Help. I really want an epoxy floor but .

I am really wanting an epoxy floor , looking at all the garages that have them have really spurred my desire But.

I wonder what they look like after 3 - 5 yrs of use ? Dropping tools , engine parts , equipment rolling over them. You know good hard use.

SO. MY QUESTION IS , does any one have pic' s of a floor 3- 5 yrs old
that's been well used ?
That certainly would help me decide .

The durability of epoxy has everything to do with the particular concrete you put it on, and there are a lot of factors involved in what the condition and characteristics of that are -- all of which are hard to know with any certainty.

I'm in the over-five-years club, But I don't have epoxy. I've got ceramic tile. .59/sf.

500 lb engine rolling on a floor jack:





Cleans up nice:



For comparison, that's inexpensive epoxy on the apron part around the grate. But it's exposed to the sun and rain.

Many epoxy installs look great for years.

13 years in this location. This was move out day - no I didn't sweep or mop it, that was up to the new owners. The block spots are rubber from drag slicks that could be removed with kerosene or some such. There is a white halo in the center that was overspray from painting my Falcon. Covered the floor with plastic and it still got everywhere. Other than that, a good scrub and dry and it's in pretty good shape.


The new shop is 2 years old. The places were I got the mix too thin - near the overhead and man door - show some wear but the rest looks decent if I was inclined to mop, etc. The work room is in constant use (12x24) and there are two engines, all the tools and the parts washer. A new blasting cabinet in being assembled in there right now. You can see some of the floor here:




Prep and proper application is the key.

Mine is less than 2 years old on new diamond ground concrete. Grey/fleck/clear coating. It yellows in areas of high sunlight exposure (outer edge in front of doors). It also scratches (dragging something across it), chips (dropped tools/ heavy items), burns (welding), dissolves when exposed to some chemicals (PVC primer for example), etc. I still like mine and would do it again.

More info thanks to prompts in the post from ez. I used an industrial coating on the new shop. It's not a 100% epoxy product. Lots of sun exposure in the south facing overhead door, no fading. I did not use a top coat/clear. I can marginally soften the coating some with a stout chemical, like Berrymans.

The old shop used 100% epoxy and no top coat. I don't really care for a top coat on a floor that gets used. You could mop that floor with any chemical and it would not lift. I used stripper to try and remove the white auto paint overspray and it didn't hurt the floor at all. I got over having the overspray - working 480 sq/ft stripping overspray one sq/ft at a time got old real fast. There were a few marks from welding, nothing much you could tell IMHO.

The only change I'd make in the new shop would have been to buy 6 units of KM-15 instead of 3.

So no one that has had this type of floor for any length of time is willing to comment ?
With out some long term reviews. , I will hold off . I hate doing anything twice and I understand hard use but the cost of the time to redo a floor like this is a major concern.

mygarageone said:

SO. MY QUESTION IS , does any one have pic' s of a floor 3- 5 yrs old
that's been well used ?
That certainly would help me decide .

Click to expand...

The floor in my machine shop is going on 10 years old with daily use. I'm still very much satisfied with it. It's nothing fancy, just the "professional" Rust-Oleum epoxy.

If I remember, I'll take some photos today.

OK, here are a few photos for you...

The floor is Rust-Oleum's "professional" mineral-base epoxy coating. By all accounts, a "cheap" epoxy floor. It's around ten years old +-. Preparation consisted of etching with muriatic acid followed by applying two coats at the recommended re-coat interval with a 1/2" nap roller.

First, a few "clean" photos from late 2011, a month or two after I scrubbed the floor:







Now for some "dirty" photos. I usually scrub the floor with the floor scrubber as part of spring cleaning. I sweep every day and mop once a week. These photos are before mopping at the end of this week. To show what the floor looks like after scrubbing, I scrubbed test patches with the corner of a green scrubbing pad using Super Clean.

First, the "dreaded welding spatter" that everybody is afraid of. This is in front of my welding table. I take no precautions to protect the floor. The majority of it comes up with a few strokes of scrubbing. The floor scrubber will take it all up:





Next, the general shop floor and some paint overspray. The pock marks you see in the floor are mostly from drops falling off my horizontal band saw. When I remember, I usually place a 30" square piece of 3/8" plywood under the saw to cushion large drops. In most cases the epoxy doesn't chip unless the underlying concrete breaks.





Finally, in front of my lathe, the only part of the floor which has begun to wear through due to grinding chips into the floor. I usually stand in one spot and it shows:





A photo of what causes the damage and what it looks like after scrubbing:

I've seen John's floor many times and it has made a believer out of me. Epoxy it and forget about keeping it perfect. It will repel stains and brighten the shop, which is the intended purpose.

A_Pmech. Thank you for sharing. Very helpful

For the price I am inclined towards porcelain tile. It is easy to install and very durable.

I don't have photos but mine is 7 years old and is showing the wear, just in the last year. Mostly by the door where vehicles are turning slightly to cram them in a too small garage. My neighbors is about 9 years old and about the same. Both were cleaned and etched prior to epoxy. If I was to stay here much longer I would go over it after a good cleaning.