Easiest way to coat the floor?

[gmac22]

Hello all, I wanted to ask some opinions on the best option to coat my garage floor!
Goal: I want to use the garage as a gym, so my primary concern is preventing the dust that comes off of the bare/chipped/worn concrete that is currently exposed
Current state: I have a heated garage, 484sqft, and I live in a cold climate (Alaska). It appears that the floor has been previously sealed, however the seal has come off in places, leaving pitted, pockmarked areas (spalling?) that cause concrete dust to come into the air - photos attached:

https://imgur.com/a/B8lsfuV

Because the garage floor is partially sealed, I think my options are either
1. Rent a grinder and grind down the whole floor, then etch and apply whatever concrete paint or epoxy coating I want
2. Use a product that can bind to the sealed surface such as this: https://www.rustoleum.com/product-c...accessories/concrete-and-garage-recoat-primer (after spot etching the exposed spots), then apply concrete paint over it

Do products like this really work? Does anyone have any other recommendations of what can work on a partially sealed floor, or am I wasting my time if I do anything short of grinding? How difficult is grinding to DIY?

 

[ryanmworkman]

If you're grinding there is no reason to etch. Just leaves residual contaminants in the floor that could break your bond. With a ground floor, the porous surface is going to **** up more material than an unprepped floor, so double any amounts the product tells you you can install. The linked one says 400sf per gallon, I'd expect 200sf max on the first coat.

I don't know what your budget is, but there are definitely much better products out there. If you just want sealed and don't care if it is pigmented, I'd probably just put a clear water based epoxy down and topcoat with a water based urethane. Armorseal 8100 from Sherwin is incredibly easy to use.

Keep in mind dropping weights on a coated floor is likely going to chip it away. You could always just grind it and densify if preventing dust is your main concern. Won't change the look of the surface at all, but it'll strengthen it and make it far more dust resistant for minimal cost.

 

[P0234]

I'm not a huge fan of the whole plastic floor thing like racedeck, but IMO for a home gym, that's going to be a hard option to beat.

 

[ryanmworkman]

I'm not a huge fan of the whole plastic floor thing like racedeck, but IMO for a home gym, that's going to be a hard option to beat.

True. That or the rolls of gym mats if he's never going to park a car on it.