Epoxy's Durability?

[28HopUp]

I have an attached 2-car garage with a bare concrete floor. Before going to the trouble of putting epoxy down, I wanted to ask a specific question that a search didn't address.

I have a 22"+ wide Troy-Bilt snow blower that I keep in the garage. In order to move it around, I sometimes need to raise the handle to lift the wheels, and pivot the blower along the front edge/blade. Will epoxy stand up to that kind of periodic scraping? If not, I guess I'll keep the concrete bare.

 

[spazegun2213]

define "stand up to"? Do you care if it leaves a mark? if i slide something heavy (think fridge or the like) It will leave a mark on the floor. nothing huge, and it does not go though the epoxy, but its visible. Frankly I dont mind because I try not to slide heavy things across it.

The only problem I've had is (and this is going to sound weird) Race tires from my race car chewing up the floor. This is because rocks stick to the tires, and when I'm trying to move the car at slow speeds (onto ramps) I have had problems keeping traction on the floor. As a result I have 2 nice spots that I've ground into the epoxy and you can see a little bit of the concrete below.

the epoxy I used was the rustolem "professional" epoxy series that you can find at home depot.

 

[TRC51]

I have the same question. I built my spare garage as a shop and I want it to be nice, but the reality of it is that I keep the working stuff that is tough on the floor in this garage. With the tractor, the snowmobile, the snowblower, kids toys, 4-wheelers, over all **** I end up with, etc.... I am thinking I am just not capable of being "clean" (or is it ****) enough to constantly be thinking of the floor before I do something stupid. The first time I ride into the garage on the snowmobile out of habit, I am probably going to curse six ways to Sunday. Nevermind the chains on the snowblower as I manipulate it around in the garage... and the rust off the blade. Ug.... the more I think about it, the worse it gets.

That said, I think I am just going to put down a good sealer on the new concrete and then put some race deck down. At least replacing beat up peices that I screw up would be easier (leading to less cursing when I am stupid... again).

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Epoxy is no match for cold hard steel.

 

[1984GMC]

Buy a shed and keep it in there and then epoxy your floor, I love mine, it has held up to some pretty hard use, Even welding. Its gotten a few scratches , but its from steel being dragged or dropped, but it takes alot to hurt it .

 

[28HopUp]

Buy a shed and keep it in there and then epoxy your floor, I love mine, it has held up to some pretty hard use, Even welding. Its gotten a few scratches , but its from steel being dragged or dropped, but it takes alot to hurt it .

I wish that was an option. Our house is in a neighborhood, located on a constant-radius curve. Our yard is a perfect pie shape, and the previous owner installed an in-ground pool in the back yard. It takes up the entire back yard (except for two swipes with a push mower outside the fence). So I am forced to keep the yard equipment in my 2-car garage. Thankfully, we have a walk-out basement, so I have a shop in the basement to keep my household tools. I also keep my extra set(s) of tires/wheels stored in the basement as well, which frees up garage space.

I will probably go ahead with the epoxy floor in the garage, and throw a rag under the snow blower blade to keep from scratching the floor. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[rugerlady]

I think it will scratch it. Make sure you read the products (epoxy) data sheet and see what the abrasion rating is.

 

[thegarageguy]

All coatings are susceptible to scratching or gouging.

 

[Will S.]

Why not epoxy coat a piece of plywood while you're doing the floor. Lay the plywood epoxy-side down under the blade of the snow blower, and pivot. You might even be able to wax the epoxy side of the plywood, to make it more slick. A couple of strips of wood glued and screwed to the blade side, will keep the blade from slipping off the wood.

 

[GOehm]

I have the same question. I built my spare garage as a shop and I want it to be nice, but the reality of it is that I keep the working stuff that is tough on the floor in this garage. With the tractor, the snowmobile, the snowblower, kids toys, 4-wheelers, over all **** I end up with, etc.... I am thinking I am just not capable of being "clean" (or is it ****) enough to constantly be thinking of the floor before I do something stupid. The first time I ride into the garage on the snowmobile out of habit, I am probably going to curse six ways to Sunday. Nevermind the chains on the snowblower as I manipulate it around in the garage... and the rust off the blade. Ug.... the more I think about it, the worse it gets.

That said, I think I am just going to put down a good sealer on the new concrete and then put some race deck down. At least replacing beat up peices that I screw up would be easier (leading to less cursing when I am stupid... again).

This may be a bit naive, but after you coat the floor - wouldn't it be fairly easy to maintain maybe once a year (or every other) by just rolling some new epoxy only on the beat up portion of the floor? (followed by sprinkles and clear, if your floor has those). You might be able to get by maintaining it for about $50 a year with touchups.

You wouldn't need to re-etch / re-grind or whatnot for touchups. Especially if it's a 'working' garage and you're not gunning for perfection in your foor.

