear coat
- 26 pounds of a 50/50 mix of MILKWEED and AUTUMN TAN DecoFlakes
- 0.5 pounds of SuperGrip 850
- 1 22" notched squeegee
- 1 pair of spiked shoes

Based on Bert’s recommendation, we ordered 450 sq. ft. of materials to account for waste (material left on rollers, in cans, etc.). With those recommended materials, we would have a floor coating with a nominal thickness of roughly 28.40 mils (not deducting for waste). We ordered the DecoFlakes for appearance and to help mask the minor imperfections in the floor. We decided on "medium, 50% coverage" and calculated the recommended amount. We also went with Bert's suggestion and ordered the SuperGrip 850 to add to the EnduraShield top coat in order to provide traction (so the floor doesn’t turn into an ice skating rink when it gets wet).

Locally purchased consumable supplies:
- Masking tape
- Painters' tape
- 2.5 quart plastic measuring containers (used 7)
- 10 quart plastic container (to mix EnduraShield in)
- Cheap 2-inch paint brushes (used 6)
- 4-inch 3/8" nap roller covers
- 9-inch 3/8" nap lint-free roller covers, need to be solvent rated (used 4, had 6 available)
- 11-inch metal paint trays (3)
- Disposable gloves
- Baking soda
- Windex
- Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)

Locally purchased reusable supplies:
- 6" x 2" margin masonry trowel
- 16" x 4" smooth finishing masonry trowel
- Spiral drill mixer paddles (used a small 2-inch one for quart containers, and 3 larger ones for up to 5-gallon containers)
- 9’ x 12’ painters’ plastic drop cloths
- 10’ x 25’ 3.5 mil plastic sheeting
- 10-inch Plastic scraper

Tools we already had:
- 5-gallon buckets to mix DecoFlakes (2)
- 3/4" masonry chisel
- 4-inch paint roller cage
- Small paint tray
- 9-inch paint roller cages (have 2 on hand, may have to throw away the one you use for the LiquaTile)
- Long poles or extension poles (2)
- Rubber gloves (I used dishwashing gloves)
- 4” angle grinder
- 4” diamond cup attachment
- Dust shroud
- Shop vac with fine dust filter
- Low-torque drill
- Extension cords (2)
- Wire brush
- Push broom
- Painters’ 5-in-1 tool
- Utility knife
- Ear plugs
- Safety glasses
- Respirator with carbon and dust filters
- Work gloves
- Headlamp
- Paper towels/terry cloth towels
- Mop and bucket
- Hammer

 

[mben118]

General tips:
- The DecoFlakes came in 2 bags (1 of each color), so I put half of each bag (by weight) into separate buckets. Then I mixed each of those buckets together a little at a time into a third bucket. I did that twice so in the end I had two buckets of mixed flakes. This made it easier to monitor my flake application so I didn’t run out of flakes too soon.
- We made sure to have 3 spiral mixer paddles handy per step. We used 1 to mix the Part A containers, 1 to mix the Part B containers, and 1 to mix Part B into Part A. We cleaned off what we could with the MEK after each step was completed. The EnduraShield Part B came in a smaller container than everything else. So if your kit comes with a quart sized can, make sure you get at least one mixer paddle that is small enough to fit in it’s opening.
- Use rubber gloves when working with the MEK. It dissolved the nitrile gloves we originally using.
- Keep the mixer paddles below the surface to avoid bubbles.
- We used cheap paint brushes to make sure material got all the way up to the wall edges and in corners. A professional can probably do this with just the roller, but we’re not that good.
- We got a separate bucket for mixing the EnduraShield because the Part A container for that step wasn’t large enough to hold both parts at the same time.
- We definitely needed 2 people for the LiquaTile step. I probably could have managed by myself for the BondTite and EnduraShield steps because our garage is so small, but we weren’t willing to test that theory out!
- Absolutely keep a timer going (cell phone, digital timer, stop watch, etc.) to keep track of how much time has gone by. You get caught up in the adrenaline rush and time can seem to speed up or slow down.

Timeline of applying Wolverine Coatings:
- Day 1: Applied the BondTite at 8 pm
- Day 2: Applied the LiquaTile at 1 pm. Swept and scraped loose DecoFlakes at 10 pm.
- Day 3: Applied the EnduraShield at 8 am.

