Garage Floor Coating so confused

[underpressure02]

Hello all. I joined this forum a little bit ago and been reading a lot about coating my floor. I had a 40x40 garage built last sept and wanted to give it some time to complete everything inside the garage. I am now done and ready to coat the floors.

Originally I was going to go with UCoat It because they always have a show special at PRI show. Then last year I spoke to the guys at Rocksolid floors and was pretty set on going with that company based on price and their sales pitch. After reading a lot of threads on this forum it looks like Rocksolid isn't the best or easiest way to go. This will be my first time ever coating a floor and what I have been reading is that it isn't very user friendly and not the best idea for a first timer. I know the UCoat is pretty expensive and I have read some people having problems with it lifting. I am unsure if that is because the floor wasn't prepped properly or there was oil.

I currently use one bay of my garage to work on anything from small cars to heavy trucks. I do mig and tig weld sometimes when the cars are on the lift (exhaust and other things). Also clean the undercarriages of the cars with brake clean, kero and other solvents. The other two bays I just store cars in, so the only wear and tear those would get would be pulling cars in and turning and then being parked for long periods of time.

I would like something that would obviously hold up well under those conditions and something that I can do once and be done with and not have issues a few years down the road.

With that being said is there a product that members on here would recommend?

Let me know. TIA.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Nothing will handle the welding (grinding is worse).
If you need to weld, cover up or choose a darker color floor with flakes to hide the discoloration from the welding.

Typically, pro-automotive shops will apply a double quartz broadcast. Epoxy/silica sand to rejection, Epoxy, Silica Sand to rejection, epoxy and then a urethane topcoat. It is involved but holds up well to abuse.

A lower cost alternative would be a tri-coat system. Primer, Epoxy base coat with or w/o flakes, clear sealer of urethane or PAP (polyaspartic or polyurea).

 

[dealingdave]

Don't be cheap like me. I thought I could get buy with $400 worth of Rock Solid and now I am planning on stripping it entirely off this weekend (864 Square Feet). For me the number should have been $1300 or so for a decent epoxy system. Watch for me posting some pictures of the stripping and ask yourself, do you want to end up doing that?

My new rule is don't buy liquids that come in a box especially wine and epoxy coating systems.

I just met with a local installer and he wanted to sell the full broadcast quartz system. I did not care for it due to feeling pretty sharp. It did look good and I could see it in an industrial system, where people are standing all day. $3800 and this did not include a urethane top coat. I was not too hot on the chance that it would start to yellow.

Do some phone calling. Legacy, Wolverine or Epoxy-Coat. Listen to what they have to say and then balance it out with what you read from other users who actually put the product down. Wolverine and Legacy are pretty close in price.

 

[Shea]

Definitely go with a multiple coat system as Legacy Industrial suggested. I would recommend a polyurethane top coat or polyurea/polyaspartic over an epoxy top coat. You will get the better abrasion resistance and chemical resistance from these.

The color flake media and especially the quartz broadcast really help to increase impact resistance as well. Small loose nuts, cotter pins, and etc. are harder to find on the floor with the color flake however.