Epoxy paint and light resto work

[DynoDave]

I've seen several threads where people DID NOT recomend epoxy in an environment where heavy welding and fabrication would be occuring.

I have 3 old cars to restore. I will definately be doing some welding (floors, patches, quarters), but not on a daily production basis. I plan on throwing down a welding blanket when I'm working. I'm not fabricating race chassis from tube steel. I'm not building street rods from scratch (I'd love to, but it's just in the cards any time soon). And I will not be painting them in this shop.

So I need the floor to stand up to:

Foot traffic
Chemicals
Floor jacks (stands)
Hydraulic jacks, cherry pickers, engine stands on steel rollers
Some light welding
A small bench mounted grinder (sparks)
Ocassional use of a hand held grinder, etc.

I guess I'd define it as standard, hobbyist level work.

So, those with experience with epoxy floors, is say a Rustoleum Professional epoxy coating up to this sort of use? I'm think 2 coats of color, 1 clear, probably with flakes.

Can I expect to get, say, 10 years of use out of a floor like that before it's so worn and burned that I can't stand looking at it any more? LOL

I need to decide soon, as I hope to have a slab poured next week, and want to tell the guy NOT to seal it if I'm going with an epoxy floor.

 

[Winmon]

I have also seen the threads on not using epoxy if you are going to do welding. I do not know if you watch the show "Musclecar" on the Spike channel. They have a epoxied floor and they just ABUSE it. They do all types of welding and grinding on it. Of course I do not know what it is doing to the floor, but they have shown shots of car parts on the floor and the small sections of the floor I have seen look fine. You might want to give Rustoleum a call and see what they say. I will say that the epoxy is very tough stuff.....

 

[PAToyota]

The other thing to consider is that the epoxy "yellows" in sunlight. I've noticed that welding with a blanket leaves a noticeable shadow from the UV light of the arc around the blanket if you do it enough. Urethane finishes are more UV stable if you want to go that direction.

I did the epoxy on mine and really think it was a waste of money. Much less than ten years and it looks pretty much like ****. I haven't gotten to the point where I've considered grinding it back off, but I can see that day coming...

 

[Ramblur]

I've got 10 years on my epoxy with exactly the kind of abuse you mention.
Sure I've got some scratches,burn pits, and spots where brake fluid has
pulled the color out of the topcoat, but overall I'd say it still looks great and
is so much easier to keep clean. Also seems to help the lighting out
measurably. If I ever get to the point where I'm not doing the heavier work
(not likely) I'll just scuff it up and roll another coat of color on.
Now for the $$ news its a Precision Epoxy broadcast system, quite a few
$$ more than the Rustoleum deal but you end up with a more abuse tolerant
coating that is an 1/8" thick.
Pics on this thread:http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5078

and more pics here:http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/Ramblur/Shop%20pics/?start=0

 

[DynoDave]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll try to find the time to give Rustoleum a call today, and see what they have to say.

This sort of leaves the score at 1-1-1. Anybody else with epoxy have any comments?

 

[OldCarGuy]

I have had experience with bare, epoxy coated, and VCT on garage floors. They each have their pros and cons. I would go with bare but sealed floors when constantly doing welding and dragging heavy objects. Go with VCT only for a showroom type garage. In contrast I would highly recommend epoxy coating for the home hobbyist, including light restoration use, machining, along with intermittent welding and fabricating.