What Floor Paint/Tiles for Garage Workshop?

[bulletpruf]

Fellas -

After moving all over the world for the past 20+ years with the military, wife and I finally bought a "forever" house in San Antonio.

Had initially planned to build a detached garage/workshop, but now the plan is to take over the attached garage, which is about 22' x 22'. Currently have a bare concrete floor in pretty good shape; it's 30 years old, but I don't recall seeing any large oil stains, divots, etc.

Garage will have 2 post lift installed. Will be used for all sorts of maintenance, fabrication, etc. I want something that's durable, easy to install/apply (I'll do it myself), reasonably priced (I don't have $3000 to spend on floor), chemical/petroleum resistant, and something that won't be slick when wet or dry.

I'll have a sink and parts washer in the garage; wouldn't want flooring where liquids can seep under it.

I'll also be welding and grinding in the shop, so something that's resistant to burning metal is a plus.

It would be great if the floor was conducive to finding small parts when I drop them; something multicolored may not work that well.

Finally, I don't need anything fancy. Something that's functional is fine, even if it's boring battleship gray.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Scott

 

[Shea]

Hello Scott. What you are looking for is the same thing everyone else (including manufacturers) are looking for. A reasonable priced product that will do everything...

In all seriousness though, there isn't anything available that will meet all your requirements. What you need to do is figure out which of those requirements is most important and then narrow the field from there.

The only thing that you can apply currently that is cost effective would be a penetrating sealer combination of a densifier and oil repelling GhostShield 8510. It will not change the look of your bare concrete. We have an article about this type of combo here: https://allgaragefloors.com/oil-repelling-concrete-sealer/

There are good coatings that will meet many of your expectations, but they will not stand up to welding slag and grinding if you don't take some precautions first such as using a welding blanket. Dragging sharp or heavy steel across the coating can result in deep scratches.

Interlocking tile is tough, but it will take less abuse than a coating when welding, plus liquid chemicals will get to the floor if your parts cleaning station gets messy. You can help to protect the concrete, however, by applying an inexpensive penetrating sealer first before installing the tile.

 

[bulletpruf]

Hello Scott. What you are looking for is the same thing everyone else (including manufacturers) are looking for. A reasonable priced product that will do everything...

In all seriousness though, there isn't anything available that will meet all your requirements. What you need to do is figure out which of those requirements is most important and then narrow the field from there.

The only thing that you can apply currently that is cost effective would be a penetrating sealer combination of a densifier and oil repelling GhostShield 8510. It will not change the look of your bare concrete. We have an article about this type of combo here: https://allgaragefloors.com/oil-repelling-concrete-sealer/

There are good coatings that will meet many of your expectations, but they will not stand up to welding slag and grinding if you don't take some precautions first such as using a welding blanket. Dragging sharp or heavy steel across the coating can result in deep scratches.

Interlocking tile is tough, but it will take less abuse than a coating when welding, plus liquid chemicals will get to the floor if your parts cleaning station gets messy. You can help to protect the concrete, however, by applying an inexpensive penetrating sealer first before installing the tile.

Thanks for the input.

I think interlocking tile is a no-go for me. I want something that I can sweep and mop clean. If something seeps between the tile, I don't want to have to pull the tile up to get it off the concrete.

Ceramic tile is an option, but I don't see how it would be that much better than concrete with some sort of coating. Think it would cost a lot more, too.

I can put down a welding blanket to protect the floor when welding, and I can try to keep from scratching the surface when dragging stuff across it, but if I end up damaging/burning the surface, it's not a huge deal for me to touch up the surface, assuming that whatever product I choose is easy to apply.

I checked out the Ghostshield; that's interesting, but I think I want something with a bit of color. Maybe a light gray oil/petroleum resistant epoxy with something to make it anti-skid?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Shea]

Porcelain tile is probably the toughest of anything you could install. I actually forgot about that one. There are a lot of people on this forum who installed porcelain and are extremely happy. The cost can be as low as $1 per square foot for tile if you shop around. That doesn't include the additional materials required and your labor, however.

Scotty from Legacy Industrial is a vendor on this forum that has a new product called HellFire that you may want to look into. We are currently reviewing it for an upcoming article. It's a light gray semi-metallic looking coating that is extremely chemical resistant and long wearing. It seems to be more resistant to heat than most any coating we have come across. It's also fairly glossy so you will get good light reflection off the floor as well. I believe Scotty recommends three coats for a situation like yours. You can add an anti-slip additve into the final coat if you like.

