Finished Epoxy-Coat Project! (Pics)

[radchad3]

Hello everyone! My wife and I moved into our house a year ago. Ever since we first moved into the house I wanted to do a garage makeover. The garage was completely undone, no insulations, sheetrock, etc. I did the insulation, sheetrock, paint, cabinets late last fall. This summer, it was time to tackle the floor!

I have been planning a garage floor project for months. I had gone back and forth with pretty much all of the solutions posted here. After much deliberation and research I decided on Epoxy Coat. I have an 800 sq/ft 3.5 car garage and ordered two full kits of gray and special ordered 2 full kits of polyurea clear from Lowes. The total was about $700 with a 10% movers coupon.

My biggest concern for the project was some significant pitting that I had at the garage door threshold. I decided to order some epoxy patch kit from Epoxy Coat and at the same time got 4 more lbs. of flakes. I probably woud have done another 3-4 lbs had I did it again. The pits were then over-filled with the patch material and ground even when the rest of the floor was diamond grinded. I did go ahead and take the epoxy all the way to the outside expansion joint to hide the patch material. I do realized that it may yellow a bit over time but hopefully the clear will give it some UV protection.

I then used Sika Flex to fill in the expansion joints. Once this cured my project started. We started at 500 AM since it was super hot that week (95 F). It took about 3.5 hours for prep and laying. Then the clear was applied at 1100PM that night.

Once the floor was done, I painted the side foundation walls and moved everything back into place. The floor turned out great! There were some small imperfections here and there but really, only I (being super ****) would be able to point out. So far I am very happy with the results and my wife keeps saying "I just wanted to let you do your thing, but I had serious concerns about the floor. I had no idea it could look this good!"

So needless to say, she approves!

My next project is the steps and hand railing. Also going to work on some fan solutions. Then finish up with some things to decorate the walls.

Thank you all for your help and info. If any questions, please feel free to ask!

Chad

(I wish I had pics before the drywall went up....big difference!!)

 

[Brianc500]

Well done, that really makes the garage look clean.

 

[425hp]

Looks Great!

 

[stang1]

Looks good! What type of floor grinder did you use?

 

[radchad3]

Thanks guys! After much thought and calling around town to no avail, I finally decided to have someone do it. After seeing him do it, I wished I would have done it myself. He used a bosch 7 in grinder with a commercial-size vacuum. Little dust and didn't take him too long.

 

[Nighttrain]

Nice job! Great job on the sheetrock!

 

[radchad3]

Thanks! My dad did help with the hanging and the trim but neither one of us had really done it before. I did the mudding/taping/sanding/painting alone. I am really happy with the results. The ceiling was already finished so that helped a lot!

 

[radchad3]

Nighttrain: Just finished though your garage build. VERY nice! Now that is a garage!!!!

 

[robertc]

radchad3,

Very nice! I am planning to do a standard two car garage as part of a overall house makeover. How is that floor type when wet (it rains frequently where we are). I don't want a slippery floor to walk on. Did you consider UCoatIt or Wolverine? What type of maintenance do you plan?

rc

 

[kimny]

Do you mind post a link to the stuff you'd used? I asked some people here before and they said that the stuff I found here are no good.

Thanks

 

[radchad3]

Robertc: I did look at other products than epoxy-coat. I did want a 100% solids epoxy and price was a consideration as well. Since they carried this product at my local Lowes, I used a 10% off movers coupon so the price was quite a bit better than the competition. When wet the floor can be a little slick, although it is less slick than what I was expecting. You can use the epoxy-coat without the clear coat and then the flakes add to the friction, so that would be an option for you. Good luck!

Kimny: epoxy-coat.com Christine is their rep on here. She does a great job of answering questions if you have them. The most important part to making any epoxy system work is proper floor prep and following the directions to the "T".

 

[rugerlady]

The floor looks great!! Thanks for posting your pics!

 

[PontiacFan]

Sweet, ..., Nice improvement!

 

[haugy]

That looks really good. That trailer that folds up is awesome!!!

 

[amuffly]

Nice looking floor. We start our new home build this month and I can't wait to work on the garage. I am thinking the epoxy is the best bang for the buck and this shows it can be done by a DIY person.

 

[radchad3]

Haugy: The trailer has been a great addition to the stable. It doesn't take hardly any room in the garage yet allows me to haul my atv etc too! It came as a kit and I put it together. The plans called for a 4x8 sheet of plywood, but decided to go with diamond plate. Turned out great!

