25 yrs WI winter. Advice needed on floor

[SolarColumbia]

25 yrs WI winter garage floor rehab

821 sq ft 3 car garage, never had anything done to it and it shows. I retired a couple of years ago, have been doing home projects and finally I am getting to this.
Goals are preventing further deterioration, smoother surface which would be easier to clean, and some improvement in appearance.
I am on a budget as I won't be receiving Social Security retirement for 4 years; but want to at least do some remediation now. I considered a full poly but with grinder rental and material it would be about $1200.00. The doors face south so UV is a consideration and that led me to the poly. The floor was poured with a slight pitch. It appears to have sunk a bit the first several feet in as shown by some left to right cracks, but the driveway is lower. There is a small low spot (circled in chalk in a pic) which is actually perhaps smaller than that. It is to the left of the expansion joint and there is some loose material there.
The one car bay is in great shape by comparison, with just a number of oil stains but no damage.
Could I make a 1/16" or less saw cut around the area where the cream is roughed up (325 sq ft), fill the deeper crevices and the hairline cracks with epoxy mortar, then grind and resurface that 17' × 19' area with 2 gal of HD 110, using minimal aggregate? If so, how do I handle the edge of the slab that goes to the driveway? A form of some type?
The area where the 2 vehicles park is subjected to mass quantities of de-icing from the roads and without having to grind down to aggregate I feel a few mils of epoxy is better than at most a 16th inch of a cement based resurfacer and a sealer.
I have ACT Cleaner coming this week for the multiple oil stains, but the left side as you look out the door is where my Jeep is parked and it needs a valve cover gasket and possibly a rear main seal, so many oil drips. I also had some auto maintenance disasters there with a massive oil spill, ATF, etc. I am wondering if I should grind first, apply Oil Stop primer and then fill the crevices and then resurface.
As far as the remaning 496 sq ft I was hoping to get it clean enough to apply LithiTek 4500 and SiloxaTek 8510.
Thoughts?

 

[SolarColumbia]

More pics

 

[Garage Flooring]

821 sq ft 3 car garage, never had anything done to it and it shows. I retired a couple of years ago, have been doing home projects and finally I am getting to this.
Goals are preventing further deterioration, smoother surface which would be easier to clean, and some improvement in appearance.
I am on a budget as I won't be receiving Social Security retirement for 4 years; but want to at least do some remediation now. I considered a full poly but with grinder rental and material it would be about $1200.00. The doors face south so UV is a consideration and that led me to the poly. The floor was poured with a slight pitch. It appears to have sunk a bit the first several feet in as shown by some left to right cracks, but the driveway is lower. There is a small low spot (circled in chalk in a pic) which is actually perhaps smaller than that. It is to the left of the expansion joint and there is some loose material there.
The one car bay is in great shape by comparison, with just a number of oil stains but no damage.
Could I make a 1/16" or less saw cut around the area where the cream is roughed up (325 sq ft), fill the deeper crevices and the hairline cracks with epoxy mortar, then grind and resurface that 17' × 19' area with 2 gal of HD 110, using minimal aggregate? If so, how do I handle the edge of the slab that goes to the driveway? A form of some type?
The area where the 2 vehicles park is subjected to mass quantities of de-icing from the roads and without having to grind down to aggregate I feel a few mils of epoxy is better than at most a 16th inch of a cement based resurfacer and a sealer.
I have ACT Cleaner coming this week for the multiple oil stains, but the left side as you look out the door is where my Jeep is parked and it needs a valve cover gasket and possibly a rear main seal, so many oil drips. I also had some auto maintenance disasters there with a massive oil spill, ATF, etc. I am wondering if I should grind first, apply Oil Stop primer and then fill the crevices and then resurface.
As far as the remaning 496 sq ft I was hoping to get it clean enough to apply LithiTek 4500 and SiloxaTek 8510.
Thoughts?

Everything is a tradeoff. Price. UV. ETC. Sometimes when we look at a floor, Mil thickness becomes part of the consideration. If this was my garage and I was not doing all out the repair, I would strongly consider a high solids epoxy as a primer followed by 100% solids. Heavy or full flake and then top coat it.

Repairs are still important, but you would have substantial mil thickness to cover up 'imperfect repairs' and imperfections.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Thanks, Justin. I guess at this point i am more interested in just a permanent or at least long term repair of the roughed up 325 sq ft area, with options to do cosmetic improvements down the road. I can't cough up the $ for epoxy/poly right now.

