Anyone familiar w/ Leggari?

[NC.50]

I have a 2000 new concrete floor to finish and I want a "show" type finish that also holds up to anything I can dish out. leggari . com

I am considering Leggari for an epoxy system. They have some strong claims about toughness, longevity and resistance to chemical spills. But I would like to know if anyone is familiar with the product.

 

[rjacobs]

They have 0 technical information about their product on their website... thats a big turn off. Like they have something to hide...

The vendors on here will gladly share just about any technical information about their product they have.

As far as your desires of a "show" type finish that holds up to "anything" you can dish out... I dont think thats going to happen. Everything has down sides. About the "best" is porcelain tile, but I wouldnt really call it a "show" type of floor and the downside is a lot of labor to do it correctly.

Do a lot of research on here and you will find a ton of info on the various floor systems offered and you will be able to make up your own mind about what you want to do.

 

[NC.50]

Thanks. It's just the beginning but floor finish will be one of the 1st items to select.

 

[rjacobs]

If you post up some of your uses, some of the vendors can chime in with some of their suggestions. But it seems to me with every floor system you are giving up something to gain something else.

Something like Hell-Fire is probably one of the toughest floor coatings I have seen on here(I believe it has aluminum powder in it), but it doesnt look great IMO, so its not "pretty", again IMO.

One of the other vendors on here has a "newer" ceramic based floor coating system, but I havent seen anybody actually use it. The claims are pretty stellar though.

Epoxy can look great, but its not as tough as other coatings and can be scratched and gouged as well as not being UV stable so it can yellow over time.

Polyurea, Polycuramine, and the other off shoots of Poly are UV stable, but can still be scraped and gouged.

Ghostshield is a pretty great product, but its just a densifier/sealer so you still have that bare concrete look, so again, not a "show" quality product.

"plastic/rubber" tiles look great, but for hard use, I personally wouldnt go with them.

Polishing is another option, but it can be crazy expensive because of the time involved and many many passes with the grinders/polishers at different grit levels. You can polish and stain and get some cool looks. Im not sure how stained/polished concrete holds up to really hard use. It seems a lot of guys that do stained or polished concrete do some type of poly clear coat on it(seen quite a few using Nohr-S).

Porcelain tile most people seem to agree is one of the more "ultimate" floors for a garage, even a working garage. Depending on the tile it can be show quality or a bit more understated. You can buy tile for under $1 a sq. ft. up to $5+, seems the sweet spot is somewhere between $2 and $3 a sq. ft... Install materials are, from my research, around $1 a sq. ft. and then whatever your installation costs(I have a local guy who was going to do mine for $1.50 a sq. ft.). I was going to be all in under $5 a sq. ft.

I am personally going back and forth for my new garage between a full flake polyurea floor or spending ~$1000 more and doing porcelain tile.

 

[NC.50]

Thank you for this insightful analysis of the options.

The Leggari system is 2-3x as thick compared to most epoxy systems I have reviewed. There is metallic component in both the epoxy and top coat layers that claims to insure durability and scratch resistance. I really like the look of the product and if the performance is as claimed it will be an option. Looks like it would be under $3/sf for a DIY. With longer working time and how the epoxy flows it seems fairly efficient and simple to apply. It's water based so no VOC nor difficult clean-up. Interesting product.

As a builder I use porcelain frequently both inside and out. I agree there is nothing tougher than porcelain. $1.50/sf is a very good price for an install. Not sure I can get a price that low. But I build in Naples FL where construction costs [and everything else] is significantly higher than almost anywhere else!

Porcelain tile has come a long way in the last few years. Tiles are made that look like marble or other stone. The wood look tile is so real looking you have to touch it to know it's porcelain. I think I will spend some time looking at this option. One of the biggest porcelain manufacturing plants is not far away in Crossville TN. The company is Stonepeak.

thanks for your advice!!

 

[rjacobs]

Thank you for this insightful analysis of the options.

The Leggari system is 2-3x as thick compared to most epoxy systems I have reviewed. There is metallic component in both the epoxy and top coat layers that claims to insure durability and scratch resistance. I really like the look of the product and if the performance is as claimed it will be an option. Looks like it would be under $3/sf for a DIY. With longer working time and how the epoxy flows it seems fairly efficient and simple to apply. It's water based so no VOC nor difficult clean-up. Interesting product.

