Hi there. I've been hanging on GJ for a few years. I finally joined a couple months ago when I bought my Garage Condo. I knew I wanted to do some kind of flooring before I moved in and started building out the interior.
Justin at Garage Flooring, LLC offered a special deal on his Polyurea coating system. Here is a little write-up.
This Garage Condo is about 10 years old. The floor surface is approximately 760 square feet. The concrete was very smooth, and it appeared to have a sealer on the surface of the concrete. Despite the sealer, there appeared to be lots of stains from the previous owner of the Garage Condo. I spoke to Justin about the product. He had several people using most of the available colors, but he was wanting someone to use tan. I was not opposed to tan because I knew the lighter color would brighten up the interior of the storage area.
This was the day I bought it. I wish the FJ in the pic was mine.....
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Notice the stains on the floor from 10 years of oil leaks, chemicals, and tire marks.
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I did a lot of reading about prepping the concrete, and I spoke with Justin numerous times about the best way to prep the concrete. After careful thought, I decided to grind the concrete. I had read about renting a Diamabrush and floor polisher from Home Depot. I also had seen where people had used local contractors to prep their concrete. I called a few concrete tradesmen while I was waiting for Justin to ship my product, and I received quotes all over the board. The least expensive was $700, and the most expensive was $3200. I also had three different contractors who didn't even return my phone call. The most helpful contractor was a guy named Craig Walton. He told me he sometimes spends two or three days prepping an area before a coating job. He told me I should probably rent a machine and do the job myself. I decided to go for it.
I ended up renting a floor grinder and Edco vacuum from the local rental company. I started the grind, the machine started spitting out globs of a plastic-like material. The more I ground the concrete, the less effective it became. I turned over the machine and saw the teeth had clogged with some kind of coating. I called Justin, and he recommended a more aggressive bit. I went back to the rental agency and grabbed some different bits. These worked for a while, but they also clogged up. I ended up spending around four hours and finished about 50 square feet.
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The next day I rented a machine from Home Depot. They did not have the Diamabrush, and I rented a grinder. As soon as I started on my floor, I could tell the machine was not going to work. I talked to the guy from Home Depot, and he said to keep at it. I spent two hours and finished about 25 square feet.
I have a full-time job, so I was trying to work on this floor in the evenings. I went to a different Home Depot and rented the Diamabrush. I was able to finish grinding my floor over the course of two evenings. All in all, I had spent about 30 hours grinding the floor of the shop.
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I used Tri Sodium Phosphate (TSP) to clean the floor. While I was waiting for the floor to dry, the weather changed. The weather cooled to about 25 deg at night, and it started raining on and off. The next weekend I started with the base coat. I mixed the product and the tint and started application. The base coat went on pretty smooth. The floor is divided into eight equal sections, and I applied the flakes after each section. I did have some help from my 10 yr old daughter casting the flakes.
I spent about six hours putting down the base coat. It did take longer than I expected. I didn't know how thick or thin to apply the coating, and I had read a few stories about people applying the coating too thick and having bubbles.
Even after the first coat, the floor looked great! I was excited to get the clear coats down with the anti-skid. I could not work on the floor the next two days because of work responsibilities and rain. I happened to send Justin a couple of texts of the progress. He told me the floor looked great. I told him I was waiting to put the clear coat down, and he told me I needed to make sure the clear coat was down within 20 hours at the most. I was worried because I had surpassed the 72 hour mark. Justin told me that the instructions had said 18 hours. I hadn't actually seen instructions for the coating. I had only read the posts on GarageJournal.com, and I was worried. Justin assured me it wouldn't be a problem. He told me to get a pole sander and go over the entire floor. After that he wanted me to wipe the entire floor with denatured alcohol. I did both and started the clear coat.
The first coat of clear went on pretty well. However, it was really hard to see where I had applied the clear! I had several extra lights in the shop, and it was still hard to see the lines where I had rolled on the clear. I finished up the first coat and waiting about five hours to apply the second coat.
I mixed the anti-skid into the second coat using a mixing tool on a hand drill. With the anti-skid, the polyurea was kind of "milky," and it was actually easier to put the second coating down because I could see where I had applied the coating. I finished up the second coating and let it dry over night.
The next morning I went and checked out the floor. Wow! It looked great. It was very shiny and looked very good. Some of the spots where my daughter helped apply the flakes look a little more "concentrated." It doesn't look bad, however. I was able to walk on the floor that morning. The floor coating was definitely dry.
I guess the hardest part of the entire project was the grind. Whatever seal coating was on the concrete was tough. The grinder heated up and almost melted the coating. The coating kept getting stuck in the teeth. I probably would have been better off hiring someone to grind the concrete, but I wanted to do this project by myself. I had never done anything like this before, and I would not hesitate to do it again.
Justin was a big help, and he was always there to answer my questions. I have shown the floor to several other people, and they love it. They have mentioned wanting to do their floors in the spring. One of the things I have noticed is how much it has really brightened up the shop. Going from a dark concrete to a light tan has really helped make the shop brighter.
Here is a pic with all the lights off. Well, all the lights except my first mancave decoration......a 1982 Budweiser neon sign
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I haven't driven on the floor yet or had any big equipment on it, but it seems pretty durable from just the time I've spent with it.
