Epoxy is epoxy is epoxy?

[4wd4ever]

Are all epoxy kits similar? I have been looking at getting some for my garage and have found several different brands... Home depot has behr and crappy tire has Armor coat and rust-oleum. I also have been looking at Epoxy-coat.com and I would like some opinions as to with will hold up the best. My garage will be a working garage for auto repairs and maintenance along with finishing my drag car.

What are your thoughts?

Oh and FYI its 16x24, so a small garage but I'd need two kits or one of the large 2 car kits from epoxy coat.

Thanx in advance!

 

[BlackdogGS]

IMHO I think there is only a few places that manufacture epoxy coatings and they are than branded with many different names. If you read the instructions they are identical.

 

[regguy1]

Epoxy varies, there are the 100% solids and lower priced stuff.
I went with a lower priced kit, with the size of your garage 2 kits would give you enough for 2 coats. See mine in the thread here:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66867

See the garage and and floor in the guided tour video link below.......

 

[theoldwizard1]

One issue is chemicals from tires causing the epoxy to lift. I suspect that drag tires, with their softer compounds are worse.

 

[thegarageguy]

Not all epoxies are the same, even 100% solids have different variations. It's true, there are Companies who relabel their own products for other "manufacturers". With that being said, stay away from the **** from the big box stores. Good concrete preparation and a good epoxy system will help prevent hot tire pick up.

 

[4wd4ever]

Thanx for the replies! Keep em coming! I'd like to see and hear how some have held up over a few years and what damage has occurred to them.

Again, thanx!

 

[Falcon67]

What garageguy said. I used KM-15 from Kelly-Moore recently. Last time I used a no-name Lowes brand (probably Rustolem or similar). The two floors are not the same and the paints did not go down the same. I actually - so far - like the KM-15 better. Both were put on thin - because I'm cheap.

>My garage will be a working garage for auto repairs and maintenance along with
>finishing my drag car.
Same deal here. Your smaller shop will experience more traffic in a smaller area, so two coats of whatever would be a good idea. My old shop had one coat and I never had an issue with it. I spent 12 years in there. If I dropped the car off the trailer fresh from the track and moved it later, the slicks would leave rubber on the floor. You could freshen it a bit with Berrymans. The only thing that stuck to it I could not get off was the Dupont Ful-thane I painted the Falcon with. To this day, there is a square of white fog on that floor where the overspray got under the plastic. That floor was prepped and painted new.

In the new shop I rolled it on a little heavier in the areas where I knew I'd spend the most time. As before, this floor was prepped and painted new. The drag cars have been sitting outside for 6 months now.

New shop thread here if interested: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100482

 

[4wd4ever]

Good points Falcon! Thanx for the input!
I'm kinda cheap too but also like to do things only once.

 

[Brentocool]

I used Rustoleum Pro. One thick coat. I preped the floor to the letter and I have no issues at all. Been down since the spring and still looks great.





I work in this garage and have used Brake clean and solvents to clean up spills.

 

[Falcon67]

I like to do things once too. But I still need to build my 408!

 

[Imavol]

Hey guys this is my first post here, I stumbled across this site looking for ideas for my new garage. But I have been in the paint business for 24 years now and have sold alot of epoxy/urethane/acid stain floors in those years. All epoxies are not created equal and I too would stay away from the big box kits. On my personal floor at home I used an waterbase epoxy with flake and a waterbase urethane topcoat it has held up very well been in my house going on 6 years this year. The main thing about any floor is the surface preparation without that no matter what product you use it will fail.

 

[regguy1]

Hey guys this is my first post here, I stumbled across this site looking for ideas for my new garage. But I have been in the paint business for 24 years now and have sold alot of epoxy/urethane/acid stain floors in those years. All epoxies are not created equal and I too would stay away from the big box kits. On my personal floor at home I used an waterbase epoxy with flake and a waterbase urethane topcoat it has held up very well been in my house going on 6 years this year. The main thing about any floor is the surface preparation without that no matter what product you use it will fail.

Prep is the key whatever you use, what WB did you use?

 

[kyles974]

Not all epoxies are the same, even 100% solids have different variations. It's true, there are Companies who relabel their own products for other "manufacturers". With that being said, stay away from the **** from the big box stores. Good concrete preparation and a good epoxy system will help prevent hot tire pick up.

.....um, intersting, to stay away from "big box stores."

