vintagespeed1956
Well-known member
i'm not a flooring guy, hell i even hate painting walls. i joined GJ some months back and like everyone else, i enjoy drooling over all the beautiful garage projects posted here.
i've never really had a great garage but i've had many ****** garages, so when we bought our house some years back i kindof promised myself that when i could afford it i would put a little effort into the garage.
i'm a car guy and a bike guy and i lay on the floor doing oil changes all the time working on our bikes/cars/lawnmowers....etc. i dont take my stuff to mechanics, and i fancy myself a pretty handy guy when it comes to working on stuff.
i was cruising through GJ one day a few months back and spotted Justin's RustBullet Discount Thread, i wasn't really looking to do my floor at the time but after reading some info about RustBullet on the web I got really excited! it seemed simple enough for me and i liked the fact that little prep was needed to apply. i figured even with my inferior application skills i couldn't mess it up too bad as long as i did good prep.
i contacted Justin and offered to do my floor and document and share the results. after receiving the notice that my order had shipped i started emptying out the garage into my storage shed and prepping the space to do the floor.
my garage floor is a typical 440sq/ft space, aged about 30years, no sealer or previous coating, it was fairly uneven in spots and had some cracking & pitting.
i decided to grind the floor with a DiamaGrind wheel on a Clark buffer rented from Home Depot then patch the pits and small cracks with Ardex Feather Finish before rolling on RustBullet. i felt this would give me the best possible finished product. the Ardex was easy to work with, fills gaps of any size, feathers out and sands well.
i have a couple good friends who volunteered to help me with the prep and installation of the coating, having extra hands around was invaluable during the process.
we waited for a day with decent weather to lay down the coating as we were having rain and poor weather conditions off & on. i opened the first can of base and hand stirred it for 3 minutes as instructed, poured it into a pan and started rolling. RustBullet lays down nicely and evened out well, we rolled on 3 gallons of grey base coat in a cross pattern, let it setup for 20-30mins and sprinkled the flakes using my DiY spike shoes..
after letting the RustBullet base dry for 6hours, rain started to threaten. i was concerned that if i didn't lay the product down it would be days before i could get the garage finished and back in use. in my haste to finish the job, i decided to roll out the clearcoat before the base had sufficient dry time, previous coats of base had dried quickly (possibly due to the humidity?) and i hadn't considered the consequences..
as I started to roll out the clear coat on top of the flakes, i didn't immediately notice a problem, but as i got further through the pan of clear, i could see that the roller was picking up grey base color and it was mixing with the thin clear creating a milky colored top coating over my floor. i should have stopped and contacted Justin as soon as I noticed the roller changing color. had i done that i would've saved myself alot of time, expense and frustration.
as the now-tinted clear coat dried it left horrible roller marks over the perfectly-applied base coat. i thought they might lighten as the RustBullet cured but they did not and the floor looked terrible. i felt horrible for the work my friends had done for me only to have the job ruined by my impatience.
after staring at the roller marks for a week or so i contacted Justin and sent him some pics. he immediately recognized what i had done wrong and offered me some instruction on how to go about re-finishing the floor and fixing the damage. Justin sent me out the product needed immediately and i was determined to give it another try, this time with better results!
the RustBullet arrived and i immediately rented the Clark buffer again, this time with sanding screens in the grit Justin advised. i sanded down the top layer of the floor until i had removed most of the flake. i blew out the garage with the leaf blower, vacuumed and wiped down the surface with acetone.
this time around i wasn't going to make any mistakes and no rushing! i rolled out two coats of base, cross rolling over the first coat. i waited 30 minutes and then spread the flake, much heavier this time. (one of the comments my friends had made of my first attempt was that the flakes were too thin)
after drying for 24 hours it was time to put on the clear coat. i wanted a glossy, highly-reflective finish so i decided to spray the floor with my airless sprayer. i used the short 15 foot hose for the job and positioned the pump just outside the side door to the garage. this worked wonderfully!
i loved spraying the product and had zero issues with application. the only advise i can give is to order more than you think you'll need of clear because when spraying it you'll want to lay it down medium/heavy and will need more material than with rolling. i sprayed 2 gallons of clear on the floor and that was just about perfect. (another tip, when the can runs dry, pour your lacquer thinner into the can to push the remaining clear out of the hose, my 15 foot hose held at least a pint of clear.)
we let the finish cure for a few days before moving everything back into the garage and we've been enjoying the beautiful floor ever since! everyone and i mean EVERYONE who sees the floor says how great it looks, i've had nothing but positive comments and questions about RustBullet.
i am very pleased and couldn't be more impressed with Justin @ GarageFlooringLLC.com, he bailed me out of a bad situation and was always there with advice and help. i honestly couldn't ask for anything more, and i got more than I asked for in return. it has been a great experience.
my advice to anyone doing their floor;
1. Dont rush! if anything goes wrong contact Justin immediately, i should have, it would have saved me alot of time, frustration and expense.
2. Do the extra prep work! although it's not needed for RustBullet coatings, any extra work you do in prepping the floor will only pay off in a better finished product.
3. Wear the protective gear! my buddy & i had poly on our hands for weeks afterward because i couldn't find the latex gloves that I had bought for the job once the garage was cleaned out and we had no choice but to proceed without them. big mistake!
