Epoxy your concrete driveway?

[bmwpower]

While I'm pondering doing concrete for the driveway, I'm wondering what's going to happen if, say, I need to power wash an oily engine? Grease and oil are going to stain the heck out of the concrete driveway. I was wondering if epoxy would be the cure for this? I know it will darken in the sunlight, but I'm not too concerned with the color change. I'm more concerned with keeping it looking new. Just so we're clear, I'm not going to epoxy the entire driveway, just the pad out in front of the garages.

Has anyone done this?

Is it even advisable?

 

[Hammerdown]

I have done epoxy in an outdoor application, and it has worked for me. I have applied it to a few driveways, car-ports and patios. Here are some cautions about outdoor use you may find helpful.
1. Make sure the maufacturer recommends such an application for its products.
2. It is best when not in direct sunlight.
3. Use a UV stable top coat- this will help in color retention, non-yellowing and chalking.
4. Be very mindful of the weather conditions, as the coating will have no protection against factors that can upset the application. Rain can obviously ruin the finish, and you want to apply it with as little direct sunlight as possible.
5. Bugs love epoxy and it seems to me they are drawn to it as their final resting place- use mosquito netting for protection.
6. Work in a cooler time of day, early morning or late evening.
6. Snow removal- shovelling, plowing and snow blowers can all scrape and damage the coating. Sweep the area to help ensure the longevity of the coating.
7. Service life will be reduced, the floor coating will not usually last as long in an outdoor application as it would indoors.


Hope this helps.

 

[bmwpower]

Thanks Hammerdown. I'm wondering if a heavy duty sealer would be better? Not looking for shine, etc. just want to keep it fairly stainfree.

Also, my driveway is in the middle of a farm field so it's going to get constant sun, if it's out.

At least I won't have the worries about fumes in an enclosed area like I did before!

 

[PAToyota]

I'd be cautious just from the standpoint of rain, ice, or snow making it extremely slippery...

 

[Rustyd02359]

Here at work we have concrete walkway into the back of the buiding and it was epoxied with grit to prevent slippage.

 

[Hammerdown]

A sealer would be most cost effective, just buy a high quality, non-yellowing and chemical resistant formula. Lots of sealers will not hold up to gas, brake fluid, etc. Make sure to use an anti-slip additve as well, as PAToyota points out, it can become slick! I prefer epoxy over sealers, because they provide a more uniform color, as opposed to just a clear sealer, which can heighten any variances in the concretes porosity, making some areas appear darker.

 

[Baer]

BMW,
One other thing to consider is using colored concrete. With a blacktop drive I wanted an area for power washing etc that wouldn't ruin the blacktop so I had a 10'x16' pad poured outside of the side garage door and had them put a brown dye in it so the muck and dirt wouldn't show so much. Ran an extra $200 for a 3yd pour to cover the dye and wash-out. Here's a pic -- a little washed out as its a flash photo at dusk but you can get the idea.

 

[JohnZ]

My epoxied slab runs about 10" outside the garage doors, and sees direct sun until about 2:00 PM; after seven years, it has turned white, where the interior epoxy is light gray/tan.

 

[JMURiz]

How would epoxy stand up to turning car wheels? I know the interior of my garage sees a lot of wheel turning to get my stuff in/out and I am afraid of epoxy coming up.

Just another thing to think about on a driveway...then again I don't know if it's a well founded fear or mine.

 

[Hammerdown]

In my experience, if the concrete is sound(not soft, loose or powdery) and the epoxy is applied correctly, you should not have a problem with turning your wheels on it.

 

[JMURiz]

Excellent, maybe I'll keep looking at expoy rather than going with just a sealer.
Because I have to do full stationary lock to lock turns to get into my far bay.

 

[Jason B]

Bunch of cracks in my driveway and saw a houses where the whole driveway (way worse than mine was) was done in Epoxy with a crushed stone finish. It looked awesome! Was thinking of having this done to a 50x30 section aprox. Is sun fading still an issue. Going to do a very light color beige.

https://www.stylemotivation.com/using-epoxy-coating-driveway-good-idea/

 

[Shea]

In those applications the epoxy is usually used as a mortar bed in which to trowel the aggregate into. Little if any of the actual epoxy is exposed. You do not want epoxy to be exposed to sunlight or it will chalk and deteriorate from the direct U.V. exposure.

 

[Jason B]

Here are some pics of a house that had it done with the crushed stone look epoxy and sidewalk. I can’t believe how great it looked. These pics were taken when it was raining it had good grip. So no epoxy I guess is exposed here. THey even brought in right into the garage and looked good.

Here is my existing Driveway that is cracking all over due to lack of expansion joints. So I want to grind all these out fill the cracks the correct way and then put the Apoxsee over top and make this whole big square area look beautiful again.

 

[Armorpoxy]

We now make an incredible driveway and sidewalk product called Surface Bond which is the exact same coating used in NYC Times Square and for all NYC bike lanes.

Easy to install. https://armorpoxy.com/acrylic-coatings/surface-bond/

 

[Shea]

Wow, that stuff is cool!

 

[Armorpoxy]

It's a fantastic product and we just released it last year to our retail customers. Most coatings can't handle vehicular traffic, but this stuff can.

We also have it in a black or gray lower priced version as a low VOC driveway coating as an alternate to stinky asphalt/tar coatings, but 10x more durable than the home center stuff without the solvents.

 

[bigjon]

We now make an incredible driveway and sidewalk product called Surface Bond which is the exact same coating used in NYC Times Square and for all NYC bike lanes.

Easy to install. https://armorpoxy.com/acrylic-coatings/surface-bond/

Where were the 2 photos with green bike lanes taken? Looks like NZ, but could be here. Looks like an old photo though as none of the cars were late model.