 

[mben118]

Before:

Craters from 40 years of road salt damage where the car sits:

More road salt damage around the support pole and the beautiful 7” grinder we bought for the project, but I didn’t end up using because it kept tripping the breaker:

Shallow pitting between the garage door and entrance door:

This is as far as we could open the entrance door:

 

[mben118]

Step 1: Grinding off the old paint:
- I covered the workbench, shelves, garage door opener, and garage door tracks in plastic drop cloths to theoretically make cleanup easier.
- I used an angle grinder with a 4" diamond cup wheel with a dust shroud and shop vac hose attached.
- Even with a dust shroud, you need to wear a good respirator, safety glasses, and ear protection.
- A headlamp was helpful, especially when grinding right up against the walls or in dark corners.
- I had to grind down a large hump behind the entrance door, at least 1/4", to allow the door to open all the way.
- The bulk of the grinding took the good part of 1 day, and the edges took an additional 1 or 2 hours. I also spent around 15 minutes grinding the paint off the small concrete apron outside the garage door.
- Despite all the craters, the rest of the floor was in really good shape. There was only 1 small hairline crack, less than 12" long. We didn’t fill it in because it was so small, and even unpainted it was near impossible to see. There were 2 minor rust stains, but water absorbed into the concrete without any issues, so we weren’t worried about bonding problems. There were also a number of small pits where small chunks of rotting wood had been embedded in the concrete. I used a flat screwdriver to clean out the chunks of wood.

The grinding begins:

Making progress:

Grinding and cleanup done; what a difference!

Close-up of the craters near the garage door:

 

[mben118]

Step 2: Patching the damaged concrete:
- I started by gently hitting around the edges of the craters with hammer, because compromised concrete will make a hollow sound. I was able to easily find and remove the weak areas.
- We cleaned the craters with a wire brush and baking soda in order to remove remaining loose/flaking concrete and to neutralize any acids.
- I then used a masonry chisel and hammer to shore up the edges of any craters that had loosely defined edges. The craters were anywhere from 1/16" to 3/8" deep.
- We patched the craters by mixing up half of a bucket of the HD 110 Epoxy Concrete Patch at a time (measured by weight, not volume), so we would be able to apply it within the working time and to not have excess waste. It was really easy to use and spread and you can use Windex to clean the uncured material off your tools. The color of the patches came out more gray than we expected, but that wasn’t a problem since we covered them with paint.
- We put a small electric heater in the garage for a few hours since it was starting to get cold at night.
- I ground the patches smooth after about 14 hours of cure time, and left a slight incline around the metal support pole so water would not collect there and continue to rust it out. I had to mix up some additional material to do some minor touchups on areas that were missed first time around.

After defining the edges with a chisel:

Patching complete:

Patches after grinding:

 

[mben118]

Step 3: Painting prep:
- After taking down the dusty drop cloths, I thoroughly washed down the walls and ceiling, and vacuumed and washed the floor twice.
- I taped 3 foot wide plastic sheeting on all the walls, the workbench, the metal support pole, and both doors to protect against epoxy splatter. I also taped the bottom of the garage door tracks and the seal on the bottom of the garage door. Don’t tape right down against the floor. Keep the tape about 1/4" - 3/8" above the floor to account for the thickness of the epoxy coating.
- There is a small vertical step where the garage floor transitions to the exterior concrete apron. I taped along the bottom corner of the vertical part in order to have a nice clean edge.
- In order to prevent leaves and dirt from blowing onto the wet epoxy, we taped the corners of a large tarp to the exterior siding, about 1 foot off the ground. We stepped over the tarp if we needed to go in or out of the garage.
- We had 2 large pieces of cardboard on top of the tarp outside. We only took out the materials that we needed for the step of the process that we were working on.
- Even though we had lousy work clothes and sneakers on, we still taped up our sneakers with cheap masking tape.
- I tightened the spikes on the spiked shoes with a 7/16" deep socket, just in case any were loose (none were). I also adjusted the straps to fit over my shoes ahead of time.
- To assemble the squeegee I used a 7/16" socket, a 7/16" box wrench, and a 10mm box wrench.

