My Epoxy-Coat floor one year later

nathank · Apr 26, 2011

Just wanted to give an update on my floor. I put the floor down last year on Easter weekend, so it has been just over a year.

In short the floor really has performed flawlessly. I can't think of a single gripe I have with it. It's hard as a rock and I have proven this time and again as I have dropped tools, items, you name it on it and there hasn't been a single chip.

I drug something across it and scratched the clear coat a little in one area, but even that is not very noticeable.

There is an area in front of the workbench (highest traffic area) where the clear has dulled. The clear on the rest of the floor is high shine, and this area is noticeably duller than the rest. Perhaps someone can recommend something that will help me solve this if it can be helped.

It's super easy to sweep! Here is a pic from January. I will have better pics of the whole shop soon!

drewalt · Apr 26, 2011

Nice work area.

Flooring For Garage · Apr 26, 2011

Looks real nice! Is that your first epoxy project?

I love the walls too - is that corrugated steel at the base?

nathank · Apr 27, 2011

Flooring For Garage said:
Looks real nice! Is that your first epoxy project?

I love the walls too - is that corrugated steel at the base?

Yes, first project.

Yes, it's galvalume plus from Mueller corrugated steel on the walls.

Jim Johnstone · Apr 27, 2011

Awesome floors, the black with grey/white flecks is what I have in mind for mine. Did you put the anti slip additive in the clear coat?

rugerlady · Apr 27, 2011

The floor looks great! I really like your garage! call me abot the shine.

dd564 · Apr 27, 2011

I'm starting to lean towards black again!

Theo911 · Apr 27, 2011

Love the garage and good news on the epoxy. Which color combo is that on the floor--looks fantastic.

Jagman · Apr 27, 2011

Great floor. What kind of hard use has this floor seen? Have you used jack stands,floor jacks, dropped tools,etc.

Has anyone had an epoxy floor with a few years of hard service that can give us a sense of durability over time?

John D.

NewShockerGuy · Apr 27, 2011

What did you use to spread the chips and also did you use the anti skid ?

-Nigel

nathank · Apr 28, 2011

Thanks for the comments everyone. The floor is a black epoxy with a white/gray/metallic blue chip combo.

I did not add the anti-slip in it. It hasn't been much of an issue unless I have a kiddo who gets out of the hot tub to use the shop restroom. In these cases I walk them in the shop so I can verify they don't slip. In retrospect I think I would have added a touch of the anti-slip. When this floor gets wet it is pretty slick!

Here's a pic a day after I put it down

I really hope to get some updated pics of the shop soon, I have changed quite a bit.

nathank · Apr 28, 2011

NewShockerGuy said:
What did you use to spread the chips and also did you use the anti skid ?

-Nigel

I tossed them underhand. And no anti-skid.

Let me say this about the chips so people don't make the mistake I did. You hear people always say to practice throwing the chips before game time... DO THIS!!!! You will find that there is a method to it, and it depends a lot on the quantity of chips in your hand. You want to throw a little at a time. A few chips goes a long way. Don't latch on to a handful and chunk them, you will end up with a nasty pile of chips in your floor... ask me how I know!

nathank · Apr 28, 2011

Jagman said:
Great floor. What kind of hard use has this floor seen? Have you used jack stands,floor jacks, dropped tools,etc.

Has anyone had an epoxy floor with a few years of hard service that can give us a sense of durability over time?

John D.

I know I may be banned from GJ for this, but I haven't done much work at all in my shop in the past year. I've had a few good wood working projects so wood and sawhorses have seen the floor. I have dropped a bunch of things on it. I have slid heavy items across it, and I have rolled heavy items and toolboxes on it.

When I first laid the floor I was paranoid about "using" it. Sliding, moving, dropping things on it. But it is HARD!!! I'm not afraid of throwing anything at it now. I would gladly put jackstands or anything on it. I've parked several vehicles in the shop with no issues.

ksdaoski · Apr 28, 2011

FYI- Nathan, few of us were trying to see your build thread, but lots of the pictures are gone, specific to the epoxy floor

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1489612#post1489612

nathank · Apr 28, 2011

ksdaoski said:
FYI- Nathan, few of us were trying to see your build thread, but lots of the pictures are gone, specific to the epoxy floor

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1489612#post1489612

I think the picture hosting for Picasa Web has URLs that expire after a while. For whatever reason.

I'll post them all in this thread right now.

nathank · Apr 28, 2011

This was after I cleared the floor and did the acid etch. I used Muratic acid from Lowes as instructed by all the fine folks on GJ.

You can see I had that nasty white film issue. I powerwashed and powerwashed to get it all clean.

I didn't get any pics of the application process. I was too nervous about getting everything done right and in time.

mmhouse · Apr 28, 2011

You do nice work. :thumbup:

Snake87 · Apr 28, 2011

That floor is awesome looking. The black with the flakes looks incredible.

After tossing around several ideas I'm thinking on doing something very similar seeing how well yours turned out.

Do you find that you have adequate light in there with the black floor? And, is it hard to find dropped items, screws, bolts with that floor? I'm very curious as I'd like to do something similar. Thanks!

nathank · Apr 29, 2011

Snake87 said:
Do you find that you have adequate light in there with the black floor? And, is it hard to find dropped items, screws, bolts with that floor? I'm very curious as I'd like to do something similar. Thanks!

The light was probably my biggest concern going into it, but I personally feel like it hasn't darkened it up any with the black floor. It's no concern at all.

It's hard to locate small screws, or black screws. Not impossible, but definitely not as easy as it was with bare concrete. For me the trade off is worth it. Most of the work I do recently is IT related so I'm constantly dropping the small screws that go in computer cases. I usually find them pretty quick.

nathank · Apr 29, 2011

mmhouse said:
You do nice work.