Justin at Garage Flooring, LLC offered a special deal on his Polyurea coating system. Here is a little write-up.
This Garage Condo is about 10 years old. The floor surface is approximately 760 square feet. The concrete was very smooth, and it appeared to have a sealer on the surface of the concrete. Despite the sealer, there appeared to be lots of stains from the previous owner of the Garage Condo. I spoke to Justin about the product. He had several people using most of the available colors, but he was wanting someone to use tan. I was not opposed to tan because I knew the lighter color would brighten up the interior of the storage area.
This was the day I bought it. I wish the FJ in the pic was mine.....
View media item 65759
Notice the stains on the floor from 10 years of oil leaks, chemicals, and tire marks.
View media item 65752
View media item 65743
View media item 65741
I did a lot of reading about prepping the concrete, and I spoke with Justin numerous times about the best way to prep the concrete. After careful thought, I decided to grind the concrete. I had read about renting a Diamabrush and floor polisher from Home Depot. I also had seen where people had used local contractors to prep their concrete. I called a few concrete tradesmen while I was waiting for Justin to ship my product, and I received quotes all over the board. The least expensive was $700, and the most expensive was $3200. I also had three different contractors who didn't even return my phone call. The most helpful contractor was a guy named Craig Walton. He told me he sometimes spends two or three days prepping an area before a coating job. He told me I should probably rent a machine and do the job myself. I decided to go for it.
I ended up renting a floor grinder and Edco vacuum from the local rental company. I started the grind, the machine started spitting out globs of a plastic-like material. The more I ground the concrete, the less effective it became. I turned over the machine and saw the teeth had clogged with some kind of coating. I called Justin, and he recommended a more aggressive bit. I went back to the rental agency and grabbed some different bits. These worked for a while, but they also clogged up. I ended up spending around four hours and finished about 50 square feet.
View media item 65758
The next day I rented a machine from Home Depot. They did not have the Diamabrush, and I rented a grinder. As soon as I started on my floor, I could tell the machine was not going to work. I talked to the guy from Home Depot, and he said to keep at it. I spent two hours and finished about 25 square feet.
I have a full-time job, so I was trying to work on this floor in the evenings. I went to a different Home Depot and rented the Diamabrush. I was able to finish grinding my floor over the course of two evenings. All in all, I had spent about 30 hours grinding the floor of the shop.
View media item 65750
View media item 65751
I used Tri Sodium Phosphate (TSP) to clean the floor. While I was waiting for the floor to dry, the weather changed. The weather cooled to about 25 deg at night, and it started raining on and off. The next weekend I started with the base coat. I mixed the product and the tint and started application. The base coat went on pretty smooth. The floor is divided into eight equal sections, and I applied the flakes after each section. I did have some help from my 10 yr old daughter casting the flakes.
I spent about six hours putting down the base coat. It did take longer than I expected. I didn't know how thick or thin to apply the coating, and I had read a few stories about people applying the coating too thick and having bubbles.
Even after the first coat, the floor looked great! I was excited to get the clear coats down with the anti-skid. I could not work on the floor the next two days because of work responsibilities and rain. I happened to send Justin a couple of texts of the progress. He told me the floor looked great. I told him I was waiting to put the clear coat down, and he told me I needed to make sure the clear coat was down within 20 hours at the most. I was worried because I had surpassed the 72 hour mark. Justin told me that the instructions had said 18 hours. I hadn't actually seen instructions for the coating. I had only read the posts on GarageJournal.com, and I was worried. Justin assured me it wouldn't be a problem. He told me to get a pole sander and go over the entire floor. After that he wanted me to wipe the entire floor with denatured alcohol. I did both and started the clear coat.
The first coat of clear went on pretty well. However, it was really hard to see where I had applied the clear! I had several extra lights in the shop, and it was still hard to see the lines where I had rolled on the clear. I finished up the first coat and waiting about five hours to apply the second coat.
I mixed the anti-skid into the second coat using a mixing tool on a hand drill. With the anti-skid, the polyurea was kind of "milky," and it was actually easier to put the second coating down because I could see where I had applied the coating. I finished up the second coating and let it dry over night.
The next morning I went and checked out the floor. Wow! It looked great. It was very shiny and looked very good. Some of the spots where my daughter helped apply the flakes look a little more "concentrated." It doesn't look bad, however. I was able to walk on the floor that morning. The floor coating was definitely dry.
I guess the hardest part of the entire project was the grind. Whatever seal coating was on the concrete was tough. The grinder heated up and almost melted the coating. The coating kept getting stuck in the teeth. I probably would have been better off hiring someone to grind the concrete, but I wanted to do this project by myself. I had never done anything like this before, and I would not hesitate to do it again.
Justin was a big help, and he was always there to answer my questions. I have shown the floor to several other people, and they love it. They have mentioned wanting to do their floors in the spring. One of the things I have noticed is how much it has really brightened up the shop. Going from a dark concrete to a light tan has really helped make the shop brighter.
Here is a pic with all the lights off. Well, all the lights except my first mancave decoration......a 1982 Budweiser neon sign
View media item 65760
I haven't driven on the floor yet or had any big equipment on it, but it seems pretty durable from just the time I've spent with it.
Even at $2300 if you don't factor in the rental costs and gas for driving to multiple places to get the rentals it seems like a pretty good deal.