Epoxy a workroom floor?

[Ryland]

I have a new basement which I am going to turn into a workroom (it will also have the hot water boiler). Should I bother epoxying this floor? One caveat is that it does have a garage door to the outside but is NOT being used as a garage. It was just convenient for bringing large items in.

 

[TheBanker]

Since no one else has replied, I will just say that I love the look of epoxy floors so I am all for it.

 

[AlphaGarage]

Epoxy a workroom floor? Sure, why not?

We have our epoxies in/on car showrooms, restaurants, garages, nuclear facilities, slaughter houses, a lion's den, vehicle assembly plant, hospitals, chimpanzee habitat, pre-fab house factory, fishing poles, air conditioning units, commercial aircraft, bathrooms, pharmaceutical production facilities, artwork, kitchens, laundry rooms, dentist offices, boats, chemical storage tanks, wood floors, military facilities, crematorium, TV/Film studios, swimming pools, hangers, retail stores, food courts, body shops, pipes, secondary containment, warehouses, etc. etc. So yes, you can epoxy a workroom floor!

 

[Ryland]

What are the benefits of doing such vs not? I can see why you would for all the places you listed because they either have to look really good or hold up to some strong chemicals. I have to worry about neither but didn't know if there was another reason to do it.

 

[thegarageguy]

A good reason to choose an epoxy system over conventinal tile or any other flooring material for that matter is;

1. green friendly
2. doesn't produce waste
3. no lot numbers or extra tiles to keep just in case
4. no grout lines (weakest part of tile system)
5. impervious (non porous)
6. anti microbial
7. waterproof a, resists moisture from below if proper primer chosen
8. waterproof b, will not damage from a flood
9. completely customizable (any color(s), texture and finish can be achieved)
10. less maintenance, easy to clean

I'm sure theres more, help me out Fred, my brain is fried

 

[AlphaGarage]

I guess the question is: What do you expect from your floor?

What are you going to do with the space? You mentioned "work room", my garage is a work room also, which means I work on my old Brit sports car there, but what does what does "workroom" mean to you?

What punishment will it see? Physical abuse - tools, things dropping etc., or just foot traffic?

Will there be stuff spilled? Water, chemicals, etc?

Does the look matter? If so, what kind of look - clean concrete (a clear sealer) - solid color - patterned - etc.


Finally, what's the budget? A full epoxy system will cost more than our AcryliSeal, but the full epoxy will be more durable, then again it may be overkill depending on your answers to "What do you expect from your floor? "

 

[Ryland]

The floor is the concrete slab from my new additions basement. The only tools that will be in there are wood working ones. I honestly don't care how it looks since it is "only" a basement floor. As to chemicals, I keep a bunch of cleaning ones in a basement cabinet so those could theoretically fall out and spill (although they haven't in 12 years so who knows). I may pull my ATV into the space to switch the plow on off or that type of thing and it MAY get stored in there if a lot of snow is expected (although at this point I doubt it because it is a PITA to get back up the hill).

The oil based hot water boiler will also be in that space.

So to recap, all I expect to have to clean up off the floor is saw dust and since there will be power tools I can't really take a chance of slipping on the floor. I don't really care HOW the floor looks due to the space usage and it not being a readily visible space.

 

[AlphaGarage]

If cost isn't an issue - I'd go with an epoxy system for all the reason TheGarageGuy noted.

If cost is an issue then we offer a less costly solution, which would be AcryliSeal 3501. We believe AcryliSeal 3501 is the best water based acrylic sealer available. Wolverine Coatings was the first company in the world to commercialize this new type of Acrylic technology. To date we are still not aware of any other company that offers this type of novel technology. It’s slightly more expensive than the standard water based products, but it has a HUGE performance increase. AcryliSeal 3501 will give better darkening than the standard water based acrylic sealers but not quite as much darkening as solvent based sealers. But unlike solvent based products AcryliSeal 3501 is environmentally “green,” with no volatile organic compounds. The chemical resistance is awesome, not the same level resistance level of our epoxy based systems, but far superior than either other water based or solvent based acrylic currently available. It’s even resistant to chemicals including organic solvents like MEK, Xylene, Toluene, etc. This product is less than 3 years old and we have not heard of a failure to date. So, the durability is much better than either of the typical solvent based or water based acrylics.

Unlike our epoxy coating, which is about 21 - 26 mils thick when cured, the AcryliSeal is less than 4 mils thick when you're done. That means that the floor will not have a lot of impact resistance, so when tools or other items are dropped there's a greater chance that the energy will transmit to the concrete and cause a chip out, divot, crack etc. Also it will wear quicker, although with just mostly foot traffic that won't be a big issue.

If slips and falls are a concern, and they always are around sawdust, you can use a grip additive to increase traction.

After waste is factored in a 5 gallon pail will cover about 1,350 ft2 with one coat, for your situation we recommend at least 2 coats.

Although the look doesn't matter to you, the concrete will appear a bit darker and have a glossy wet look - not that it matters. It's actually a very nice look, but not as nice as some floors...

 

[Ryland]

The space is only about 500 sqft so one bucket would give me almost 3 coats. What are the cost differences for that size space?

 

[AlphaGarage]

The 5 gallons kit ($225) is the smallest size packaging we have, and I had to fight to get that down from 15 gallons.

AcryliSeal has a long shelf life if it's sealed well, and it's easy to apply over an existing coat, so you might want to keep some around, or put down a extra layer or two where the snowmobile will sit, or use it on a porch etc.

AcryliSeal is the same material that Trader Joes is using to recoat all their retail stores with.

 

[Ryland]

What would I need to do for the AcryliSeal? I don't see any installation instructions for it on your site. I assume I need to sweep the floor and probably power wash it but what else?

 

[AlphaGarage]

A good scrubbing and power wash would do, but for max performance I'd also do a light acid etch.

I've attached a jpeg of the instructions, I think you can download it and just print them out, but haven't played with the attachment feature here, so not sure how it works. Let me know if you can't get it to work and I'll email it to you.

 

[Ryland]

Thanks for the instructions. It sounds like I better find a completely open weekend to do the basement then.

 

[thegarageguy]

If cost isn't an issue - I'd go with an epoxy system for all the reason TheGarageGuy noted.

That job and the 2 this week have def fried my brain.....more like scrambled! Next week's Concrete Decor show will be relaxing

 

[WolverineCoatings]

lol... loved the pics

 

[Bill97Z]

is the acryliseal clea or does it come in colors?