DIY Epoxy didn't work out so well - Rackdeck a better idea?

[RichTJ99]

Hi,

I have a few garages & got a quote from someone local a few years ago of roughly $6 per square foot to epoxy my garages. I ended up getting some Rocksolid epoxy during the pandemic & had a guy who paints come install it.

He ground the floor with a diamond blade, installed the product & it looked pretty good but a week later its already peeling up from the floor so I am thinking maybe thats not for me on the other garages.

Its not fair to blame epoxy issues on a lower end product, probable user error, and possible insufficient prep but before I start looking for a local epoxy person, I was thinking about RaceDeck - or something like that.


My garages tend to get a lot of debris and leaves flying in, kids going in and out, and the biggest concern is my UTV with plow in the winter tends to leave bits of rust when attached in the winter.

I also use a LOT of dollies, wheel dollies (harbor freight), furniture dollies, all my shelving is wire mesh with wheels, cabinets on wheels (etc).

How well can I roll (start/stop) on that type of surface? Im mostly concerned about moving a car around on racedeck. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Garage Flooring]

Hi,

I have a few garages & got a quote from someone local a few years ago of roughly $6 per square foot to epoxy my garages. I ended up getting some Rocksolid epoxy during the pandemic & had a guy who paints come install it.

He ground the floor with a diamond blade, installed the product & it looked pretty good but a week later its already peeling up from the floor so I am thinking maybe thats not for me on the other garages.

Its not fair to blame epoxy issues on a lower end product, probable user error, and possible insufficient prep but before I start looking for a local epoxy person, I was thinking about RaceDeck - or something like that.


My garages tend to get a lot of debris and leaves flying in, kids going in and out, and the biggest concern is my UTV with plow in the winter tends to leave bits of rust when attached in the winter.

I also use a LOT of dollies, wheel dollies (harbor freight), furniture dollies, all my shelving is wire mesh with wheels, cabinets on wheels (etc).

How well can I roll (start/stop) on that type of surface? Im mostly concerned about moving a car around on racedeck. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,
Rich

We sell a lot of coatings and a lot of tiles. First I think it is important to note that any floor subjected to a plow could have an issue. With RaceDeck or TrueLock HD/HDXT it would be cosmetic, but if it were me I would throw something under the plow -- Even two smal 2x4 just to keep it from dragging.

Tiles would be fine for your garage as would a good and properly installed coating (I am not expressing an opinion as to the quality of the previous product or workmanship, just saying it can be done). Tile certainly would be a lot easier at this point

 

[Shea]

Speaking from experience, if you decide to go with tiles I would suggest a solid top based on your requirements. I have found that small leaves blowing in the garage tend to get caught up in the vented / self draining style of tiles. Not a big deal to some, but it can make easy sweeping of the leaves a bit challenging.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi, our www.supratile.com industrial grade 4.5mm thick interlocking tiles would be perfect for this and eliminate the need for removing the old floor. Since the tiles are oversized they have 1/4 the amount of joints that standard 12' square tiles.

We would recommend under the plow when you put it to rest set it down on a few spare pieces which we will include n/c.

 

[CJDave]

My RaceDeck Free Flow held up just fine to my use of a floor jack, jack stands, engine hoist, engine stand and my roller toolbox during my removal and reinstall of a 428 Ford FE motor a couple of years ago. As for leaves blowing in, my garage overhead door faces south with most of our wind from the SW so lots of wind into the garage. My battery leaf blower does great for putting the leaves back outside where they belong. CJDave.

 

[9eight7]

I have Swisstrax which is similar to the RD Free Flow and it’s been great so far. When leaves fly in I shoot it out with my air compressor. Rolling or sliding my tool chest and quickjack on the tiles is easier than epoxy (I have the same exact one you have). My priorities were based down time, cost, maintenance, longevity, ease of replacement, and looks (wow! Factor).

 

[benwah]

Its not fair to blame epoxy issues on a lower end product, probable user error, and possible insufficient prep but before I start looking for a local epoxy person, I was thinking about RaceDeck - or something like that.





My garages tend to get a lot of debris and leaves flying in, kids going in and out, and the biggest concern is my UTV with plow in the winter tends to leave bits of rust when attached in the winter.

Well, personally, I'd say it is extremely fair to blame lower end products, user error, and insufficient surface prep!!

From looking at that picture I have a few observations..

It looks to me like the concrete is red, underneath the failed coating that popped off. Could that be Iron oxidation or some other contaminant?

It looks like this coating was applied at the bare minimum thickness just enough to cover the floor and partially encapsulate the vinyl flake. You have very little impact resistance with a thin film coating like this.

I don't know if this guy rolled out a prime coat and then a body coat that he broadcast flake into? Or did he just rolled out one coat and broadcast the flake into that?

It doesnt look to me like there is a topcoat applied, is this the case? Epoxy really needs a top coat, polyurethane and polyurea/polyaspartic are the most common and most recommended. They offer benefits that epoxy alone doesn't.

Look, to be honest, surface preparation is the number one most important aspect of this whole process. If that is done in a haphazard, non-professional way you are very likely to have failures like you are seeing. I see a lot of these fly-by-night painters who want to jump in the epoxy game. They think that they can do this by reading the label on the side of a can or watching a couple YouTube videos. Unfortunately, this is not the case. This guy has balls of steel charging $6/sq ft for applying Rustoleum. It's more like he should have paid you for the practice.

I feel for you, and all of the other people who get the short end of the stick would their epoxy floor.

Honestly, to fix this you would have to completely grind off the coating, and start from scratch. Tiles are probably your least expensive option..... That makes me very sad to say