Always use protection:

 

[mben118]

Step 4: BondTite 1101 primer:
- We applied the BondTite in the evening when the concrete was cooling down so bubbles would be less likely to form.
- I mixed, poured, and spread out the first BondTite kit with a roller while my husband mixed the second kit when I was almost done spreading the first.
- Make sure to keep wet edges when mixing multiple batches so they overlap well.
- We had some small bubbles in the cured BondTite. I went over the floor and scraped them off with a plastic scraper. All of the bubble holes had BondTite in the bottom of them, so we weren’t worried about potential adhesion issues.
- I learned that I should have poured the bands of BondTite thinner or further apart with the first kit. I had to use the roller to pull excess material toward uncoated areas to spread it out, which resulted in uneven coverage.

Rolling out the BondTite:

The lighter areas are the thinner spots:

 

[mben118]

Step 5: LiquaTile 1184 body coat and DecoFlake application:
- I apologize for not having any pictures of the LiquaTile application. My husband and I were both working at the same time to get the material spread out.
- We applied the LiquaTile the next morning. It was more difficult to mix than the BondTite because it is much thicker.
- We mixed and spread the larger of the two kits first.
- It was tougher to spread with the squeegee than I expected because the LiquaTile was so thick. I concentrated on using the squeegee to move the bulk of the material around, and my husband used the roller to even it out. The roller started getting really sticky and harder to use halfway through, so we put on a new one for the second half.
- When using the spiked shoes to apply the DecoFlakes, make sure to slowly lift your feet straight up when walking around (like exaggerated marching) to minimize drag marks in the LiquaTile.
- I quickly realized that the recommended amount of DecoFlakes was way more than we needed for medium coverage, so I applied it for heavy coverage instead. It turns out we prefer the heavy coverage so it worked out in the end.
- We can still see some minor irregularities in the floor where the major patching was done. However things still look infinitely better.
- Definitely pay close attention to DecoFlake coverage along walls and in corners to make sure the coverage matches the rest of the floor. When you’re done, step on the cardboard outside to avoid damaging the spiked shoes. Bonus: it also cleans off any LiquaTile stuck on the spikes!
- Later that night when I could walk on the floor, I used a push broom to sweep up the loose DecoFlakes (we ended up with roughly 3 pounds swept up of the 26 pounds we ordered). Then I scraped the whole floor with a large plastic scraper, going in multiple directions, to remove any angled DecoFlakes and vacuumed twice to remove what was scraped off.
- We’re going to keep the remaining DecoFlakes in the very small chance we ever need to make a repair.
- The heavy application of the DecoFlakes definitely added some texture to the floor, which we like a lot. When we have a house and do this again, we plan to apply the flakes as heavily as we did this time.

All mixed and ready to go:

Halfway done spreading flakes:

This is probably the best photo we have of the color of the LiquaTile and DecoFlakes:

Before sweeping up:

After sweeping, with a small pile of flakes to the left of the pole… doesn’t look patchy anymore:

Close up of the floor after scraping. You can see little spots of LiquaTile color showing through. The colors are a lot less yellowish than the picture makes it seem:

 

[mben118]

Step 6: EnduraShield 2254 UV clear coat with SuperGrip 850:
- We applied this early in the morning.
- The EnduraShield Part A container isn’t large enough to hold both Parts A and B, so we needed to mix it in a 10-qt bucket we bought locally.
- We added in the SuperGrip after mixing Part A and B together. The SuperGrip has the tendency to try to float at first, so make sure it mixes in well.
- We divided the material into 3 metal paint trays as evenly as possible. The SuperGrip will start to settle in the trays, so be sure to mix it up every time you dip the roller in the trays to load it up. I kept going between the 3 trays to mitigate settling.
-There is a trick to application of EnduraShield with the SuperGrip. Bert described it "like a plane landing and taking off.” Basically, you bring the roller down at an angle going away from you after you load it up, and keep it moving up away from you any time you lift the roller up. You have to keep the roller moving because abruptly plopping it down or sudden stops will leave rectangular, roller-sized areas of concentrated SuperGrip on the floor. These spots would be slightly visible when the EnduraShield has cured.
-For us, I think it was easier to see where the EnduraShield had been applied than what we read about. The heavy application of the DecoFlakes made the floor look less shiny than other pictures we have seen, so it was easier to see where the EnduraShield was applied. The EnduraShield also slightly darkened the colors and added depth to the floor as we were applying it.
- This is the step that we had the most left over at the end. The other steps had almost no extra material.