Anyone have opinions regarding resurfacing methods mentioned in my first post? If I lay down the Legacy Industrial HD 110 could I do a grind and apply Hellfire, epoxy, or poly over it in the future?

 

[Tpsykes]

Can yiu take a chain and drag over the floor? How does it sound it certain areas? Hollow or solid. This will give a good idea of spalling issues from salt and what not.

 

[SolarColumbia]

It rings like bell tapping with a hammer except a tiny area at the crack at the top of the circled area where you can see some loose chips next to the expansion joint.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Thanks, Justin. I guess at this point i am more interested in just a permanent or at least long term repair of the roughed up 325 sq ft area, with options to do cosmetic improvements down the road. I can't cough up the $ for epoxy/poly right now.

Anyone have opinions regarding resurfacing methods mentioned in my first post? If I lay down the Legacy Industrial HD 110 could I do a grind and apply Hellfire, epoxy, or poly over it in the future?

Scotty has a great company and sells great products. I would give him a call and discuss directly with him.

 

[SolarColumbia]

These two cracks that start at the comer of the opening concern me as they are displaced and are therefore full thickness. They are about 18" long and haven't moved in years but I wouldn't trust putting a decorative epoxy coating over them. I'm leaning towards grinding them down, using Abocrete to resurface the 325 sq ft area to repair it and see what happens over the next few years. Does this sound reasonable?

 

[SolarColumbia]

I just completed grinding using a rental Edco 22" 110 volt and medium bond Diamaserts (that's all they have). The 400 square feet per hour specified was optimistic. I probably spent 10 hours on my 821 square feet. It's not real rough but having used ACT oil treatment last year and after grinding there are no visible stains. I tried a small area of Rustoleum etch after and it opened it up a bit more so I'll be doing that all over. I was disappointed with the ineffectiveness of the grinder as no matter how much I ground it got whiter but no rougher.
I had made many spot repairs on the damaged areas with Extreme Set 100 prior to grinding, but I now see a few more I'll need to do. I still have to grind the corners and edges with a diamond cup. So I'll make additional repairs and grind as needed.
I'll be applying 820 Oil Block primer (just in case there is still oil) then 100% solids epoxy, then 1 coat gray All Weather Poly and one clear.
Although I would have preferred a rougher surface I think that after the etch and using the 63% solids primer I'll be okay. I'll keep updating as I (slowly) proceed.

 

[SolarColumbia]

A few more things. I had rented the Edco dual motor vac along with the grinder to avoid dust all over. It was a huge fail. It had suction but perhaps less than my 18 gal Shop Vac and just left the dust. Fortunately I was wearing a 3M respirator as I could feel dust in my hair and it's covering everything. Thanks, rental place. They rebated back about $30 of the $50 fee. I was too tired to fight for the last $20.
When I do the edges and corners with my angle grinder I'm going to wet grind.

The budget I had originally set is shot to hell, lol. I was thinking to just repair it originally but that would have left it pretty ugly. My floor is just too beat for me to do anything cheap and have it look decent. I'm gonna be in it over $2000.

 

[SolarColumbia]

I just did edges and corners with the cup disc on the 4" grinder. Boy, that works fast! I wet it down but still had a fair amount of dust so I wore the respirator. I'll do the Clean & Etch and let it dry for a few days. I still need some additional coating from Garage Flooring LLC, so no rush.

 

[tonyciambrone]

Could you post a photo of the floor after grinding?

Looks very similar to floor I want to do

 

[SolarColumbia]

Here's a picture. The top half has had the Rustoleum Clean & Etch done after the grind.

 

[dogzbody1]

The floor looks great, please keep the pics and update coming. I'm in SE Wisconsin, there was a period in the late 70s early 80s during which the sand mix was changed for faster drying, it didn't work out too well. I paid a ton on money for grinding and epoxy coating but got pops. I went over it with Race Deck and couldn't be happier. I'm now moving again and have already ordered the Race Deck for the new house, skipping the epoxy step altogether.