4. Use the flakes! the traction from the flakes is wonderful, it provides a nice texture, feels great on bare feet (sounds weird but it does) and is anti-slip. i have walked on the floor while hosing out the garage and mopping with liquid soap, the flakes provide great traction and the floor is not slippery when wet. put the flakes down heavier than you think you should, more color, more better.
i dont spout off about vendors very often but Justin is a great guy and was very helpful and understanding, without his encouragement i might've just left the floor as a fail.. Thank you so much!
anyone considering RustBullet or any of Justin's products should not hesitate to contact him, he's top notch!
i've never really had a great garage but i've had many ****** garages, so when we bought our house some years back i kindof promised myself that when i could afford it i would put a little effort into the garage.
i'm a car guy and a bike guy and i lay on the floor doing oil changes all the time working on our bikes/cars/lawnmowers....etc. i dont take my stuff to mechanics, and i fancy myself a pretty handy guy when it comes to working on stuff.
i was cruising through GJ one day a few months back and spotted Justin's RustBullet Discount Thread, i wasn't really looking to do my floor at the time but after reading some info about RustBullet on the web I got really excited! it seemed simple enough for me and i liked the fact that little prep was needed to apply. i figured even with my inferior application skills i couldn't mess it up too bad as long as i did good prep.
i contacted Justin and offered to do my floor and document and share the results. after receiving the notice that my order had shipped i started emptying out the garage into my storage shed and prepping the space to do the floor.
my garage floor is a typical 440sq/ft space, aged about 30years, no sealer or previous coating, it was fairly uneven in spots and had some cracking & pitting.
i decided to grind the floor with a DiamaGrind wheel on a Clark buffer rented from Home Depot then patch the pits and small cracks with Ardex Feather Finish before rolling on RustBullet. i felt this would give me the best possible finished product. the Ardex was easy to work with, fills gaps of any size, feathers out and sands well.
i have a couple good friends who volunteered to help me with the prep and installation of the coating, having extra hands around was invaluable during the process.
we waited for a day with decent weather to lay down the coating as we were having rain and poor weather conditions off & on. i opened the first can of base and hand stirred it for 3 minutes as instructed, poured it into a pan and started rolling. RustBullet lays down nicely and evened out well, we rolled on 3 gallons of grey base coat in a cross pattern, let it setup for 20-30mins and sprinkled the flakes using my DiY spike shoes..
after letting the RustBullet base dry for 6hours, rain started to threaten. i was concerned that if i didn't lay the product down it would be days before i could get the garage finished and back in use. in my haste to finish the job, i decided to roll out the clearcoat before the base had sufficient dry time, previous coats of base had dried quickly (possibly due to the humidity?) and i hadn't considered the consequences..
as I started to roll out the clear coat on top of the flakes, i didn't immediately notice a problem, but as i got further through the pan of clear, i could see that the roller was picking up grey base color and it was mixing with the thin clear creating a milky colored top coating over my floor. i should have stopped and contacted Justin as soon as I noticed the roller changing color. had i done that i would've saved myself alot of time, expense and frustration.
as the now-tinted clear coat dried it left horrible roller marks over the perfectly-applied base coat. i thought they might lighten as the RustBullet cured but they did not and the floor looked terrible. i felt horrible for the work my friends had done for me only to have the job ruined by my impatience.
after staring at the roller marks for a week or so i contacted Justin and sent him some pics. he immediately recognized what i had done wrong and offered me some instruction on how to go about re-finishing the floor and fixing the damage. Justin sent me out the product needed immediately and i was determined to give it another try, this time with better results!
the RustBullet arrived and i immediately rented the Clark buffer again, this time with sanding screens in the grit Justin advised. i sanded down the top layer of the floor until i had removed most of the flake. i blew out the garage with the leaf blower, vacuumed and wiped down the surface with acetone.
this time around i wasn't going to make any mistakes and no rushing! i rolled out two coats of base, cross rolling over the first coat. i waited 30 minutes and then spread the flake, much heavier this time. (one of the comments my friends had made of my first attempt was that the flakes were too thin)
after drying for 24 hours it was time to put on the clear coat. i wanted a glossy, highly-reflective finish so i decided to spray the floor with my airless sprayer. i used the short 15 foot hose for the job and positioned the pump just outside the side door to the garage. this worked wonderfully!
i loved spraying the product and had zero issues with application. the only advise i can give is to order more than you think you'll need of clear because when spraying it you'll want to lay it down medium/heavy and will need more material than with rolling. i sprayed 2 gallons of clear on the floor and that was just about perfect. (another tip, when the can runs dry, pour your lacquer thinner into the can to push the remaining clear out of the hose, my 15 foot hose held at least a pint of clear.)
we let the finish cure for a few days before moving everything back into the garage and we've been enjoying the beautiful floor ever since! everyone and i mean EVERYONE who sees the floor says how great it looks, i've had nothing but positive comments and questions about RustBullet.
i am very pleased and couldn't be more impressed with Justin @ GarageFlooringLLC.com, he bailed me out of a bad situation and was always there with advice and help. i honestly couldn't ask for anything more, and i got more than I asked for in return. it has been a great experience.
my advice to anyone doing their floor;
1. Dont rush! if anything goes wrong contact Justin immediately, i should have, it would have saved me alot of time, frustration and expense.
2. Do the extra prep work! although it's not needed for RustBullet coatings, any extra work you do in prepping the floor will only pay off in a better finished product.
3. Wear the protective gear! my buddy & i had poly on our hands for weeks afterward because i couldn't find the latex gloves that I had bought for the job once the garage was cleaned out and we had no choice but to proceed without them. big mistake!
4. Use the flakes! the traction from the flakes is wonderful, it provides a nice texture, feels great on bare feet (sounds weird but it does) and is anti-slip. i have walked on the floor while hosing out the garage and mopping with liquid soap, the flakes provide great traction and the floor is not slippery when wet. put the flakes down heavier than you think you should, more color, more better.
i dont spout off about vendors very often but Justin is a great guy and was very helpful and understanding, without his encouragement i might've just left the floor as a fail.. Thank you so much!
anyone considering RustBullet or any of Justin's products should not hesitate to contact him, he's top notch!
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Looks great. I'll be posting my work on ours as well.
