Floor options for shop?

[gtae07]

I'm looking at floor options for my shop that I'm currently building. It's a 28 x 24 slab, hand finished, with fiber. Intended use is primarily building airplanes, but will also include some metalworking, woodworking, equipment maintenance, and possibly a bit of welding and car maintenance.

Major concerns are resistance to spilled/dripped liquids and dropped item impacts. Light color is good for light reflectance and to make finding dropped washers, rivets, etc. easier, but I could live with the natural color if a colored option is cost-prohibitive. I do not want color chips. Glossiness is not required, and a showroom appearance is neither required nor desired. I already know it won't be kept meticulously clean; I'm not that sort of person, and this is a workshop.

Finally, a professional job isn't an option due to budget.

Thanks in advance

 

[benwah]

Can you give us a list of chemicals the floor will be exposed to?

 

[Gerald O]

No need for a list of chemicals. Based on the description it will be the same typical stuff that any garage shop with mechanical, welding, and woodworking is exposed to; petroleum products, solvents, the occasional acid spill, sawdust, welding spatter, in other words everything.

 

[benwah]

I prefer to base my coating recommendations on specific exposure conditions, not guesses and assumption. I will bow out of this one and leave it to Gerald O.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I'm looking at floor options for my shop that I'm currently building. It's a 28 x 24 slab, hand finished, with fiber. Intended use is primarily building airplanes, but will also include some metalworking, woodworking, equipment maintenance, and possibly a bit of welding and car maintenance.

Major concerns are resistance to spilled/dripped liquids and dropped item impacts. Light color is good for light reflectance and to make finding dropped washers, rivets, etc. easier, but I could live with the natural color if a colored option is cost-prohibitive. I do not want color chips. Glossiness is not required, and a showroom appearance is neither required nor desired. I already know it won't be kept meticulously clean; I'm not that sort of person, and this is a workshop.

Finally, a professional job isn't an option due to budget.

Thanks in advance

First and foremost, any garage floor tile or surface coating will need to be protected from welding. Some folks who want the tile look are going with ceramic tiles in shops and garages for that very reason.

You stated that a showroom appearance is not required or desired. One thing to consider is simply protecting the concrete. If I was not to worried about looks, there is not a whole lot wrong with concrete, if it is protected. You could use a combination of a densifier and stain protector such as TL37 and TL40. It is a very very affordable way to protect a floor. The densifier is permanent, but in a couple of years you can mop or spry on more conditioner/ stain protector.

Rust Bullet is another option for shop floors. Our guidelines are 2 coats for a garage and 4 for commercial or industrial. Most people with shops just do 4 coats of the base and call it a day. You would need 8 gallons. A 5 and 3 1's
http://www.garageflooringllc.com/rust-bullet-concrete/

Another popular system for shops is to go with a textured industrial epoxy. They hide a lot of damage that happens in the day to day. You would need to grind, prime, base coat and then decide if you wanted to top coat for increased chemical resistance.

Of course there are traditional epoxy systems if you want to go that route. It will again be important to grind, prime, base coat and definitely add a top coat. Depending on where you are and the VOC rules, a good aliphatic urethane is the best option there.

We do have many customers use PVC tiles in shops as well. Welding is an issue and staining can be an issue but you have the ability to replace any damaged sections quickly.

 

[gtae07]

Naphtha will be the most common chemical. Denatured alcohol also common. MEK is a possibility, but rare. Metal prep (phosphoric acid) also on occasion.

Automotive brake fluid, oil, grease, and gasoline may happen on occasion too. Simple green and the like as well.

Solids will be far more common--aluminum chips, steel chips, sawdust, fiberglass/carbon and epoxy sandings. I'm willing to put down protection for welding if I ever get around to doing it.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Polyaspartic sealer would give you the most robust coating. Chips and pigment are options.
No yellowing and fast turn-around.

We have this and other solutions available.


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[CS223]

Naphtha will be the most common chemical. Denatured alcohol also common. MEK is a possibility, but rare. Metal prep (phosphoric acid) also on occasion.

Automotive brake fluid, oil, grease, and gasoline may happen on occasion too. Simple green and the like as well.

Solids will be far more common--aluminum chips, steel chips, sawdust, fiberglass/carbon and epoxy sandings. I'm willing to put down protection for welding if I ever get around to doing it.

