Coating 400 sq ft for less than $400

[BdAzDzl]

Coating 400 sq ft for less than $400 (updated with pics!)

First, I'd like to say what a great resource and group of people are on this site. There is tons of great information on here!

Just to give you a little background, my wife and I will close on our first house on Friday! We are really excited and feel like we're making a good investment. At least for now, the real estate market here in Texas (San Antonio) is much more stable than Arizona (where we just moved from). Anyway, first things first: we need to coat the garage floor

I have shopped around some and would love to use a really high end product, but because this is not our "dream house" and we will sell in 5 years I'm going to have to stay within my beer budget despite champagne taste.

Among the cheaper products, what would be the best choice for our garage based on your experiences? The garage will see weekend warrior fab work/mechanics with occasional welding and grinding. My wife will also park on it every day and my Bronco will sit in there for weeks at a time. Our goal is to have a nice looking floor with a gloss finish that will hopefully clean up well enough in 5 years when we sell the home. I guess if the product were inexpensive enough I could recoat in 5 years if it was total thrashed.

I have friends who have used a wide range of coatings and have had mixed results. One friend used a water-based Behr product + clear coat who loves it, and another with a ucoatit with no top coat that is unhappy with the longevity (given, this guy does beat his floor!).

I am currently considering the Behr product (but a little scared it won't "fill the bill"), vs SW Tile-Clad or ArmorSeal, vs EpoxyGuard (100% solid with a great price but I have read some strongly negative reviews). Also, an alternative to the epoxy is H&C silicone acrylic with a clear coat but understanding that I would have to recoat every couple years. Any input or direction you folks have would be really helpful so please feel free to chime in with personal experience, suggestions, profound philosophy, humor or insults

Sorry for the novel

PS Our garage will be 420 sq ft and we're hoping to spend around $400. I guess that's one ding against the SW products since they are only advertised to cover at max 350 sq ft....can we dilute the base/color coat and expect reasonable results if we use an undiluted 2nd kit that is clear in color for the top coat.

Thanks in advance!

 

[awakeinAZ]

You in Phx or Tucson?

 

[StangRacing]

I have a 30x30 new shop and was planning on ucoatit with a clear but after shop is built and I put insulation in it I am broke and Ucoat it out of my budget

I was looking at Shield-Crete® Epoxy Concrete Garage Floor Coating Contractor Kits
or the stuff that you can get a swilliams

i have a buddy with a lowes rusto kit and it not bad I can see that it is not the best and would need recoat in a few years but

I would also like to know whats the bang for buck with this stuff

 

[awakeinAZ]

I think ucoat it is sold by someone on the boards here. Maybe alpha garage.

I'm a firm believer in get what you "play" for with epoxy.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Thanks for the plug - but I proudly sell Wolverine Coatings!

I realize that the cost of a coating can be a bit of a stretch, especially when you've just laid out a chunk o'change for a new place, but please be careful with trying to stretch a budget by thinning out a coating. Unless the manufacturer suggests altering the coating, don't do it. As much as you dislike paying for the stuff initially, you're really going to hate paying to remove and redo it right when it fails prematurely.

An epoxy is not like a paint, which just need to dry out and then stick. To properly cure epoxy requires a fairly complex chemical reaction. Changing the composition or quantities of its components can easily s crew up that reaction and the performance of the system.

 

[BdAzDzl]

AG - Thanks for the good info. I thought it sounded funny but the SW guy suggested it... I absolutely agree about the quality of coatings and really don't want to put myself in a position where I have to grind off an inferior coating that is performing poorly, but I'm hoping to find something that may not be ideal but will meet my needs and be within my budget.

Awake in AZ - I'm with you on that one, I'm just hoping to find a deal on an underrated but well(well-enough) performing coating. I grew up in northern AZ, up by Cottonwood, then lived in Tucson for 8 years. U of A alum. We moved out to San Antonio almost a year ago for work. Nice looking Mustang!

Any suggestions on "best bang for your buck coatings"? Best of the worst in the epoxy world?

 

[AlphaGarage]

We're not going to hit your 99¢ per square foot target, but we're close...

For 420 sq ft we'd spec 3 gallons of BondTite 1101, half of which would be the primer coat, and the other half used as the clear coat. The body coat would be 3.75 gallons of LiquaTile 1184. That would give you a wet application about 25.77 mils thick (nopt factoring waste). Since both products are 100% solid the cured coating depth would also be about 25.77 mil thick.

The cost of the epoxies would be $525, or $1.25 per square foot.

You won't need to remove and re-apply it when you're getting the place spruced up to sell in a few years and in the meantime you get to enjoy a high performing great looking and easy to keep clean floor

 

[awakeinAZ]

"Any suggestions on "best bang for your buck coatings"? Best of the worst in the epoxy world?"

