Another looking for floor covering recommendations

[ixlr8]

Hi folks, Haven't been on this site in a while, I am about to begin construction of a 32' x 44' shop/storage building on my new property. It will be divided up into 3 sections and I am looking for recommendations for coating the floors in each area.
- One section, the largest, will be for storage of my boat and some of my tractor implements, I am just looking for something to put on the floor to make it easy to clean up, don't care about color. Natural concrete would be fine.
- Another section will be a wood working shop and I want something on the floor to make it easy to clean up and also have a light color to it to reflect light as much as possible.
- The last section will be for auto repair where my 4 post lift will be. This is where the toughest coating will need to be, again a light colored coating.
No coloring flakes in any area.
Contractor is talking of using fiber-mesh to reinforce the concrete. I had this in my last garage and found the fibers sticking up thru the concrete made a mess of the coating I put down. Is there an easy way to get rid of these fibers or should I as the contractor to not use the fiber-mesh?

Thank you- Jim

 

[Shea]

Single-part polyurea would be a great choice for what you want to do. Our article below details the benefits and includes a picture of a floor with just a clear coat. The one worry would be your tractor implements. If they move much when placed or dragged across the surface, it's going to damage the toughest of coatings. You may want to place some inexpensive horse stall mats where the implements are stored.

As far as the concrete fibers sticking up, you can burn them off fairly easily with a weed torch after you properly prep the concrete.

Why the Best Garage Floor Coating Kits are Single-Part Polyurea | All Garage Floors

Discover the secret of polyurea garage floor coating kits. See why they are easiest to apply, have the best protection and last 4x as long as standard epoxy.

allgaragefloors.com

 

[ixlr8]

Shea- Thank you for your input. Tractor implements will be on dollies so I can move them around and stuff them in corners.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Agree, a one part polyurea like our SPGX which comes in clear or pigmented would be a great choice and on the lower priced side.

For the area you just want clear protection take a look at our Ballistix. Incredibly resistant to virtually any chemical or solvent and lower priced than polys or epoxy/urethane systems.

 

[ixlr8]

Since I built my last shop, about 15 yrs ago, there is certainly now a dizzying array of new products out there to digest and figure out which is best for my situation. Lots of reading to do, some of which is quite confusing to me, more reading is in order.

 

[Ostie]

Hi folks, Haven't been on this site in a while, I am about to begin construction of a 32' x 44' shop/storage building on my new property. It will be divided up into 3 sections and I am looking for recommendations for coating the floors in each area.
- One section, the largest, will be for storage of my boat and some of my tractor implements, I am just looking for something to put on the floor to make it easy to clean up, don't care about color. Natural concrete would be fine.
- Another section will be a wood working shop and I want something on the floor to make it easy to clean up and also have a light color to it to reflect light as much as possible.
- The last section will be for auto repair where my 4 post lift will be. This is where the toughest coating will need to be, again a light colored coating.
No coloring flakes in any area.
Contractor is talking of using fiber-mesh to reinforce the concrete. I had this in my last garage and found the fibers sticking up thru the concrete made a mess of the coating I put down. Is there an easy way to get rid of these fibers or should I as the contractor to not use the fiber-mesh?

Thank you- Jim

I apologize: this isn’t related to flooring, but I’d be interested to see a layout of how your shop will be divided? Even if just a sketch. I’m wanting some similar areas when I build and am curious as to how you’ve fit so much into such a small space

 

[RPH]

Penetrating sealers could also work for you. Nothing on the surface to scrape, dent, or burn.
Look into Ghostshield products. I used the 8500 and am impressed with it. I have a farm shop that sees everything sooner or later. The vendors here can help out and are worthy of support.
Good luck, it is interesting on all that’s out there. It doesn’t have to stay gray.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Ghostshield is also a very good product and we carry it. It’s ideal for where there is a lot of welding since it’s not topical and won’t burn.

 

[nolimits76]

I don’t like to substitute rebar for fiber. Instead fibers help compliment rebar. The exception being if you have really thin concrete or a unique situation where rebar placement is impractical and then fiber is better than nothing.

Traditional rebar allows you to place rebar strategically to help strengthen the slab for anticipated loads. However with enough tension it will crack. That is where fibers may help. While fibers don’t provide more strength they do help provide increased durability by keeping the cracks smaller. The caveat being the fibers are randomly placed so you never know if they are really at the location they are truly needed or not.

You will want a macro fiber for increased durability. These are going to be stiffer and about 2” long. We recently bid a DOT project with these on the bridge deck (in addition to double mat traditional reinforcing). Cost for Helix fibers were about $80/cy premium. With any fibers you need to watch for clumping, ensure good concrete vibration and take extra care if they pump your slab.

If it were my slab I’d be using traditional reinforcing.