 

[xrdad]

Nice job, floor looks fantastic!

And, I have the same trailer!
Except mine's a work in progress. It's pretty rusty.

 

[Boosted Bunny]

Looks awesome

 

[ggcdad]

Looks fantastic - Great job!!!
I'll be tackling this job within the next month with the same size garage.

I have the same pitting and spalling close in the same place. How did the Epoxy-coat patch work for you? I was debating between that and the Ardex CD patch.

I'm planning on renting a grinder. How long did they grind the floor? Did they do multiple passes?

How long did you wait after caulking the joints with SilkaFlex before starting to epoxy? I was planning on using SilkaFlex as well and I heard that some folks had bubbles when waiting only one day.

Were the two full kits enough - did you have much extra?

Did you use a squeegee to spread it around first and then roll it out?\

How big were the sections that you broke it into?

Thanks for the help!!

 

[radchad3]

GGCDAD: So far I think that the epoxy-coat patch worked great! I was really concerned about the pitting and didn't want it to get worse so I knew it needed patched/covered. I just overfilled, let it dry overnight and then ground even the next day. I did go ahead and epoxy all the way to the expansion joint knowing that it may discolor over time. I would rather have some discoloration than continued deterioration of my concrete.

-It didn't take them long at all to do the grinding...maybe a couple of hours. They used a bosch 7 in grinder. Just one pass back and forth.

-I only waited about 20hrs or so after the Sika Flex was down before doing the epoxy. Mine didn't bubble up but it was not as smooth in those areas. I was a little worried about it at first but it seems fine. With the flakes, you can hardly tell. If I had the time I would maybe wait a couple days, just to make sure.

-Two kits were more than enough for 800 square feet. I did use all of it on the 800 so that I could spread it on a little thick. This may not work for everyone but I cut the floor exactly into 3 sections. Prior to starting I pre-measured all Part A's and all Part B's so I would have the exact same amount in all buckets and I would not short myself at the end. I used 20' foam squeegees to spread the epoxy (these worked awesome!) and then 18' rollers. These are a little more pricey but if you have a level garage they are well worth it I think!

Hope this helps, let me know if you have more questions! Chad

 

[gsnake]

Looks really good, i hope mine turns out like that.

Whats the price of the full kit at lowes?

Do u have a link for the epoxy patch kit?

 

[LikesToRaceCars]

Wow the garage looks great! Very clean I hope mine turns out the same after I am done with it.

 

[radchad3]

Gsnake: The full kits at Lowes are $194. I used a 10% off movers coupons from my local USPS. Sorry I don't have any direct links to the patch kit. Just call epoxy-coat for a price. Not sure what it set me back.

Thanks for the compliments!

 

[ggcdad]

Very helpful - Thanks Chad!

 

[sting ya]

Floor looks great ! My question is why in one picture the floor is blue and in the others its t
beige ? also is you heater sufficient for that size garage ?

 

[lreops]

Floor looks great ! My question is why in one picture the floor is blue and in the others its t
beige ? also is you heater sufficient for that size garage ?

Looks like the reflection from the walls, to me anyway.


Ron

 

[radchad3]

Yeah, the camera can play funny tricks with the color. It is a light gray in person. The heater is on the smaller side for the garage size. It is well insulated including the garage doors so that helps a lot! At below freezing I can heat up the garage to >50 F within an hour or so. Plenty warm enough to work on the cars with just a sweatshirt and jeans!

 

[ggcdad]

Chad...
I like the idea of dividing it into three sections (1 car bay at a time). Did you feel you had enough working time to get it down and get the flakes spread?
What was the temp?
Did you have anyone helping? I will probably be doing this without help this next weekend.

I used the Epoxy-coat patch this past weekend. Epoxy-coat said that it would be trowel consistency, but I found it to be more like honey. I patched the 1 ft section between the garage door and the driveway and it just wanted to run down that slight slope onto the driveway. And it cured slowly at around 70 degrees. For two hours I keep brushing it back into the garage away from the driveway. And the next day I used a Bosch hand grinder to grind off the stuff that ran onto the driveway (1-2"), along with rough grinding the whole patched area.
And in the morning I found a small frog that had hopped into the patch - bad landing zone for him.

