Darkening My Garage Floor

[wreckdiver1321]

I'm attempting to get an "industrial" look in my detached workshop, and it all starts with the floor.

Let's start with some background. The garage/shop is relatively new, built within the last two years. It was used as a car workshop for a lot of that time, so there's some oil stains I need to address before I move to color/sealer. I did attempt to DIY some Legacy DeltaDye, which went poorly thanks to the oil stains, wrong color choices, bad technique, and hubris. Now I'm going to grind the slab after taking care of the oil stains and start again.

I'm trying to figure out my path forward. I want something that looks industrial, weathered, but clean. Something along the lines of this:







Now, the garage is 529 sqft and will be used for general "shop" type work. There will be some minor metal work, a lot of auto repair, and some wood working. There will also be a "hangout" area with seating, a coffee table, a TV, and a beer fridge. I picked AWF Polyurea as the sealer product for the overall resilience and the more polished look. I think that's a good start.

The issue, of all things, is the color of my concrete. It's almost white, it's so bright. There's quite a bit of color variation in the floor, which is great, but it is very, very lightly colored. What I'd really like is that warm, medium-to-dark gray concrete with a good amount of character and color variation. I'm not sure how to accomplish this.



Should I start with a dye or a stain to get the color? Will polyurea darken the concrete a considerable amount? Would it look closer to what I'm aiming for?

I've looked at all manner of things, from DeltaDye to Direct Color Antiquing stain to various other stuff. What does the GJ brain trust suggest is a good way forward?

Thanks in advance for all the help!

 

[FMB4]

There are a number of dye/sealers for concrete. Also consider sealing and then applying wax periodically.

 

[cvairwerks]

Our plant floors are simply time aged and waxed. While darker floors hide lots of sins, they make it hard to find dropped small hardware.....

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Our plant floors are simply time aged and waxed. While darker floors hide lots of sins, they make it hard to find dropped small hardware.....

Ha! Fair enough. I'm not aiming for super dark, the pics above are more what I want, but yeah I'm sure it will make it a little tougher to find small hardware. That being said, such a downside would not be anything new, so I'm not sure that's all that big a deal to me.

Pretty bird as your avatar by the way, I can't seem to place it for some reason. My dad has been a private pilot since 96, is the president of the Montana Pilot's Assoc., and the state liaison for the Recreational Aviation Foundation, so I grew up in and around all kinds of aircraft. Working on getting my ticket once my garage is sorted out and we get moved into my new house all the way.

 

[cvairwerks]

It a Fairchild AT-21....I'm "restoring" the only one known to still exist, such as it is. Most of what I have is good for patterns, but there is quite a bit that can be returned to flight in her.

Remember, as you darken things below ceiling levels, they tend to become light *****....The more dark you have, the increase in foot candles will be needed to compensate. I'd suggest figuring out a complete color palette first and then do a corner with the colors and see how it feels. Two pieces of sheet rock or similar with the wall color and a piece with the floor color, all butted up in the corner and cogitate on it a week or two before you commit. That makes it easy to change before laying out the $ for the permanent job.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

It a Fairchild AT-21....I'm "restoring" the only one known to still exist, such as it is. Most of what I have is good for patterns, but there is quite a bit that can be returned to flight in her.

Awesome. Hat's off to you, it takes a lot of dedication to keep those old planes in the air, especially the old warbirds. I'm glad there are people out there doing it.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I came across this while doing some Googling on gray DeltaDye. If you ignore the blue strip and the black streaks (added for effect), that isn't far from the effect I want. Hmmmmm....



Hey, @Garage Flooring, how much does the AWF polyurea darken a lighter-colored slab like mine? Do you think I'd approach what I'm aiming for with just the sealer, or is that not enough? Maybe a super-diluted tint pack?

 

[wreckdiver1321]

I decided I'm going to take a stab at using the gray DeltaDye to darken the floor before the polyurea goes down. I only bought a gallon, and my plan is to dilute it to the maximum recommended level of 1 qt water to 1 gal stain. This should dilute it enough to give me a pretty light effect and be able to cover the entire floor.

I'll post some pics of the process once things get underway.

 

[RPH]

Before you spray take the time to pattern your sprayer with water outside. Find the fine mist to stream spray sweet spot on sprayer. That way once you do spray the stain you have a pattern idea set up. There is a couple different spray patterns in that picture. To me stain is the way to go but it is a gamble.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Before you spray take the time to pattern your sprayer with water outside. Find the fine mist to stream spray sweet spot on sprayer. That way once you do spray the stain you have a pattern idea set up. There is a couple different spray patterns in that picture. To me stain is the way to go but it is a gamble.

Great advice! I will definitely do that.