Thank ya

kywildcat · Apr 29, 2011

Very nice job!!

nathank · Apr 29, 2011

Primitive Pete · May 1, 2011

Jagman said:
Has anyone had an epoxy floor with a few years of hard service that can give us a sense of durability over time?

I used the Rustoleum industrial 2 part epoxy in gray. I also sprinkled black sandblasting sand for a anti slip surface. The sand worked best were I put it down then rolled over it again. Where I just dropped it on top of the paint, works great but it was HELL on rags untill it got knocked down.

I probably have 4 years of using it and i'm happy. Holds up well except to cutting torch slag or little sharp rocks that seem to get caught between my welders wheels and the floor. :lol_hitti

Cobra6 · May 4, 2011

nathank said:
Yes, first project.

Yes, it's galvalume plus from Mueller corrugated steel on the walls.

That looks good - I may go with that on the walls -
What did you use for the black trim?

Scoobyvroom · May 6, 2011

Very nice floor, can't wait for my kit to show up... Nice wheelie on the FJR... that is an FJR right? Is that you?

nathank · May 6, 2011

Cobra6 said:
That looks good - I may go with that on the walls -
What did you use for the black trim?

The black trim is just painted 2x2s screwed to the OSB

nathank · May 6, 2011

Scoobyvroom said:
Very nice floor, can't wait for my kit to show up... Nice wheelie on the FJR... that is an FJR right? Is that you?

Yes its a 2003 SILVER FJR. I had one exactly like it, but sold it last year. No thats not me in the picture.

Cobra6 · May 7, 2011

nathank said:
The black trim is just painted 2x2s screwed to the OSB

I am all over the Galvalume - My wife actually wanted me to put something like that in the garage. I found a distributor about 10 miles from my house. Checked with him Friday but he had some damage from the Tornadoes a couple of weeks ago and was closed for the weekend.

Anyway - do you have a close-up shot of that trim next to the corrugated metal?
The garage really looks great!

Thanks -

Eddie 70 · May 7, 2011

The garage looks great. I must have overlooked it, what brand did you use? Can you comment on how this will hold up in our home garage where we park our cars everyday? I like the use of the corrugated metal around the bottom of the garage. Thanks for the pics and ideas.

jcfitzgerald · May 7, 2011

wow very nice

nathank · May 9, 2011

Eddie 70 said:
The garage looks great. I must have overlooked it, what brand did you use? Can you comment on how this will hold up in our home garage where we park our cars everyday? I like the use of the corrugated metal around the bottom of the garage. Thanks for the pics and ideas.

The brand of epoxy? It's Epoxy-Coat brand. http://www.epoxy-coat.com/
Or PM Rugerlady on the forum, she works for epoxy-coat

People put it in home garages all the time. That's what it's made for. If you prep your slab correctly it will be there for years and years.

nathank · May 9, 2011

Cobra6 said:
I am all over the Galvalume - My wife actually wanted me to put something like that in the garage. I found a distributor about 10 miles from my house. Checked with him Friday but he had some damage from the Tornadoes a couple of weeks ago and was closed for the weekend.

Anyway - do you have a close-up shot of that trim next to the corrugated metal?
The garage really looks great!

Thanks -

This galvalume is from Mueller Metal Buildings here in Texas. I started to use the stuff Lowes carries, but it doesn't look near as nice compared to this.

Here is the best I have on a closeup of the trim. This was during install. Pardon the sawdust!

Cobra6 · May 11, 2011

That is a great looking wall and floor!

Thanks for the pic!

Good idea for the trim - I may do something similar.

brett3xx · Jan 16, 2012

Is the blue wall section OSB or what?

45 ACP · Jan 19, 2012

Very nice looking. :thumbup:

synik · Jan 19, 2012

Which epoxy kit did you use on your floor and how many clear coat did you do? Looks like you had more clear coat applied then the usual? I may be wrong.

:thumbup:

4wd4ever · Jan 21, 2012

Looks really good! :bowdown:

mattthomas4444 · Jan 21, 2012

Nice looking floor! when you etched it with muriatic acid, did you scrub it in with a brush or broom or use a burnisher?

Matt

tcianci · Jan 22, 2012

Jagman said:
Great floor. What kind of hard use has this floor seen? Have you used jack stands,floor jacks, dropped tools,etc.

Has anyone had an epoxy floor with a few years of hard service that can give us a sense of durability over time?

John D.

I have a Stonhard epoxy floor in my garage. It has been here about 11 years now. It has seen jack stands, floor jacks, welding, dragging, overspray and general paint spills. I have soaked it with motor oil, ****** juice, brake fluid, solvents, and mild acids. Any epoxy will wear, and it has but, in general I couldn't be more happy with this floor. I might add that it was installed without any of the mind-numbing prep and the usual level of hand wringing that I usually read about on here before someone does their floor. No grinding, no crack prep, just a wash with a pressure washer and an acid etch. And no, I didn't take moisture tests or reference the phase of the moon or sacrifice my firtsborn to get it to stick. In fact, the concrete had seen a good 20 years of wrenching, spills, welding, body work and paint before I coated it.
It was a 2 coat, soild color job. First coat was a primer and the 2nd coat was the color. That's all there was to it. These days I usually clean it with a floor machine that has some really fine scotchbrite-like pads on it. The sheen is gone but it has never peeled or llifted. It has chipped from dropping heavy stuff or hammering on it. It is, after all, a garage.

itsspeeds · Jan 29, 2012

Hey Nathan, I am thinking of doing a black or darker shaded floor. How is it with dust, dirt? Do you keep your garage door open alot? I can't see any of your pics, on the build thread. Thanks! The floor looks awesome!

My Epoxy-Coat floor one year later

Well-known member

Member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Member