I also rented an Edco 11" diamond grinder and did the whole floor (725 sq ft). Took about 8 hours, but it worked pretty well.

 

[rugerlady]

I hate it when the critters get into the curing epoxy. I've seen everything from snakes to chipmunks. I guess i can now add frogs to the list.

 

[radchad3]

ggcdad:

If I had to do it again I would do it the same way. It worked out well I think. There are several keys to it working smooth when the sections are bigger than recommended.

1. Use a bigger squeegee. I think I had a 20 or 22" squeegee to spread the epoxy.

2. Use an 18" roller. This is also a key assuming your garage is pretty flat.

3. In my opinion, you will not be able to do these big of sections by yourself. I had 3 people total and that was just right. Two to brush the sides and the third person to squeegee then roll. I then flaked that section before moving onto the next.

4. I am guessing it was around 70-80 degrees. The high that day was 95 and we started at 500 AM. The clear was done at 11pm that night.

5. Be sure to divide the sections up as precise as possible. You want them to be exactly in thirds. Then measure all the components into thirds. That way you are sure you will have enough. Also make sure the Part As and Bs are 2/1 after dividing. If you do this, you will not have to worry about being short or mixing it wrong.

Following these guidelines I felt I had enough time to do each section to completion then moving onto the next. I really would wait until you have enough people though. You only have 1 shot at doing it right!

Oh....and keep those frogs out of there!

 

[ggcdad]

I had picked up larger squeegees and rollers, so good there.
And I will divide up everything - that definitely makes the most sense.

Maybe I'll split it into four sections, and try to line up at least one more person.

One of my biggest concerns is keeping bugs and debris out. There are always leaves and **** blowing in. Maybe I'll try somehow to hang plastic over the whole front of the garage to keep the debris, bugs and critters out.

Great advice - thanks!!

 

[atpalmer]

I did mine this morning with some help from the wife. Call it 1 1/2 people. Solo would be doable but the help was much appreciated. I started around 8 am and finished by noon the air temp was 95F by then. I didn't have any problem with it curing too quick but I was moving fast.

I goofed and didn't deal with the bubbles. I had the leaf blower but it was full of concrete grinding dust. It would have dusted the epoxy pretty bad. Deal with the bubbles right away while they are still liquid. Solid bubbles are harder to fix.

 

[ggcdad]

How many square feet was that in 4 hours?
Good idea with the leaf blower, I'll have borrow my Dad's cordless blower.
Thanks!

 

[radchad3]

Also, don't know if you have them, but I think the spiked shoes are a necessity for doing larger sections. Just FYI.

 

[ggcdad]

Spiked shoes are on order.

How many extra rollers, squeegee's, and buckets did you end up needing?
Where you able to keep using the same rollers and squeegee's between sections?

 

[radchad3]

I needed a new roller for every section. You may not need to change them depending on how your epoxy is curing. I used one squeegee for the epoxy and one for the clear coat. I used clear measuring buckets that you can get at any big box hardware store. Not sure how many I ended up using.

 

[csp]

You may not need to change them depending on how your epoxy is curing.

Exactly. We used one roller for 864 sq ft. We had two extras on hand, but didn't need them.

One squeegee was also used and we also used plastic measuring buckets vs. using the measuring stick Epoxy Coat supplies.

Our application used two full kits and we used one measuring bucket for part A and one for part B for each kit, for a total of four measuring buckets. We broke each kit into four sections as our garage had eight "quadrants" via the control joints cut into the slab.

 

[atpalmer]

How many square feet was that in 4 hours?
Good idea with the leaf blower, I'll have borrow my Dad's cordless blower.
Thanks!

600 sqft. using one 18" roller for the whole floor. I used a new roller for the clear coat. Mixed all in one bucket using the stick method. Used Spike shoes. A must even without throwing chips.

 

[ggcdad]

Great, thanks for the info!

For those that ground or had the floor ground, how rough was it after wards?
I ground mine using an Edco 11" grinder. The third bay which is just storage is nice and rough, but the two bays where the cars parked are not that rough. I did go over those two bays an extra time with the grinder, and am wondering if it might have made it smoother rather then rougher. And I'm wondering if I should acid etch those two sections.
Thoughts?

 

[radchad3]

hmmm...they should be the roughness of 100-120 sandpaper. I could be wrong on this. Maybe someone can chime in and correct me if I am wrong. Christine from Epoxy-Coat may be a good person to contact!