I thought epoxy-coat and rock solid floors where sold at "big box stores?"

....not saying, I do or do not favor them, I thought they where good floor coverings?

 

[Mr. Paint]

I have sold epoxies for years. There are a wide variety. Kits sold at the box stores are a good medium-duty water-based variety. They are suitable for a home garage. A stronger epoxy, such as Rust-Oleum 9100 is industrial-grade and will withstand any abuse, except for sunlight.

The ultra-system would be to use a good solvent-based epoxy and top-coat it with an alaphatic polyurethane coating, such as Rust Oleum's 9800 or 9700.

The most critical step is preparing the floor to recieve the coating. I would suggest you contact your supplier and have a field representative discuss this with you.

 

[thegarageguy]

.....um, intersting, to stay away from "big box stores."

I thought epoxy-coat and rock solid floors where sold at "big box stores?"

....not saying, I do or do not favor them, I thought they where good floor coverings?

Not condemning or condoning any specific brand or product and I didn't know some big box stores are selling better stuff, so If what you say is true, I stand corrected.

 

[kyles974]

Not condemning or condoning any specific brand or product and I didn't know some big box stores are selling better stuff, so If what you say is true, I stand corrected.

Sometimes I type out the wrong way or manner, in how to word things here, but I was "pretty sure" that's what you meant. (I was kinda double checking, since I'm going to buy some epoxy one of these days soon)

 

[Imavol]

Prep is the key whatever you use, what WB did you use?

Armor Seal Floox Plex 7100.

 

[Falcon67]

Not condemning or condoning any specific brand or product and I didn't know some big box stores are selling better stuff, so If what you say is true, I stand corrected.

It's all over, from what I've seen. We don't have Epoxy Coat in our local Lowes, but I think they have the Quikrete items and a house brand that is not 100%. HD carries Behr and the guys at the paint counter said they don't sell much but the people that have talked about it said it did well. Kelly-Moore carries Rustolem but I chose to dig through their spec sheets for an industrial grade paint. I figured if the specs said it was good for rusty steel with the big chunks knocked off, it'd be real good for a clean floor with some reasonable prep work.

Note - this is west Texas and it's normal to see people in these big box jobs for many years, unlike how things may be in larger areas. That lends a little more cred to conversations with those folks. The guy that works the day desk at Windows/Doors at HD here is a retired home builder and is rescuing a beam and post barn for a hosing project. Stuff like that. The largest personnel shift in retail lumber around here occurred when Payless Cashways went out of business. Go from big box to local places and you're talking 10-20-30+ years on the job.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Garage Floor Epoxy is a definitely NOT garage floor epoxy. There are a lot of products out there that are similar. I am NOT a fan of garage floor epoxy and never will be. If I was going to do garage floor epoxy in my own garage, I would:

• 
  Do a moisture test
  Prepare the floor correctly --and don't buy anythings that says you don't have to
  Have it done by a pro
  Use a high quality 100% solids Epoxy
  Use an aliphatic urethane top coat
  Follow to the letter instructions about staying off it

In MOST cases, epoxy does not fail, the installation or the substrate fails.

 

[Cruzin90]

There are different epoxy products.

There are two resins, bisphenol A (Bis-A) and bisphenol F (Bis-F). Bis-A is the most common, is less expensive, and is what the majority of garage epoxy is made of. Bis-F epoxy is significantly superior, but is more expensive.

There are many hardeners. Different resin and hardener combinations will give you different attributes such as high heat tolerance epoxy and highly chemical resistant epoxy. The most common hardeners are amine based or phenolic based.

Epoxies are rather rigid and do not have good elongation. Sometimes a urethane or non-reactive rubber is added to help.

Polyaspartic polyureas have been coming on strong the last couple of years. They are more durable and have better elongation than most epoxies.

 

[Timtyson]

I have used several different epoxies floor garage floors and done lots of research on the best on the market. The easiest and most durable product I've used is Kelly Moore KM-15 and KM-332 clear. Kelly Moore in the Dallas TX area carries it

 

[danb35]

@Timtyson, reviving a thread that's been dead for five years, just to plug a specific product and vendor, sounds kind of spammy.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

PREP PREP PREP, buy a solid product from a vendor that supports customers and has the knowledge.

 

[Timtyson]

@Timtyson, reviving a thread that's been dead for five years, just to plug a specific product and vendor, sounds kind of spammy.

No just wanted to share my experience.