I may be wrong. This is the strategy I'm going with - looking to do my floor very soon.

Also - for the gentleman with the snowblower. Can you use casters? Sort of like a moving dolley? This is what I use to stand up my 60" mid mount mower and it works like a champ when I need to move it around.

 

[thegarageguy]

How about using some sort of dollies to bring it in and store?

 

[nate379]

Yeah it will get beat up, but oh well really. That is one reason not to spend thousands of dollars on an epoxy job. Throw down the $60 a can Lowe's stuff and call it done.

Either you keep the place a museum or you have it like 99.9% of us and work in the place. Wear and tear just will add character.

 

[walwal63]

Yeah it will get beat up, but oh well really. That is one reason not to spend thousands of dollars on an epoxy job. Throw down the $60 a can Lowe's stuff and call it done.

Either you keep the place a museum or you have it like 99.9% of us and work in the place. Wear and tear just will add character.

I'm thinking the same thing. Its not that I'm cheap, I would gladly put out the money for epoxy-coat, but I think i would be heartbroken the first time I dropped a glowing hot piece of steel that I just torched off on it. Especially after all that work. I have a friend that uses the cheap big box store stuff and he recoats it every 7-8 years. And it looks great for a working garage, and he does not go easy on his floor... from dragging tranmissions and work benches to torching right on it.

Does this sound unreasonable? Maybe we could get some opinions on what "easy to touch up" coatings would be best.

 

[bazzateer]

Thinking about it, having to give the floor a new coating every 5 years or so could be the perfect excuse for having a good clear out of all the **** we clutter up our garages with!

 

[tcianci]

Well to continue that line of thought, My floor has held up well enough that the clutter factor has gotten quite high in here and it's not going to need a recoat any time soon!

 

[redwings]

Put a small, thick rug underneath it. I keep one under my snow blower so when all the ice and snow on it melt it just gets the rug wet. It also helps with rust stains. When your snow blower rusts it leaves those marks on the garage floor, this way it just ends up on the carpet. Then just replace the carpet every few years. If it's thick enough you should be able to pivot on it just fine.

 

[Wane]

I have had a epoxy coating on my floor four years now and it still looks fantastic. Sweep and mop it and it's ready for get togathers. I have spilt about any thing auto motive on the floor with no ill effects, I used the Rust O brand from menards it was tintable and on sale at $49 a gallon. The only bad spot i have is from the chains on my snow blower, I now keep it on a dolly untill needed. The secret to a good job is in the prep work before painting and read the directions.

 

[eddy]

I have a 1974 Toro in my garage, these things are built like tanks, a hand me down and still works like a charm, very loud though. It has chains on the wheels and all the rust drips you can imagine when the snow melts. I like redwings' idea about the carpet. I personally use cardboard. I keep all the boxes from the kids' toys and stuff... in the off seaon, I roll it on several pieces of cardboard line up to the side of the garage. During the season, it stays by the door, on a nice thick piece of cardboard, no stains on the floor, no chain marks. And I can lift it up and spin it on a piece of cardboard easily, no issues...

 

[dankicksass]

I used to work in a tractor shop, the epoxy floor was no match for the equipment. We wound up putting in a racedeck-style flooring product and that made things a lot easier to keep clean.

 

[regguy1]

I have an attached 2-car garage with a bare concrete floor. Before going to the trouble of putting epoxy down, I wanted to ask a specific question that a search didn't address.

I have a 22"+ wide Troy-Bilt snow blower that I keep in the garage. In order to move it around, I sometimes need to raise the handle to lift the wheels, and pivot the blower along the front edge/blade. Will epoxy stand up to that kind of periodic scraping? If not, I guess I'll keep the concrete bare.

I'm thinking of getting this to protect my floor from tractor with snowblower during the winter, check it out:

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=144632&navAction=push

 

[nate379]

Do you know what they used?

I see epoxy used in industrial settings all the time and it holds up well.

The last place I worked was a 100x100 building. We ran forklifts in there all the time as well as pallet jacks. Some of the pallets were metal and weigh over 4000lbs.

Sure there were scuffs and scrapes here and there, but for the abuse the floor got it was in great shape for being 10-12 years old. Honestly the place most worn out was the area under the desks in the tool crib, from the wheels on chairs... (yeah of all things huh?!)

I used to work in a tractor shop, the epoxy floor was no match for the equipment. We wound up putting in a racedeck-style flooring product and that made things a lot easier to keep clean.

 

[dankicksass]

I believe the floor epoxy was an Olympic branded product, it came from Riccardi Bros in NJ. It was applied by a professional. There's not a lot that holds up to bucket edges and implements getting dragged around though. The composite flooring that was put down made the whole place look great, always does.