Did they provide all this info? Because I didnt see anything on their website as far as technical specs. Or is this just "claims" coming from them? I'm sure one of the site vendors will chime in as far as thickness claims go... I think a lot of the products I have researched(all high solids epoxy/poly) are roughly 10-15 mil thick per coat at the thickest. I dont know that I have seen any claim thicker. I think MOST recommend to build up thickness is to use extra coats, not try to put single really thick coats on. Again, maybe this Leggari system is the best thing since sliced bread, I dont know, not enough/any technical info from them on it.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

We grade the thickness of a metallic system by SQFT per gal as everyone uses a 100% solids clear as the carrier for the metallic additive.

Most professionals will run 50-60 sq ft per gal.

If you want a stunning floor 65-70 sq ft is great.

100 sq ft per gal gives a mottled look which for some is fine, still a nice amount of material on the floor.

Also... the thicker you make these floors the more chances you have for surface anomalies, which if they happen you will be sanding and recoating.

Lastly, 100% solids can be placed up to 30 mils in one shot, again not ideal but it can be done. Anything less than 100% cannot do this, you will have a bubbly mess. Regarding chem wear-resistance, metallic systems are as durable as any epoxy which means in a garage-environment you will want a urethane or polyaspartic clear-coat for better chem/wear resistance and gloss retention.

Here you can watch our Orlando team do an install:

 

[NC.50]

Thanks for the guideline on thickness as sf/gallon. Makes sense. Leggari coverage is 45 sf per gallon. The product guide says 100% solids. They also claim their Metallic Epoxy has additives making them chemical resistant. But that is a seemingly blank statement. The obvious concerns would be more than oil and gas. Brake fluid, various cleaning fluids, paint thinners and removers.....lots of things that might affect the finish.

I think I will order sample kits of a couple of optional epoxy systems. I am looking for the "wow" look but also be able to work on my cars without worry about the finish of the floor being marred.

Still trying to decide whether to go epoxy system or porcelain. I know porcelain through experience building luxury homes. I have used different forms of porcelain such as tile on outside decks and pavers for driveways. Tough stuff.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

NC all of those items you mentioned will harm an epoxy floor (without a urethane/pap clear) if not cleaned up quickly.

 

[NC.50]

Understand....thanks for the heads up on chemicals.

Well for sure I would have to put the "pan-diaper" under my old Italian cars since they all leak oil! The joke was a Ferrari Daytona owner boasted to the shop that his car was perfect and it didn't leak oil. The mechanic looked him in the eye and said "So sorry to hear that. Bring it in and we can make it right."

Ferrari finally figured it out and started adding huge composite trays under the engine so whatever dripped out didn't leave puddles on the floor. Problem solved...lol!

In all seriousness......maybe I should go with my experience and use porcelain. I don't want to worry about what I spill or leaks on the floor. Especially with my old cars.

 

[NC.50]

Thanks for those that provided input concerning garage flooring finishes. In the end I decided to stick with what I know.....porcelain tile. No preparation of the concrete needed e.g. grinding or shot blasting....that saves $$ and time. And no worries about durability or resistance to chemicals.

What made it even easier is that I found a tile that meets my criteria:
1. Cost....tile is $2/sf total w/ mastic and labor approx $4/sf
2. Easy and less cost install....24"x24"
3. Wow factor.....since the garage is logs and timbers I found a "barnwood-look" parquet tile that will complement the all wood look in the garage.
4. With a PEI 4 rating it's pretty indestructible.

it's on order and should be delivered in a few days. I will post pics as it gets installed. I am including a pic of the interior so you can see how the tile should work with the look of the interior.

 

[NC.50]

Not sure why some of my pics are displayed and others as attachments. I am new to Garage Journal and obviously have not learned the "ins and outs" of posting.

 

[Jayman17]

Hi, please consider doing a build thread or at the very least some more photos of that cool looking garage/shop. That's going to be really special when finished.
Congrats,

Jay

 

[NC.50]

Hi, please consider doing a build thread or at the very least some more photos of that cool looking garage/shop. That's going to be really special when finished.
Congrats,

Jay

I have started a thread in the General Garage Discussion titled Mountain Garage using Logs and Heavy Timbers. To keep progress and decisions made in one place I will limit my updates and posts to that thread rather than specialized topics.

I do need to get better at taking pictures and posting. I am a newbie here.

 

[Armorpoxy]

We had one of our Techs go to their site.

Our comments are that they have no address or contact info so they are 99% an internet reseller Working from a house. The quantities they recommend are not much more or less than the vendors here recommend so their floor is not any ’thicker’ in our opinion. The price for a 500 sq foot garage kit seemed about double what the popular vendors here charge for a standard metallic kit with topcoat and primer.

Make sure you get tech info and can get real support. All of the popular vendors on GJ give excellent service, stand behind their products, and give great the tech support after you pay!