 

[bulletpruf]

Porcelain tile is probably the toughest of anything you could install. I actually forgot about that one. There are a lot of people on this forum who installed porcelain and are extremely happy. The cost can be as low as $1 per square foot for tile if you shop around. That doesn't include the additional materials required and your labor, however.

Scotty from Legacy Industrial is a vendor on this forum that has a new product called HellFire that you may want to look into. We are currently reviewing it for an upcoming article. It's a light gray semi-metallic looking coating that is extremely chemical resistant and long wearing. It seems to be more resistant to heat than most any coating we have come across. It's also fairly glossy so you will get good light reflection off the floor as well. I believe Scotty recommends three coats for a situation like yours. You can add an anti-slip additve into the final coat if you like.

Hey, the Hellfire stuff looks interesting!

From the website http://www.legacyindustrial.net/products/hellfire-coating/hellfire-concrete-coating.html : HellFire® Concrete Coating, FORMULA2, is a single component, proprietary, moisture cured, aromatic urethane fortified with a metallic (silver/gray) additive that exhibits outstanding characteristics exceeding competitive products. HellFire® Concrete Coating has excellent chemical resistance, heat resistance and substrate penetration. HellFire® Concrete Coating offers the user easy installation and fast recoats coupled with excellent protection. HellFire® Concrete Coating can be used in warehouses, garages, auto-service centers, utility rooms, “back of house” floors and metal (clean and oxidized) surfaces, marine vessel oxidation control. Vehicular traffic may resume after only 72 hours of cure. Coverage: Approx: 300-400 sq ft per gal, substrate dependent. Choose Legacy Industrial's HDGrip-Soft-Skid additive for a non-skid but cleanable floor. This product is resistant to ALL common garage chemicals including fuels. No primer required, may be topcoated with Nohr-S Polyurea if desired. gray/silver, low gloss finish. NOTE! When choosing Citadel-Gray for your color, the color additive will arrive in 8 oz. poly containers, add 2 oz. per gallon and inter-mix your gallons before application!

At $109/gallon, and 2-3 gallons needed for my garage, it's not going to break the bank, either.

Thanks for the input!

Scott

 

[Garage Flooring]

Fellas -

After moving all over the world for the past 20+ years with the military, wife and I finally bought a "forever" house in San Antonio.

Had initially planned to build a detached garage/workshop, but now the plan is to take over the attached garage, which is about 22' x 22'. Currently have a bare concrete floor in pretty good shape; it's 30 years old, but I don't recall seeing any large oil stains, divots, etc.

Garage will have 2 post lift installed. Will be used for all sorts of maintenance, fabrication, etc. I want something that's durable, easy to install/apply (I'll do it myself), reasonably priced (I don't have $3000 to spend on floor), chemical/petroleum resistant, and something that won't be slick when wet or dry.

I'll have a sink and parts washer in the garage; wouldn't want flooring where liquids can seep under it.

I'll also be welding and grinding in the shop, so something that's resistant to burning metal is a plus.

It would be great if the floor was conducive to finding small parts when I drop them; something multicolored may not work that well.

Finally, I don't need anything fancy. Something that's functional is fine, even if it's boring battleship gray.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Scott

So to recap you want an inexpensive, easy to install a product that won't burn or melt when exposed to molten metal and won't be slick when wet.

If it were me I would use a densifier and an oil resistant sealer and call it a day. Coatings will melt. Tiles will melt. Ceramic is expensive and labor intensive.

https://www.garageflooringllc.com/siloxa-tek-8505-concrete-sealer/

 

[bulletpruf]

So to recap you want an inexpensive, easy to install a product that won't burn or melt when exposed to molten metal and won't be slick when wet.

If it were me I would use a densifier and an oil resistant sealer and call it a day. Coatings will melt. Tiles will melt. Ceramic is expensive and labor intensive.

https://www.garageflooringllc.com/siloxa-tek-8505-concrete-sealer/

Thanks for the details. I checked it out. That would work, too, but I'm inclined to go with the Hellfire or something similar.

Scott

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi
Check out our SPGX one part coating. Its inexpensive, easy to apply comes in clear, gray or tan and fits about 90% of your requests!

 

[bulletpruf]

Hi
Check out our SPGX one part coating. Its inexpensive, easy to apply comes in clear, gray or tan and fits about 90% of your requests!

