Flooring: Real World Results?

[mjmbme]

I have watched and read with interest the near constant flow of questions and information about garage floorings. It certainly seems this is a high priority for all of us to achieve a good looking durable appearance.

So I think it would be a valuable tool for us to post in one thread what product we used, how old it is now and how has it held up so far...the real deal on floors. Obviously the older and more used the better, since there is likely to be more wear and tear than one say only 3 months old. But everyone can contribute regardless.

Please post a picture too, possibly even a freshly floored and then a current one for comparison.

Some of you may recall my attempt and although it is pretty it is definitely not for a working floor. Maybe we can help others avoid that! If only I had found this BEFORE I coated my floor!

 

[mjmbme]

PRODUCT:SUPER DIAMOND CLEAR
RECOMMENDATION:NOT FOR WORKING AUTOMOTIVE OR MECHANICAL TYPE FLOORS. Probably ok elsewhere with no chemical exposure
My floor is a little over 2 years old. I specifically told the concrete supplier that this would be a working garage as in motorcycles, lawn mowers, etc and they recommended SUPER DIAMOND CLEAR. It was about $120.00 for a 5 gallon pail.
This was a brand new unused (I barely even allowed any foot traffic) 30 day old beautiful white floor.
I applied as directed on the can and it was beautiful! Smooth and glossy super white reflectivity etc...
Imagine my dissapointment when I went to wipe up the first drops of an oil spill and the rag stuck to the floor. Most chemicals will cut this, so I'd only use it for walkways, pool decks, etc...places where carb cleaner and motor oils are not likely to be encountered.
It is an acrylic substance and I have found most epoxys and paints will require its removal before they can be applied so I have just been living with it.

 

[mike944]

Sherwin Willams Armorseal 1000HS (2 coats) with shark-grip additive

About 1.5 years old. Held up pretty well, I'm pretty happy with it. No damage from all chemicals that i've used so far. Some small chips from dropped heavy tools. No damage from dropped small tools. Lots of small burn marks in one area from MIG welding spatter, but that's my own stupid mistake. My only complaint, it gets dirty in the heavy traffic areas. It does hide the dirt pretty well, but one wipe of a solvent-coated rag to clean up a spill or whatever, leaves a nice clean spot that doesn't match the rest of the floor anymore. Cleaning the rest to make it all match isn't easy. Usually i have to scrub the entire floor with chemicals to get it really clean. Water-based cleaners only work mediocre at best. There is about a 1" long strip of the floor that's outside the garage door, and it's starting to yellow a bit from the exposure, but it's pretty small color change.

 

[mjmbme]

Thanks!
Thats the kind of results I hope this thread will share. Real experience. I hope to have the time to post a few pics of my floor/stains this weekend.

About the hard to clean part.
We had an epoxy flooring done at work, commercial auto garage. It was easy to mop and squegee and generally keep clean.
About 15 years later we had it removed and reapplied with the newest formula with the traction grit/sharkbite/whatever.

It was then very hard to keep clean. My theory is that the dirt gets broken down into smaller particles on the coarse sand/grit and then hides below it.
Brooms and mops just get the surface.

We ended up getting a commercial scrubber, looks like a walk behind zambonie with two huge rotating brushes. It does the job, but was MEGA-BUCKS.