Garage Flooring Truth

[garagegreco]

Hi,

I am torn between some flooring options. I am in Florida. 390sq feet



I have had 2 presentations:

First:
$2,300.00 - 1 Day
1) Diamond Grinding & Prepping
2) Repair. Cracks repaired with industrial grade 100% Solids Epoxy Instant Patch Filler. Product = SIMIRON 1100SL
3) Apply 100% SIMIRON Solids MVB (Moisture Vapor Barrier) Epoxy Base Coat. MVB Epoxy will withstand 12-14lbs of hydraulic pressure. Florida is known for seasonal moisture issues that occur. A Moisture Vapor Barrier as a primer is HIGHLY recommended in order to prevent stains of moisture underneath the coating.
4) Full Flake
5) Scrape
6) Polyaspartic top coat - Simiron Polyaspartic HS
* All outdoor areas coated include an additive of Aluminum Oxide for enhanced "Anti Slip" Resistance*
7)15 year warranty

$2,700.00 - 2 Day- claim MVB makes it a 2 day project
1) Diamond Grinding & Prepping
2) Repair.
3) Apply MVB
4) Polyurea Base/Primer
5) Full Flake
7) Polyaspartic top coat
8)Lifetime warranty

First guy is saying 1 day is fine. second guy is saying MVB always requires 2 days. One can start next week. Two needs a month because of the 2 day issue. Two is also saying polyurea base is better.

 

[andyvh1959]

A coated garage floor would be nice. My wife thinks its a great idea. My tri-level 1973 house has a 2-car attached garage with a LOT of stuff stored in it. I saw one quote to have the concrete prepped and coated for $5000!! Nice but I don't see the value in it just to park cars in there. Maybe just before we sell the house I might consider it. But right now? Nope.

 

[DGersic]

While I may envy the beauty of a coated floor, my 1940s vintage concrete floor is free and doesn’t mind when I drop something on it or spill something. I work in my garage, so I’d always be worried I might damage the pretty floor. Reading some of the floor horror threads has not helped.

To each their own, of course. Your mileage may vary. Contents may settle in shipping. Void where prohibited by law.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Relevant question that I don't see asked a lot on here. Regarding warranty, and not meant to be cynical, but do you actually expect either of them to be in business in 5, 10 or 15 years? Is a "lifetime warranty" backed by the manufacturer or are you screwed if the particular installer that applied it goes **** up? If they blame each other for a **** job, are you left holding the bag with no recourse?

 

[MJK]

You are buying the reputation of the company / owner. Forget the $400 difference. Who do you trust more?

From your description, #2 sounds more likely to earn my business.

 

[M.Wong]

We don't have high humidity but it's damp eight or nine months a year. I got several bids in 2021 that ranged from $5 to $8 a square foot. Ended up happy with the company I selected at about $5.50 - They did the diamond grinding, crack repairs, then this is what he described:

"We use a nine-pound water vapor barrier epoxy as the basecoat. Many basecoats only hold back three pounds (we used to use those) and this means our coatings will hold back nine pounds of water vapor per 1000 square feet per 72 hours. We spread chips to the point of refusal, so there will be no bare spots. For the topcoat we use a polyaspartic with a Tabor reading, ASTM 4060 of a 12 milligram loss. This means that during wearability testing our polyaspartics only lose 12 mg of coating weight whereas most polyaspartics lose about twice that much.”

His explanations were appreciated though a bit more technical than I needed. He provided manufacturers' spec sheets for the products he used in case I wanted to make comparisons with other bids. He had been in the business ten years, and his office manager had six years there.

They are still around today, and I agree with "gatewaysysop" and "MJK" - The warranty is only good if the company is still around, and you want to go with someone who you trust.


Grinding done, crack repair stage:


Finished in one day with a few hours break in the middle of the project:



Condition after three years... Tire marks and a couple small (1/2" or smaller) blemishes in the finish, but otherwise still very good. The small door space is the vehicle that gets used most often. I don't clean more aggressively than a sponge mop and some Simple Green.

 

[HogDude]

Or.... Race Deck Free Flow. Allows the water (Florida) to drain. Colors/Patterns are amazing and some on here have absolutely crushed it in design. They are on this site and I think they still offer 10% to GJ members. Not sure of today's pricing but for the sq ft it would likely be less.