 

[Armorpoxy]

The photos you showed are for polished concrete which is not the best choice for a working garage since there is no 'topical' protection. While polished concrete is an excellent surface and widely used now in commercial spaces, what it is not is very chemical or stain resistant since the protection which is a 'stain blocker' is burnished into the floor and doesn't sit 'on' the floor. This is why car dealers and such don't use polished concrete in the service areas.

Polishing is a multi step process that needs diamond floor grinders which you then change the diamond pads to successively finer diamonds, then you need a burnisher to burnish in the densfier and stain blocker for a high shine. For this reason most people don't DIY polished concrete.

You can get this look easily for MUCH less with a coat of our clear SPGX 1 part Polyurea. If you want to darken the floor first, you can use a concrete stain prior to using the SPGX.

See https://armorpoxy.com/spgx-polyurea-coating/

 

[wreckdiver1321]

The photos you showed are for polished concrete which is not the best choice for a working garage since there is no 'topical' protection. While polished concrete is an excellent surface and widely used now in commercial spaces, what it is not is very chemical or stain resistant since the protection which is a 'stain blocker' is burnished into the floor and doesn't sit 'on' the floor. This is why car dealers and such don't use polished concrete in the service areas.

Polishing is a multi step process that needs diamond floor grinders which you then change the diamond pads to successively finer diamonds, then you need a burnisher to burnish in the densfier and stain blocker for a high shine. For this reason most people don't DIY polished concrete.

You can get this look easily for MUCH less with a coat of our clear SPGX 1 part Polyurea. If you want to darken the floor first, you can use a concrete stain prior to using the SPGX.

See https://armorpoxy.com/spgx-polyurea-coating/

Yep, I wanted something approaching a polished concrete look but I know it's not a good surface for what I'm planning on doing. I do have polyurea to finish it off, just getting the coloring figured out.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Great, sounds like you are perfectly on the right track.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Great, sounds like you are perfectly on the right track.

Question - have you found that the polyurea darkens the concrete much? Just want to get an idea.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Polyurea will darken the concrete somewhat, but each pour/mix is different so there is no real answer as to how much it darkens. Some floors darken a lot, some not much at all.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Polyurea will darken the concrete somewhat, but each pour/mix is different so there is no real answer as to how much it darkens. Some floors darken a lot, some not much at all.

Good to know, that helps. Thank you!

 

[sticktime]

So many of these threads just stop! Did you proceed? Which product did you use and how did it turn out. Very interested in clear solutions for my current build

 

[wreckdiver1321]

So many of these threads just stop! Did you proceed? Which product did you use and how did it turn out. Very interested in clear solutions for my current build

Great point! This does deserve resolution.

I ended up trying out a diluted gray DeltaDye from Legacy. It sort of worked but largely was a failure. Something about the concrete floors in my shop is off. There's something weird going on with the colors or the prior stains or something that is making the stain jobs come out really funky. The stain just does not take in some spots while working really well in others. This is after etching twice and grinding the floor diligently. So, I gave up on the stain idea. Whatever is causing this to happen to my floors is something I no longer want to fight.

Instead, I bought the HellFire floor coating from @LegacyIndustrial. I was going to apply it right away, but the weather turned cold and dry. Since it requires 60% humidity, I've opted to hold off until the weather changes to get the flooring down. As such, I've not moved much of anything into the shop, instead only bringing in what is necessary and laying tarps down to protect the floor and minimize my cleanup.

Once the weather cooperates again, I'll empty the shop, re-etch the floor and grind anywhere that needs it, then humidify the space before laying the coating down. I'll post pics to update this thread once I've done that.

 

[sticktime]

Thanks for the reply, very interested to see the delta dye failure too. This was a product i was considering as well.

 

[Krfjkm]

I really like my Delta Dye floor!! (Sorry for the mess… lots happenin)

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Thanks for the reply, very interested to see the delta dye failure too. This was a product i was considering as well.

For reference, here is the end result of the diluted gray.



I'm not sure what the deal is here. Some of them were residual oil stains, such as you see in the upper left, so that explains why there's no coverage. As far as the spot where the expansion joints meet or the corners near the overhead door, I have no idea what happened. The floor has been ground, etched twice, and treated with Eximo to pull the oils out of the floor. I'm thinking it's a chemical problem as this shop was used for two years for auto repair without any sort of sealer, so there's some nastiness captured by the concrete.

Whatever the cause, I've done the staining twice without success. From my reading, the HellFire or Rust Bullet will be a lot less finicky. That's not to say I shouldn't clean the floor a bit more and try to get more of the oil stains taken care of, but it should give me less trouble.

I'm going to try another oil removal method and work on getting the floor cleaner before doing the HellFire.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Very rare to have any issues.
Silicones, fats, oils , fuels, tire treatments can be especially troublesome and even grinding can stop a water-based or acid based stain from being successful. The pictures illustrate some type of former contamination.