 

[SolarColumbia]

I'd looked at products like Racedack but as my floor has some valleys I figured I'd have problems keeping it in place. Plus I'd always worry about what was going on underneath. Also, my driveway has settled about 1-2 inches lower than the lip of the garage floor and I don't want to make the floor any higher.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Here are pics of the worst areas after 2 part polyurea repair and grinding. Obviously there are still some lesser fissures present after filling MANY of the worst ones individually. I'm going to hit some of these with epoxy repair ( I'm out if Extreme Set 100), but I'm
prepared to live with some showing through. I just can't afford to put down enough mils to cover all those and I would have been grinding for days and days to get rid of them and then grind everywhere else as well to keep the floor flat.

 

[SolarColumbia]

More post-grind pics.

 

[SolarColumbia]

IF ANYONE IS GOING TO USE AN EDCO GRINDER I neglected to mention that it does work better with weight on it. I had 2 bags of softener salt left and with that 80# on it it was slightly more aggressive. The 22" didn't notice the weight and ran as before.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Here is another tip for DIY grinding.
Dampen the entire floor a few hours before grinding.
Get a squirt bottle or pump-sprayer. Lightly spray some water ahead of the grinder.

This will help keep your diamonds cool. Cool diamonds cut better.

Also... if it just won't grind well, yes weight is good and try going to the perimeter of the garage (where the softer concrete lives) to clean your tools, they will cut a little better. Then go back out to the harder areas (usually the center).

 

[SolarColumbia]

Thanks! Good advice.

 

[SolarColumbia]

The two larger cracks coming from the door openings, filled with Extremeset 100 and ground flush.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Here is a pic of the threshold at the single door. I did it and the double door thresholds about 9" in, about 1" inside of where the bottom of the door sits when closed. I actually used Rustoleum Crack and Patch epoxy. I know it's not a coating per se, but I had some spalling there so I wanted a thick repair.

If the sun discolors it I'll sand and paint it. I went through the eternal dilemma of whether to coat all the way out when doing the floor and decided to go this route so I can keep the doors shut and not have insects, toads, etc. crawling in. Also, it will save time not having to chip brush those edges. I did it with a duct tape line rather than a saw cut and I think I got it quite straight. I used almost two 24 oz lots. The stuff is like chewing gum and I leaned on it HARD with a 9" trowel to spread it.

Now, if I can get two successive days with no rain . . .

 

[SolarColumbia]

Based on the current forecast I plan to coat on Tuesday and Wednesday. Minimal chance of rain/humidity both days, but I'll likely keep it closed up.
That's one advantage if only doing the two car side first; I have an area inside from which I can work.

Tuesday morning the 820 primer will go on and the medium gray 707 OP 100% solids in the afternoon. I'll let that cure overnight and do the gray color All Weather poly early Wednesday followed by the clear poly later that day

I've monitored humidity and temp in the closed garage and found it can be kept at around 50% or so humidity even when it's 80%+ humidity outside, as long as it's kept closed. I'll only have 3 overhead 100 watt LED bulbs for lighting so I'll wear an LED headlamp.

I'll move the 2 vehicles out tomorrow (they are parked on cardboard now) along with the trash and recycling bins, give the floor a final sweeping and vacuuming, and tape off areas. I'll keep it closed from Sunday night so it stays dry in there as rain is a possibility again on Sunday and Monday.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Re: 25 yrs WI winter floor restoration

Here's the last time it was wet, 6 days ago. That's a lot of painstaking repairs, as you can see.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Last time it was wet, 6 days ago. You can see the many epoxy and poly fill-ins.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Last sweep and vacuum done and lines taped off. It had some airborne dirt on it but minimal concrete dust. It will have dried for 9 days as of Tuesday morning and it passed the "plastic square" test. I'll keep it closed from now on.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

The two larger cracks coming from the door openings, filled with Extremeset 100 and ground flush.

Looks snappy!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

The two larger cracks coming from the door openings, filled with Extremeset 100 and ground flush.

Ha ha ha, the first pass reading this I thought it said, "...filled with excrement...:

 

[SolarColumbia]

Ha ha ha, the first pass reading this I thought it said, "...filled with excrement...:

That would have really kept the budget in check as you can get it free

 

[SolarColumbia]

I monitored temp, humidity, and dew point and started mixing the 820 primer at about 11:55. Probably because the product had been made up nearly a year ago the B component had been a bit settled in the bottom. I noted this a week or so ago when shaking the cans, so I took them into the warmer garage and stored them upside down, then a few days later on their sides, and after a couple days it seemed more uniform in the can.