Well, I don't get along with chemical smell and following directions. So, I got quotes from local vendors for them to install it. I didn't want the pain of a re-do either. Your situation is different. Looks like Alpha got pretty close to your bid. I would chat with some successful people on the board and make a decision from that. There are lots of pics and pointers. Good luck!

I recommend you add something for slip resistance. It could be very worth it to you.

 

[BdAzDzl]

Hey all,
Thanks for all of the advice. The more I read, the more I recognize the superiority of the high end products. However, for our first place they are simply outside my budget. I decided to go with the Rustoleum Professional epoxy coating. It seems like several on this board have had good experiences...I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the same Anyway, Home Depot doesn't stock the "Pro" grade product here but was able to order them for me. I got 2 color kits and 1 clear kit for $250 after taxes.

So, from here forward I am planning to do 2x muriatic acid wash...probably no degreasing since the house is new but if the TSP is cheap enough I may do a wash with that just to be safe. I'll try to take some pics and update this thread for anybody who's interested.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[1991Syclone]

How new is the house? Most coatings recommend that you wait a certain period of time to allow the concrete to cure, but if it's been finished for a while you should be okay. Just double-check the manufacturers recommendation before putting it down.

 

[BdAzDzl]

Thanks for checking. The house has been built for 2 years but the builder has been using it as his office/model home. Thanks again for taking the time to help me do this right/not screw this up

 

[mike944]

check to make sure your floor isn't sealed. Unless something in the coating world has changed in the last few years, it won't stick over a sealed floor, and you'll need to remove the sealer by mechanical methods.

 

[AlphaGarage]

check to make sure your floor isn't sealed. Unless something in the coating world has changed in the last few years, it won't stick over a sealed floor, and you'll need to remove the sealer by mechanical methods.

Note that there are also chemical methods to remove most sealers.

 

[stioc]

BdAzDzl, I'm probably going to go the same route. Except my garage floor is pretty old, dirty and has a few long cracks. I've been on this board for far too long to go without a coating on the garage floor because something else always becomes a priority so I'm probably going to go the cheaper route. It can't possibly look any worse than it does right now.

Definitely keep us posted and post pics of your prep, paint etc. Goodluck!

 

[Griot's Garage]

Another option for you guys is our floor paint. It runs $59.99 for a gallon that covers 130 square feet in 2 coats. It is a nice, durable, and a DIY solution. Easy enough to apply in a weekend and will look great for years!

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/in+your+garage/garage+flooring/gray+floor+paint,+1+gallon.do

For price comparison sake, on your 400 square foot garage you would need 4 gallons, which would run $263.96 including standard shipping. All you would need in addition to the paint is application tools (rollers, tape, etc) and the muriatic acid for prep work.

Application instructions here: http://www.griotsgarage.com/text/pdf/90011_90013.pdf


-Derek

 

[boiler7904]

I was in the same position as you when I did the RO Pro system almost 3 years ago to my then 6 month old 420 sf concrete slab. No adhesion problems to date. Definitely great bang for the buck. Your price is a little better than I got. I think I was around $280 including tax and that was after getting it all on sale at Menard's. A couple of pointers from my experience:

Scrape any dried drywall compound, mud, etc. from the floor and sweep clean.

Scrub the entire floor with a stong mix of Simple Green and water before the acid etching.

Acid etch at least twice.

Rinse 4 or 5 times using a squeegee after the last one followed by a wet/dry vac to get the bulk water up.

Forget you own a garage for the next week after washing and etching. It was easy for me to do since I was living in another state while I did the floor. Washed/etched on Sunday and didn't see it again until the following Friday night to do my moisture test. You want it to be really dry.

They say you can tape plastic over the concrete for 24 hours to test for moisture. If I had known about DIY calcium chloride moisture tests at time, I would have done one or two as a precaution.

Use duct tape to mask edges. RO Pro will saturate blue painters masking tape making it impossible to remove without a wire brush - learned that one the hard way.

I mixed the anti-slip into the second color coat and then applied clear without anti-slip. I should have put it in the clear. A coated floor is slippery when wet. A wet coated floor is an ice rink in a midwest winter. May not be as big of a problem for you in San Antonio.

If you chose the Tile Red color, scratches to the clear will show up as white. Not pretty. That alone is making me consider recoating the floor in one of the two shades of gray.

You will need help to get the clear down with the short pot life. I want to say that it was about 75 and sunny with moderate humidity the weekend I did my floor. Gave me a little over an hour of open time for each color coat. Clear was starting to set up in the roller tray in about 35-40 minutes. 18" wide epoxy safe rollers are your friend and worth every penny.

Use a mixer paddle in your drill to mix the product. You'll never get it fully mixed with a stir stick.

Oddly enough, if you happen to leave some of the product in the bottom of a bucket and it isn't fully mixed, the material is still wet and makes a mess a full year later. My father in law learned that one the hard way and had a "Tile Red' finger for a week until it wore off.

 

[BdAzDzl]

Thanks everybody for the comments!

