Epoxy floor paint or concrete stain/sealing?

[nottahandygirl]

Hi, I'm a noob here, and need some help from you flooring gurus. I've been looking at some of your awesome floor coating projects and dream garages, and I can say is, wow!

Me, I have a more humble project that I need some advice on
We've converted our 12' x 21' one-car garage to a heated workshop for crafting, hobby stuff, and light metal-smithing (I'm a silversmith). I've been reading up on the options available for finishing the existing concrete slab which is 25 years old, and has never been finished in any way. Here's the basics regarding future flooring use & abuse for my newly converted shop:
1. No car will ever be driven in here again, so I don't have to worry about hot tires, dirt, etc.
2. No heavy tools or stuff like you see in a serious garage (jacks, etc.) to scratch or mar floors.
3. Floors will have only minimal exposure only to any kind of chemicals and a pretty remote chance of spills, etc. The flooring finish should be able to withstand frequent mopping with standard household floor cleaner like Mr. Clean, Pledge, etc. (see #4!!)
4. Floor needs to be impervious to animal "accidents" (pee & poop) should they happen, since this will be a doggie hangout for my pets as well (this means no RaceTrack type of flooring due to cracks between tiles)
5. Would like it to be as non-slip as product allows
6. We are doing the work ourselves - can't afford to use a contractor

I was considering epoxy floor coating to start with, but haven't ruled out just staining/sealing the concrete, which looks attractive also. What do you advise?

 

[nottahandygirl]

*RaceDeck* sorry!

 

[Jack Olsen]

What about ceramic or porcelain tile?

 

[Ben7203]

Figure out how much $$$ you want to spend and go from there. Look at Jack's garage/work space. It's not over the top and for some of us, not too expensve. A buddy of mine put wood flooring down on the side they "live" in and put epoxy where the car sits. It really depends on the budget. If you decide to coat the concrete, go with a bold color to spice the area up. Have fun

 

[nottahandygirl]

Wow.


I considered tile, but not sure I can do it myself (see my login name lol)
How much did it cost you in $$ to lay the tile floor?
Likewise, how much in frustration and time did it cost you?
I'm currently unemployed so I do have some time. Just not sure of my ability.

 

[rugerlady]

The epoxy is a pretty easy DIY project.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks.

I paid about $280 for the tiles (20'x22' is 440 sf), and then some amount more for thinset and grout and some basic tools. The total might have been in the $350-400 neighborhood. I had never set tile before, but I am comfortable learning new handyman type projects. It took three days (not all of three days, but stuff has to set), and the frustration level was low. Grouting was the least fun part of it, simply because of the physical work involved.

For your application, you could also look into VCT tiles.

None of this is brain surgery, but some people have the disposition for learning new tasks and some don't -- and you chose the screen name 'notahandygirl' -- so proceed with caution (or with a friend who's set tile before).

 

[nottahandygirl]

Tile was actually my first choice but I got distracted by the epoxy floor option. $400 is about what we'd figured on spending one way or the other. Hopefully I'm teachable . Mostly I just lack muscle and power tools. A couple of questions: Did you lay the tile directly on the concrete floor? Did you have to do any special kind of prep work on the concrete itself? What type of mortar & grout did you use?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Choose an epoxy kit. You get nearly everything you need to make an excellent result.

Of course, the stain/seal is just as impervious if you choose the right products.

 

[mrwalsh37]

I'm a fan of the epoxy route, but if your slab is 25 years old you might be prepping a lot to remove any/all oil and grease. There are a lot of good epoxy people out there, including my favorite Rustoleum Pro, although I've only heard good things about epoxy-coat. Whatever route you go, please do yourself a favor and get a solvent based epoxy. In my experience (2 floors of each) the solvent based epoxy kits are far more hardy.

 

[Imavol]

The 25 year old concrete would be alot more prep work to stain/epoxy to get it right. You might be better off going the tile route.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Need to see pics to make any judgements.
Here is a link to a floor that was poured 40s-50s era and had oil spots.
Link: http://legacyindustrial.blogspot.com/2011/10/legacy-industrial-garage-floor-coatings.html