Cheap and durable garage floor coating?

[gregers05]

I am relatively new to the forum, I have been lurking for a few months, but just bought a house so will probably be more active here.

Our new house has a standar ~400sqft garage. It is just bare concrete in it right now. I do a lot of work on my truck (used for offroading) so it will see a lot of welding, grinding, cutting and will need to withstand parts sliding on the floor, floor jacks, and jack stands. Also needs to be resistant to fluids.

I originally wanted to do epoxy, but it is expensive and may not hold up to heavy use.

What options do I have that is durable and cheap? Would just primer work? It may not hold up that well, but would be easy to touch up. Could polish and seal it, but it would be slick and isnt all that cheap.

any options out there, or am I dreaming?

 

[Angelfire]

Use the search button. This question comes up about once a week....

For me, porcelain was the answer.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Link: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=222314&page=2

 

[JakeKohl]

typically, "cheap" and "durable" work together kinda like "oil" and "water".

 

[Garage Flooring]

You have to be careful the word cheap here. We all tend to get a little uptight. The home centers have started marketing these $99 miracle garage floor coatings in a box where after a quick application of pixie dust and orange juice you roll on a coating that is 70% water and have a garage floor that will last forever and not lift from hot tires

I am only half kidding, and I am really not poking fun at you, just some of the stuff people sell.

Legacy industrial has some great kits. Epoxy-coat does, but I would always use a top coat. We also have a good selection of DIY Garage floor epoxy kits

Take your time, buy a good product and be willing to spend the time it takes to do the install properly. If not, save yourself the aggravation and go with a garage floor mat or garage floor tile.

 

[Will S.]

Been doing research for something for my floor, and found a product made by H&C (and sold at Sherwin Willams stores), that looks to be what you're asking for. They have a solid color penetratin sealer that claims to be durable and resists most chemicals, oil and salt. I'm hoping to find someone with first hand knowledge about the stuff

 

[jmack]

Like Jake suggested, cheap and durable are really on opposite ends of the spectrum as it relates to the cost/effort of flooring. I think what you may be asking is what is the best value in flooring (best mix of durability at low cost). To do that you simply need to calculate the cost per sf of each option and weight it based on some durability factor.

In my research, I've settled on porcelain tile. Haven't done the project yet, but it'll be about $2-3 per sqft assuming I lay the tiles myself. Will be extremely durable and good looking.

 

[slickgt1]

typically, "cheap" and "durable" work together kinda like "oil" and "water".

How about tile. I understand the definition of cheap is relative, but if you can do the work yourself, $1sq ft is very doable.