Floor coating for an abused garage - no flake

[clydesdale]

This garage is going to be used and abused. It will have a skid steer in it, which could have muck on the tires, and a lift. There will be occasional welding. Plenty use of heat to remove stuck bolts. Plenty of grinding of rusted parts. It is 40x40.
My thought is that clear would be the best idea, since I believe a color would get scratched and show those scratches. But, I am open to all ideas. Ghostshield? Hellfire? Clear polyurea? I don't know. Thanks.

 

[komalakustoms]

I wouldn't go with a color or an epoxy. With there being welding and torches being used, you may be better off with a densifier & sealer like Ghostshield. Clear Polyurea would look nice but the used and abused that you're describing may take an early toll on it.

 

[1949 caddyman]

My shop is also a abused floor working shop. If I was to coat the floors I would use Rust Bullet. There are threads on it in the floor section.

 

[Andy Smith Jr.]

Best bang for the buck is Hellfire Kit. It has a clear protective coat on top. Or an epoxy / urethane system would be good as along as clear coat is there to protect the finish IMO.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Any coating other than a penetrating product like Ghostshield can be damaged by welding splatter since no resin can withstand the high temps of welding (sparks are fine, slag is not). That being said if you are welding slide a piece of sheet metal or a welding mat under the area to protect the floor. Welding splatter makes little burn marks, it doesn't destroy the floor.

We agree that for a topical coating clear would be a better choice like our SPGX clear one part polyurea. In the even it does get damaged, its super easy to touch up.

 

[FJ4FUN]

As has already been mentioned, welding (especially gas or plasma cutting) will produce slag that will mark just about any floor finish so some sort of temporary protection like welding blankets or sheetmetal should be used.

For heavy duty use like you describe we recommend our Bondtite 1101 primer under a nice thick coat of our LiquaTile 1143 polymerized ceramic epoxy.

 

[bigman68]

Is this and existing floor or a new pour?

 

[clydesdale]

This will be on a 21 y.o. floor.

 

[astroracer]

This will be on a 21 y.o. floor.

That old and, if it is already used and abused, you will never get it clean enough to retain any coating. You may be able to polish it but then you are risking slips and falls when oil or grease drop on it.
If this is a working shop, save your money and put it toward a tool or machine for the shop.
Mark

 

[Darinfred]

Maybe grind first then seal?

 

[Garage Flooring]

This garage is going to be used and abused. It will have a skid steer in it, which could have muck on the tires, and a lift. There will be occasional welding. Plenty use of heat to remove stuck bolts. Plenty of grinding of rusted parts. It is 40x40.
My thought is that clear would be the best idea, since I believe a color would get scratched and show those scratches. But, I am open to all ideas. Ghostshield? Hellfire? Clear polyurea? I don't know. Thanks.

Anything that builds a film can and will scuff and be damaged by heat. Any penetrating sealer has a break-through point at which oil, etc will soak through. It comes down to a lesser of two evils and which you prefer.

You could densify and but two coats 8510 OR you could do TruAlloy and know you are going to get marks in it and put a fresh coat on top from time to time

 

[jose jj jacinto]

This garage is going to be used and abused. It will have a skid steer in it, which could have muck on the tires, and a lift. There will be occasional welding. Plenty use of heat to remove stuck bolts. Plenty of grinding of rusted parts. It is 40x40.

My thought is that clear would be the best idea, since I believe a color would get scratched and show those scratches. But, I am open to all ideas. Ghostshield? Hellfire? Clear polyurea? I don't know. Thanks.

Good morning,

Your best bet would just be to concrete polish the floor. That system would harden your concrete, and make it easier to clean and maintain as well.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi,
Polished concrete is not very stain or fluid resistant, even with a burnished stain blocker since there is no topical protection, hence why it is not used in car dealers and such.

Polished concrete floors are fantastic, but in an auto/shop environment we normally would not recommend them for that reason. They are also expensive to have someone come in and do them and may not be a cost effective solution.

 

[930dreamer]

If i had a showroom area a coating would look nice.

 

[Ron_J]

This garage is going to be used and abused. It will have a skid steer in it, which could have muck on the tires, and a lift. There will be occasional welding. Plenty use of heat to remove stuck bolts. Plenty of grinding of rusted parts. It is 40x40.
My thought is that clear would be the best idea, since I believe a color would get scratched and show those scratches. But, I am open to all ideas. Ghostshield? Hellfire? Clear polyurea? I don't know. Thanks.

My garage is also "used and abused". I put down Ghostshield and while I think it has helped with a lot of stains and such, after only 6 months or so, it is far from clean looking.

Ghostshield isn't cheap, and it won't protect from everything, so you will have to decide if a little protection is worth the cost. Personally, I wish I had spent the money on something else.

BTW...this isn't a slam at the product. It just has limitations.