Shiiiiiny:

 

[mben118]

Step 7: Application of Silax-Seal on concrete apron:
- I cleaned up the edge of the epoxy line by scoring it with a utility knife and scraping with a painters’ 5-in-1 tool.
- After taping up the garage trim to protect it, I poured a small amount of Silax-Seal in a trim paint tray with 2 layers of aluminum foil in it. Definitely only pour a small amount in the roller tray because it is really thin and goes a long way.
- I used a cheap paint brush to cut in the edges, and a 4" wide 3/8" nap roller to apply it over the rest of the concrete.
- The Silax-Seal soaked into the concrete really quickly. I actually applied 3 or 4 coats within 15 minutes because it kept soaking in so fast, and then reapplied it again 3 or 4 days later. I only needed 1 coat the second time around, as most of it was beading up on the surface of the concrete.

Freshly applied Silax-Seal… it lightened up to the natural concrete color after it dried:

 

[mben118]

Conclusion:
- The products from Legacy Industrial and Wolverine Coatings were definitely easy to use. The most nerve-wracking part of the process is making sure you work fast enough because the working times are so short for each step. I can’t tell you how many times we went over the game plan before using any of the products.
- All of the products we used seem really durable and seem like they will hold up well over time. It certainly wasn’t cheap, but it still only cost us a third of what it would have been to pay somebody else to do it.
- We are really glad we went with the Wolverine Coatings system and we feel that the durability will match the price. The stuff sold at local Big Box stores is appealing because of how inexpensive it is, but we’ve experienced that you get what you pay for.
- The worst part of this whole project was prepping the floor properly. It wouldn’t have been nearly as involved or time-consuming if the floor was in better shape. I would imagine that putting down an epoxy floor on a newly poured concrete slab would be a piece of cake!
- Bert at Alpha Garage wasn’t kidding when he said that “garage envy” is a very real thing! We had 6 neighbors come over within 24 hours of us putting down the EnduraShield to check out and marvel at the floor.
- We had a ton of fun with this project, and are absolutely planning on doing it again in the future when we buy our next home!

 

[retfr8flyr]

Nicely done. I did my floor a couple of years ago with products from Wolverine and I am still very happy with the results.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Well done sir! Glad we were a part of your project.

 

[12ozd]

WOW ! What a difference.
That was a ton of work, very nicely done.
Great write up as well.
After all of that work, time for and enjoy!
Excellent job.

 

[Shelby_sho]

Well done sir! Glad we were a part of your project.

"- I mixed, poured, and spread out the first BondTite kit with a roller while my husband..."

Well, there were a lot of "we" statements, but I think "well done mam" might be appropriate in this case. Of course husband doesn't necessarily imply wife anymore.

Either way, well done and Impressive job and write up!!

 

[FJ4FUN]

Thank you for taking the time and effort to document and share your experience in such great detail, your tips and observations are spot-on! Excellent execution on the prep work and epoxy application, the results speak for themselves...

 

[kd7gab]

Step 3: Painting prep:
- After taking down the dusty drop cloths, I thoroughly washed down the walls and ceiling, and vacuumed and washed the floor twice.
- I taped 3 foot wide plastic sheeting on all the walls, the workbench, the metal support pole, and both doors to protect against epoxy splatter. I also taped the bottom of the garage door tracks and the seal on the bottom of the garage door. Don’t tape right down against the floor. Keep the tape about 1/4" - 3/8" above the floor to account for the thickness of the epoxy coating.
- There is a small vertical step where the garage floor transitions to the exterior concrete apron. I taped along the bottom corner of the vertical part in order to have a nice clean edge.
- In order to prevent leaves and dirt from blowing onto the wet epoxy, we taped the corners of a large tarp to the exterior siding, about 1 foot off the ground. We stepped over the tarp if we needed to go in or out of the garage.
- We had 2 large pieces of cardboard on top of the tarp outside. We only took out the materials that we needed for the step of the process that we were working on.
- Even though we had lousy work clothes and sneakers on, we still taped up our sneakers with cheap masking tape.
- I tightened the spikes on the spiked shoes with a 7/16" deep socket, just in case any were loose (none were). I also adjusted the straps to fit over my shoes ahead of time.
- To assemble the squeegee I used a 7/16" socket, a 7/16" box wrench, and a 10mm box wrench.

Always use protection:

~Jon

 

[tinmanwpk]

Nice.