I can tell you that I tried every solvent I had available; MEK, Trichlor, 3 flavors of brake parts cleaner, carb cleaner, gasoline, diesel fuel, mineral spirits. Nothing phased the test chip of Rustbullet that I was sent. Frankly, if MEK won't cut it, there isn't much left. I didn't have any methylene chloride to try and I didn't try PVC cement or primer. Definitely going to use it on my shop floor. Also good to know that I can wipe up oil spills/leaks with some mineral spirits. Another big plus is when it does get damaged, you can buy a 1/2 pint can (at least for the grey) and touch it up.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Naphtha will be the most common chemical. Denatured alcohol also common. MEK is a possibility, but rare. Metal prep (phosphoric acid) also on occasion.

Automotive brake fluid, oil, grease, and gasoline may happen on occasion too. Simple green and the like as well.

Solids will be far more common--aluminum chips, steel chips, sawdust, fiberglass/carbon and epoxy sandings. I'm willing to put down protection for welding if I ever get around to doing it.

I can tell you that I tried every solvent I had available; MEK, Trichlor, 3 flavors of brake parts cleaner, carb cleaner, gasoline, diesel fuel, mineral spirits. Nothing phased the test chip of Rustbullet that I was sent. Frankly, if MEK won't cut it, there isn't much left. I didn't have any methylene chloride to try and I didn't try PVC cement or primer. Definitely going to use it on my shop floor. Also good to know that I can wipe up oil spills/leaks with some mineral spirits. Another big plus is when it does get damaged, you can buy a 1/2 pint can (at least for the grey) and touch it up.

I don't want to advertise the Rust Bullet as indestructible -- It's not -- , but, the RB product has proven itself to be incredibly tough. The chemical resistance is crazy. Anyone who let it dry on something (like my iPhone) will tell you its tough to get it off.

If you do manage to damage it, a light sand and recoat will repair it.

 

[JonM]

Can the densifiers/sealers be used over the acid stains?

 

[Garage Flooring]

Can the densifiers/sealers be used over the acid stains?

Yes. Absolutely.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Can the densifiers/sealers be used over the acid stains?

Jon, having done this many, many times I can tell you that a more aggressive sealer(hd6600mma, ultimate sealer system, etc....) will reveal much more color than a densifier will. We love densifiers but not a huge fan over reactive stain.

Try a sample kit to experiment with prior to going great guns.




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[gtae07]

Update:

Now that I'm nearly dried in, it's time to line up the floor options. I've decided to go with densifying/sealing over paint/epoxy because the concrete is light enough on its own. I do have a couple remaining questions:

The finish is hand-troweled, so not perfectly level but pretty close. It's smoother than a driveway but maybe comparable to 150-200 grit sandpaper. There are also a bunch of little places where leaves got troweled in and then later spalled out. I'd like to clean this up to some extent, and run a diamabrush over everything before moving in. Also note, the concrete seems rather soft compared to my driveway and attached garage, but I haven't quantified that.

Questions:

Should I fill the leaf marks before diamabrush, or will that take care of most of them and I can fix the remainder?

Should the grinding take place before or after densifying?

Which densifier/sealer combo would be appropriate for chemical/water resistance?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

You don't want to grind prior to a densifier. That is way overkill.

We have an easy to use sealer with high chem and wear resistance. Nohr-S Polyurea.



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[shantz]

Can flake be added to Rust Bullet concrete paint?

 

[gtae07]

You don't want to grind prior to a densifier. That is way overkill.

We have an easy to use sealer with high chem and wear resistance. Nohr-S Polyurea.

So, apply densifier (eg HD37), then use the diamabrush? Will that take care of the leaf marks?

The polyurea sounds good but I'd rather not have glossy finish and it's a little pricey. Perhaps HD6600?

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Yes that's fine but you can omit the densifier. Yes the grind will take care of the leaf marks.


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[Garage Flooring]

Update:

Now that I'm nearly dried in, it's time to line up the floor options. I've decided to go with densifying/sealing over paint/epoxy because the concrete is light enough on its own. I do have a couple remaining questions:

The finish is hand-troweled, so not perfectly level but pretty close. It's smoother than a driveway but maybe comparable to 150-200 grit sandpaper. There are also a bunch of little places where leaves got troweled in and then later spalled out. I'd like to clean this up to some extent, and run a diamabrush over everything before moving in. Also note, the concrete seems rather soft compared to my driveway and attached garage, but I haven't quantified that.

Questions:

Should I fill the leaf marks before diamabrush, or will that take care of most of them and I can fix the remainder?

Should the grinding take place before or after densifying?

Which densifier/sealer combo would be appropriate for chemical/water resistance?

Feel free to give me a call on the mobile 970-773-3467. Today is Colorado's ride to work day and I live a bit away so I will be unavailable for an hour or so this am, but otherwise I am happy to help.