Auto repair shop floorings

[spoolgarage]

Hello everyone I just received the closing date for my repair shop and I was wondering what the consensus was on flooring on a commercial level. I was leaning on epoxy but wasn't sure what exactly I should be looking for. I close on the 28th but I would like to be started on the flooring the next day. The shop is 2100 sf and if I don't do this flooring now I doubt I will have another chance to with all the equipment I have. Please share your knowledge Mighty garage gurus.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Serious automotive garages will usually install a broadcast system. Layers of epoxy and layers of silica sand, topcoated in urethane.

This is an ambitious coating system for a newbie and a bit pricey, 6-7 per square foot if installed by a pro.

A lesser system would be a tri-coat (primer, 100% solids epoxy, urethane)with anti-skid in the topcoat. 5 per square installed or around a 1.00 per square DIY.

Pricing is based on the NJ market.

 

[brad900]

Our dealership has polished concrete. You will need a floor scrubber to keep it up. Its 12 years old & still looks great

 

[dcs Inc]

A floor scrubber will not keep a polished floor looking great for 12 years. A high speed burnisher with a diamond impregnated pad will keep the gloss rating up. After a while, a re-coat of hardener will be needed. just a FYI.

 

[kald]

I have a customer, a major food warehouse, that uses this annually "ZEP Zep-O-Seal". They apply it with a garden sprayer. I'm alway impressed how well it looks and holds up to heavy forklift traffic and in their shop(s). I will use it when I move into another shop.

 

[brad900]

A floor scrubber will not keep a polished floor looking great for 12 years. A high speed burnisher with a diamond impregnated pad will keep the gloss rating up. After a while, a re-coat of hardener will be needed. just a FYI.

I'm not saying that the floor scrubber will keep the brand new high gloss there but it keeps it looking great especially after hundreds of cars a day go through . Our parts department has the same floor but it does not get scrubbed & the floor just looks like very dull smooth concrete

 

[dcs Inc]

I got ya now. Any dirt left on a polished floor acts like a sandpaper, dulling the surface out pretty quickly. It's easy to regain the gloss with the proper tools. gene

 

[thegarageguy]

A floor scrubber will not keep a polished floor looking great for 12 years. A high a re-coat of hardener will be needed. just a FYI.

You mean polish guard, not hardener.

 

[dcs Inc]

We call it color guard. 12 years, if not taken care of, it would need another coat of hardener then guard. Then if you could get away with it, burnish. If not then pull out the tooling and bring the gloss back up. Of course the poor mans shine would be just throw on some guard and then burnish it.

Go quartz, be it colored or not, its your long wear surface. Flakes are in not nearly as tough. You could get away with a single broadcast of a multicolored quartz system then a good topical. Use a pigmented epoxy as your base coat and have it match closely to the quartz color so when you broadcast to rejection and it's not real even in a couple of areas, you wont notice it. It requires a heavier top coat to fully encapsulate but it will last. Some epoxies amber quicker and more severally than others. A good poly top coat will last a really long time.

 

[spoolgarage]

Legacy Industrial you are about 45 mins from me thats great. A tricoat would definitely be my goal for this shop. I am weary in putting too much money in the floor since in about 5 years I want to move a little further south. For now I will make do with this small shop and hopefully rent it down the line.

 

[spoolgarage]

 

[carhunter]

We have a broadcast style floor in the shop at work, and its overall a very durable finish. However I'm always worried about nicking it with dropped heavy objects, jack stands, scraping with jacks, etc.

Oh, and tires can leave black marks when parked over time. Avoid brake fluid leaks too!

Its more of a "show" floor than a work floor IMHO

For the pros, is there a way to restore the gloss to the top layer? Ours is cleaned weekly with a Factory Cat scrubber and there are some small chemical and water stains I'd like to clear up.