To coat the floor, or not...

[duneslider]

Looking for some advice here, both from vendors and from consumers.

I have never bothered with doing anything to my garage floors. I am building a new house and I have about 1200sqft of garage to deal with and trying to decide what I want to do. I honestly don't mind the look of bare concrete but don't like the dusty nature. I have worked on friends floors with epoxy/flake and found it hard to find small things dropped on the floor.

I am not a show car kind of guy. I use the garage for working on bikes (MTB), jeeps, atv's, wood working, and such. No BMW museums or stuff like that.

Its normal to spill oils and not put down enough carboard for spray painting stuff, or dropping heavy jeep parts, etc. I would like something that kept oil from absorbing into the concrete but something I won't get bent about if the makeshift paint booth lets some overspray get by.

I have thought about just doing densifier and some sort of a topical sealer that doesn't darken the surface? I don't want to make it more slippery than the steel troweled surface will already by. I am also somewhat cheap and not looking to spend 3k on floor coating.

I love the look of the amazing garages on here and the sweet floors but I just don't know what is best for my use case. Open to all your opinions.

 

[Shea]

No BMW museums or stuff like that.

OK, that made me laugh

It sounds to me like you might best be served with a simple clear coating. The first that comes to mind is TS210 by Concrete Sealers USA. We have an article about it in the link below.

https://allgaragefloors.com/ts210-concrete-sealer-review/

This type of sealer is relatively inexpensive, it's durable, it stands up to chemicals well, and is easy to apply. In addition, should you somehow damage it, it's actually quite easy to lightly sand the area and reapply it. Repairs to the coating are not nearly as noticeable as they can be with thicker resinous coatings. In addition, it is not very slippery when wet due to the matte finish.

It is not as durable as single-part polyurea for example, but based your description of what you want a sealer to do for you, it should perform well to your expectations.

Like all clear coatings, it will darken the concrete somewhat. This is the result of the wettening effect a clear coat has.

 

[Ralf11]

have them lay down some colored concrete

 

[duneslider]

OK, that made me laugh

It sounds to me like you might best be served with a simple clear coating. The first that comes to mind is TS210 by Concrete Sealers USA. We have an article about it in the link below.

https://allgaragefloors.com/ts210-concrete-sealer-review/

Shea,
Your website has a lot of great info! Really enjoying the articles.

After reading a handful of articles, it seems to me the densifier and ghostshield seems like a winner for me? I also have a **** ton of driveway and patio that would probably benefit from densifier and maybe even ghostshield. Although, the TS210 does sound good for the garage.

What do you recommend for the driveway, is the densifier and ghostshield overkill? We do live in the salt belt, so we get snow and ice and they use salt on the streets and I occasionally have to use a little ice melt product on the driveway. I don't want to change the look but want to protect the concrete.

 

[Shea]

Yes, the GhostShield system is another valid option based on your requirements. Just keep in mind that while it provides good oil resistance, it can still stain. The reason is that it will not totally block concrete from absorbing oils like a coating or TS210 would do.

I wouldn't consider GS overkill for a driveway if salt protection is a big consideration. If you don't want to spend the money for a densifier and GS, then I would suggest a densifier that has siliconate sealer added to it.

 

[Steve in UT]

+1 on the ts210/CoverShield U140. You might also check out the Legacy Industrial HD6600-MMA

 

[ducksface]

Paint is very under rated..
Paint it cheap, touch it up easily.
White is a favorite.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi, Ghostshield penetrating sealer system would be a very good option for this or our ARM8400X topical clear sealer.