Ok, I'll check it out.

thanks

Scott

 

[bulletpruf]

Scotty from Legacy Industrial is a vendor on this forum that has a new product called HellFire that you may want to look into. We are currently reviewing it for an upcoming article. It's a light gray semi-metallic looking coating that is extremely chemical resistant and long wearing. It seems to be more resistant to heat than most any coating we have come across. It's also fairly glossy so you will get good light reflection off the floor as well. I believe Scotty recommends three coats for a situation like yours. You can add an anti-slip additive into the final coat if you like.

I ordered 3 gallons of Hellfire and some anti-slip additive.

As far as floor prep goes, do y'all recommend grinding or acid etch (or both?)? Also, is there any need to do anything special to clean the floor before grinding or etching? I was going to hit it with a degreaser and a stiff-bristle brush.

Thanks

Scott

 

[bulletpruf]

I ended up etching the floor with muriatic acid. Not too difficult. Bought it in gallon jugs from Lowe's. Mixed it 3/1 with water in a plastic watering can and applied liberally. Concrete was the consistency of sandpaper when I was done.

Also, I only did 2/3 of the garage, because I need some place to put my stuff. I'll do the other 1/3 once this has cured.

The garage floor is 30 years old, so it had plenty of oil stains, and the acid doesn't take care of this. When I mopped the floor, I paid attention to the spots that took a while to dry; most were on oil spots, but not all. I then took a Sharpie and circled these.


Then I hit them with Legacy's Oil Spot Primer; ended up covering a LOT of the floor with it. FYI - the primer is a two-part mix. It comes in 2 cans. I made the mistake of mixing it all together, thinking that I could save the unused stuff for a few days until I did the other half of the garage. Nope. It got thick fairly quickly, so I wouldn't mix until you're ready to paint.

Anyway, the primer went down well and dried fairly quickly. I applied it with a brush, but I think I'm going to use a small roller for the next portion.

The Hellfire went on the day after the primer; it was nice and easy. I did 3 coats, and I used 2 gallons to cover about 250'ish sq. feet. I used a stirrer on a drill to mix it up before I poured it in the pan.

On the first two coats, you could see the darker areas where I put down primer (the primer is dark brown). However, I couldn't see them after the third coat.

Here's the first coat.



Final coat. Wasn't completely dry at this point, so color may have changed a bit.



I waited about 3 hours in between coats. Temp today was low to mid 60's with high humidity; seemed to dry fairly quickly.

I bought some anti-skid from Scotty, but decided not to use it. Thinking the Hellfire will last a bit longer without the grit.

I plan to etch and paint the remainder of the floor this weekend.

Bottom line - two thumbs up at this point. Anxious for it to cure so I can see how it holds up.

Almost forgot -- I'll download some pics and post them shortly.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[bullnerd]

Thank you for your service and thanks for the tips.

I'll be doing mine as soon as it warms up here.

Looking forward to the pics.

 

[bulletpruf]

Thank you for your service and thanks for the tips.

I'll be doing mine as soon as it warms up here.

Looking forward to the pics.

Edited post to add some pics.

Thanks

Scott

 

[bullnerd]

Get any more of your floor done?

 

[bulletpruf]

Get any more of your floor done?

Yep. All done. Don't have any good pics, however. As soon as it dried, I moved all my stuff in.

 

[bullnerd]

Thats cool.

Let us know how it holds up please.

 

[montes]

I like it

 

[pioneer1]

How long before you where able to park a car on it?

 

[sweet victory]

Is there any transition line where you masked your concrete after the hellfire dried?

 

[bulletpruf]

I like it

I like it as well.

How long before you where able to park a car on it?

I haven't parked a car on it yet, but you're supposed to wait 3 days, if I recall correctly.

Is there any transition line where you masked your concrete after the hellfire dried?

Yes. It's noticeable. But it doesn't bother me.

It would be great if the floor was conducive to finding small parts when I drop them; something multicolored may not work that well.

Finally, I don't need anything fancy. Something that's functional is fine, even if it's boring battleship gray.

That's exactly the position I'm in - I didn't want multicolored because I'm constantly dropping small parts. And I don't need anything fancy, either.

Alfresco floor tiles are likewise effectively and promptly accessible, notwithstanding for the regular person handling his absolute first ground surface venture. For all intents and purposes any home improvement store, from greater organizations like Lowe's and Home Depot to littler main residence stores, conveys alfresco floor tiles and the devices required for legitimate establishment. Actually, despite the fact that it is a substantial and included assignment, introducing tiles is a standout amongst the most direct home redesign ventures one can do.

Putting down tile was a bit more work than I wanted.