Mike - Thanks for the brain check, but I've talked with the builder and it is bare concrete.

Griot's - The paint or siliconized acrylic does sound like a good idea. I have a friend who has purchased the H&C products already and I am interested in seeing his floor after he gets it done. I think he's planning to put flecks in the last color coat and to put a clear sealer over the top. He's hoping it'll look like the epoxy that he's leaving in his old house but for much less $. He does understand that he will need to recoat more frequently, potentially every year is what he was told depending on the use but it sounds like a quick and easy product to recoat.

Mike - I'll be sure to keep y'all posted. Hopefully I'll have some positive recommendations after its all said and done!

Boiler - LOL about the red finger! THANK YOU FOR THE POINTERS!! I'm sure that took you a while to type all of that out but I really appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[Griot's Garage]

BdAzDzl - I'm not sure if I was clear in my first post, our Non-Lifting Garage Floor Paint is an epoxy. Also, we offer a chip kit and a clear sealer as well, so if you want to have the 'granite' look you can apply that along with the paint.

 

[BdAzDzl]

Hi everybody!
After a long wait my garage floor just recieved its final coat! Thanks again to everybody on here who helped me out with tips, suggestions on which product to use, and contributed to the wealth of knowledge that's available on here! Overall I'm very happy about how the floor turned out. As expected with the Rustoleum professional I did get some roller marks. It sounds like others have had this problem so I wasn't surprised, especially since the temperature and humidity have been much higher here than recomended by Rustoleum. The rollermarks looked pretty bad after the first color coat but are thankfully much less visible after adding the flakes and putting on the clear coat. Also as expected there is one small spot where there is a gloss difference in the clear...I'm not sure if I missed it or just covered it a little thinner than the rest but regardless it doesn't look too bad This certainely is not a professionally installed floor but for a 1/4 of the price I think I am really happy with it. And I won't be too worried to grind and weld in there as I'm planning too.

Home Depot was a bit frustrating to work with for this 'special order'. The first shipment was damaged (I bet that was a mess!) and the second shipment took 3 weeks to come in. But I got an excellent price: $86 color kits and the clear was a similar price if I remember correctly so I can't complain that much. I ended up using 2 color kits and 1 clear so the grand total after painting supplies was about $320!!! I did over order to be on the safe side and ended up with 2 extra color kits that I cannot return because they are a special order. Any opinions on what I should do with these extra color kits? Is anybody around here looking for a good deal on some epoxy?

Here's some pictures

* From the outside of the garage the coating looks just about perfect to me. I can't see the imperfections except when I'm standing in the house looking through the garage out towards the street. I didn't get any pictures from that angle because its getting gusty out and I didn't want to open the garage door again. We'll see how it looks after its dry...

**Boiler7904's tips that you can read earlier in this thread were a huge help in putting this down. I can't add anything to the things he said so if you're getting ready to put down the Rustoleum product be sure to read his post. Thanks again!!

 

[Shocker]

Looks great man!

 

[wildcat12]

looks like you got a real good "even distribution of flakes" , very good for a novice, someone must have coached you on the importance of tossing the chips high into the air and letting them flutter down like snowflakes .... BRAVO !

 

[nate379]

I have under $300 into my floor with the Lowe's stuff. 625 sq ft.

It's not a "pro" job but I'm not too worried about it since the floor is going to get trashed anyhow.

 

[BdAzDzl]

Thanks guys! I'm still happy now that its dry. The spots that looked like the clear was thin are actually where the clear is really thin. The flakes are exposed in those areas but are stuck down to the color coat really well. I think I'm going to use the floor as is and plan on the possibility of recoating the clear at some point in the future when the whole floor needs to be freshened up. Overall I would use this product again as it seems to be a great value but would rig better lighting and ideally would apply the coating in much cooler and dryer weather.

 

[ck986]

Is the Rustoleum pro product that you used an 100% epoxy?

 

[BdAzDzl]

It's advertised as a "high-solids epoxy" but I'm sure it's not 100% I don't know the percentage though.

 

[AdRock]

I'm in San Antonio also and have been thinking about using this stuff in my garage. Shoot me a PM on here if there's any chance that I might be able to come check out your garage.

I know, random person on the web wants to come see something, possiblt odd request. Never hurts to ask though, right?

 

[BdAzDzl]

PM sent.
I have a project truck that sits in the garage for weeks at a time. Should I put something under the tires?
Thanks

 

[DRED]

I just pained my 24x24 around 550 square foot garage floor with armor seal 1000HS.
You have to bargain with Sherman Williams for the 80gallon or 160 a kit price. You have to tell them your a contractor to get that price, but call around and try to bargain! They originally wanted to charge me full price less 15% which would be almost double the price.

2 kits = 4 gallons, = $320-350 with tax. Easily covered garage floor with 2 coats, and some paint left over, I put 1st coat on thick also which may not be recommended.

This is supposedly really strong stuff compared to that home depot or lowes epoxy paint.