 

[CombatNinja]

By the time you get done messing with your floor, you will have enough money into it to have paid for the finest workshop-grade porcelain tile to be installed. Sorry you are having so many issues.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Very rare to have any issues.
Silicones, fats, oils , fuels, tire treatments can be especially troublesome and even grinding can stop a water-based or acid based stain from being successful. The pictures illustrate some type of former contamination.

Yep, I'm sure that's the situation here. The previous owners were rather liberal regarding what was allowed to spill on their floor. Oh well, HellFire was my plan B when I started this adventure, and I was able to sell my polyurea kit on here and completely cover the cost of the HellFire. So I'm not that upset by it really.

Legacy has been very helpful and informative. I'm hoping the HellFire will stick like glue after all the damn prep I'll have done by that point.

By the time you get done messing with your floor, you will have enough money into it to have paid for the finest workshop-grade porcelain tile to be installed. Sorry you are having so many issues.

Ha, you're not kidding! I've bought several types of etching chemicals, rented a floor grinder, bought another angle grinder, bought a diamond wheel for said angle grinder, bought stain (twice), bought a bioremediation kit to cure the stains, bought portland cement to clean the stains, bought about two gallons of acetone, bought a polyurea kit, discovered I didn't have enough polyurea and bought more, sold that stuff, bought HellFire. Not to mention all the gloves, squeegee, etc.

You know, a porcelain tile was a thought I have, but I have a standard two-car door, eight-foot ceilings, and a Toyota Land Cruiser on aftermarket suspension. I need every millimeter of space I can get between the floor and the ceiling! Truck barely fits in the door haha

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Update!

I have three layers of HellFire down, and so far it has worked exceedingly well. It's a nasty material to work with, but it seems really effective. I stopped with those three layers because I finished at 2 AM yesterday, but did the recommended prep (scuff with ScotchBrite, wipe down with denatured alcohol) last night to prep for two more layers today with the darker tint. I'll have a full description with pictures soon.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Some resolution for this thread:

I got the HellFire install finished last week, and am pleased to report that it went off largely without a hitch. I'm very happy with the end result, and it really looks to me like this will be a tough, easy to maintain coating for many years. I'm glad I went this route in the end and couldn't be happier with the finished product.

I did opt to use the tint pack to darken the color. In fact, I went with the maximum 4oz/gallon stipulated by Legacy. It looks great. Here's a few photos of the install and the final result. If you're interested in the whole story and a long-term review, I started this thread in the Flooring section: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...hellfire-install-and-long-term-review.496241/

 

[CombatNinja]

Looks amazing! Glad you finally got it worked out.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Looks amazing! Glad you finally got it worked out.

You and me both!

If I was to do it over, I'd absolutely just do the HellFire from the beginning. I'd probably use the extra money to do a gloss clear coat or flake, or maybe both. Either way, I'm happy to have it done and usable.

 

[Dyers78]

You and me both!

If I was to do it over, I'd absolutely just do the HellFire from the beginning. I'd probably use the extra money to do a gloss clear coat or flake, or maybe both. Either way, I'm happy to have it done and usable.

How is the hellfire holding up? Did you apply a clear on top?

 

[wreckdiver1321]

How is the hellfire holding up? Did you apply a clear on top?

No clear was applied, just the Hellfire with the tint pack. Total of 5 coats.

It's holding up really well so far!

It's gotten some scratches mostly stemming from rocks under a floor jack wheel, but nothing deep or particularly serious. From what I can tell, it's mostly just surface level. Maybe a dent here or there from dropping something kinda sharp and kinda heavy. Nothing sticks to it for long. I've dropped wood glue, epoxy, paint, and wood filler on it. Worst I've ever had to do is hit some epoxy with a plastic putty knife and it pops right off. Nothing I've dropped on it discolors it either except for battery acid. That'll darken it but not eat through it. I've dropped welding and grinding sparks on it, it didn't seem to notice. I actually really like the look as it's worn in a bit. Doesn't take long to look different from when I installed it but I like to effect. Makes it feel really industrial. Well used but extremely sturdy.

The only complaint I have is that no matter what you do, it's always releasing dark gray dust. I don't know if it's an installation issue or that's just the way it is, but wiping a dry paper towel across the floor will result in a dirty paper towel. That being said, it's a shop so I've always got shoes on, so not that big a deal to me. Maybe @LegacyIndustrial would chime in and say if that's typical?

Either way, I'm a fan of the floor.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Have not heard of any dust issues.
Glad you like the floor.

 

[tjcooke9]

Have not heard of any dust issues.
Glad you like the floor.

Website continually says this is out of stock. Any idea when you will get more??

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Gone (out of stock) but not forgotten. Hang in there.
Thanks for your inquiry.

 

[BigRed-131]

Congrats! That floor looks very nice!