When I opened them they only needed slight mixing before being combined. Had it all on there and rolled out within about 35 minutes. It's 63% solids so time wasn't tight but I wanted to see how quickly I could get it done. Much of it soaked in quickly, at least the areas without spall repair. The polyurea and epoxy repaired areas obviously didn't absorb as much, but I did try to apply it evenly per the recommendation.

Pouring it out in ribbons wasn't really doable as it's almost water thin, but I made some uniformly distributed puddles and went to work. I had planned to do this last year but I had sustained a rather severe hand injury and by the time that was recovered it was too cold.

Next step is the 707 OP 100% solids!

 

[SolarColumbia]

Waited about 6.5 hours and started mixing the Garage Flooring LLC 707 OP. I knew I'd have to hustle getting this one on. I pulled the 3 gal around the 540 sq ft with a straight squeegee, then rolled it. I was just touching up some areas at about 30 minutes and could feel it getting stiff! It was about 70 F and 53% humidity.

I'd wanted to keep rolling it more evenly but figured I'd best not push it. Perhaps there was still time but this was my first time with this stuff. I probably should have used Garage Flooring LLC's High Solids; I'd have had more time. Consequently some areas are a bit thin and some a bit thick. Were I to ever do this again I'd have a helper.

Walking in those spikes is a treat, too. I fell twice and lost track of the almost falls. One fall was dry, the other slightly wet. I also see a couple of spike drags now. At least I can take my time with the poly tomorrow.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Here's the 707 OP. The dark spot is a shadow from my suspended Jeep top. Note on the humidity: it was low 50% range in my garage but of course it rained so 83% outside. It's always something. I have the 2 car door locked slightly open so I can hit the edge and it's tented with plastic outside so more or less hermetically sealed, lol. I hope this works!

 

[SolarColumbia]

Happily, the epoxy cured! I got the gray coat of All Weather Poly down and even had time to back roll! That was more than could be said for the 100% solids; although in retrospect I think I should have done it despite time being a factor. I was worried about pulling it off the floor with the roller. There were some spike drags I left in it that look not so professional, since I was trying to be The Flash. I'll see how they look when the poly dries.

I'd advise anyone doing a larger area like my 540 sq ft to have 2 people for applying a 100% solids epoxy. On a positive note the 260 sq ft one car side is going to be pretty easy by comparison.

If I could do this again I'd spend more $ on making the repairs as perfect as possible and perhaps I could skip the thick epoxy entirely. It would have cost about the same and been less hassle. Ah, well.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Here's a couple pics. From these it looks okay. No pics of the suicidal bugs, spike drag mark's, etc.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Stem wall done with Rustoleum Concrete and Garage paint in Battleship Gray.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Now I'm waiting on weather to do the remaining 260 sq ft. It's been high '80's or low '90's for the last several days with no end in site.
I could perhaps get the primer on okay in the morning but by mid day it would be pretty warm for the high solids stuff.
If I get desperate enough I could do the primer in the evening and the high solids the following morning. The poly could go on that evening.

 

[SolarColumbia]

I finished a week ago. Finally got some acceptable weather. There were some flaws but if you don't look too closely it's certainly a big improvement. Easy to sweep out and keep clean. It's trulok 820 primer, Garage Flooring LLC 707 OP in medium gray, and a coat of gray AWP followed by clear AWP. About 23 mils. Thank God that's over!

 

[Bolson32]

Re: 25 yrs WI winter garage floor rehab

In hindsight, would you have just hired it? I'm getting quotes here between $4-$5 a Sq ft.

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[SolarColumbia]

Re: 25 yrs WI winter garage floor rehab

In hindsight, would you have just hired it? I'm getting quotes here between $4-$5 a Sq ft.

Sent from my SM-G965U using The Garage Journal mobile app

Probably not. I've already spent more than I wanted to. Although it undoubtedly would have looked better I still can't justify spending $4k or more.

 

[Bolson32]

Re: 25 yrs WI winter garage floor rehab

Probably not. I've already spent more than I wanted to. Although it undoubtedly would have looked better I still can't justify spending $4k or more.

It would cost me about $2000 to just hire mine out. I'm wondering how much I'd invest in materials and tools for ~500sq ft.

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