Garage Stem Walls - What to do

[rigore]

I read the thread regarding m237b's request for help but I have not begun any painting yet and did not want to jack his thread up.

I am in the process of updating/sprucing and painting my garage and the floor. I have a couple of questions about the stem walls.

Do I have to seal the seam between the floor and stem wall?

Can I just Epoxy the stem walls? Thats what I had planned on doing.

I am pretty sure I am going to order the Legacy product and the kit will yield me 600 square feet and I only have 400 square feet of floor. I am leaning toward acid etching the floor versus grinding.

I have added some pictures to show the stem walls.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Baada]

There is at least one member who epoxied his stem wall successfully but I can't remember who that was? You can seal the seam before epoxy but it will likely crack the epoxy...which really isn't a big deal. I sealed the seam between my basement floor and concrete walls and it cracked during a few heating cooling cycles but it still looks great.

 

[JD in DFW]

Yes coat the stem wall just as the floor, will look lame other wise. You can also do it in a different color, like black and kind of have a border look. Don't leave it plain...it will look like ****.

Don't go cheap/easy on the prep...rent a grinder and do it right. You cheap out/go easy on the prep and I can almost bet ya it will come back to bite you in the *** later with the floor failing in areas and popping up in others.

If your going to do something...do it right the first time so you don't have to turn around and do it again later..Dad said this many times...I figured out some years later in my early adult life.

Not trying to bust your balls here, just giving my .02

 

[rigore]

I agree and pop's told me the same thing. So forget the acid etch and rent the grinder.

 

[argulator]

I'm in the middle of my floor project, but rather than trying to epoxy the walls at the same time as the floor, I used the Supercoat stuff from Sam's Club for the walls. I'm doing a full broadcast of chips so color matching isn't so much of a issue. Even so, it was pretty difficult to get good chip coverage on the verticals. It would be harder to do a lighter coverage.

If you're not doing any chips, it should be easy to do the walls at the same time as the floor.

I used the Rustoleum Epoxy Shield Patch to seal the chime. I don't know how it will hold up, but it will have to crack pretty good to be visible by the time I chip the floor.

 

[rigore]

Looks nice! ^^^

I think I am going to use the Drylok Grey and if I don't like the color I will paint with enamel to match the floors. Compared to the mess it is/was when I bought the house anything will be an improvement.

 

[BabaGanoosh]

Rigore: I am in a similar situation as you. I was originally leaning toward acid wash and Legacy Sealer but decided to go the full nine yards with epoxy. I found grinding the flor to be work, but pretty gratifying actually. I used a 7 inch diamabrush. It all depends what your goals are, how much $$ and time you want to spend and what you enjoy. Speaking for myself, I certaingly don't NEED a shiny garage floor, but I like the project and decided to give it the best shot possible to succedd with the steps: Grind floor > Primer > Epoxy > Urethane Sealer. Good luck with yours, and please keep posting as you go.

 

[FFPL]

this is one I did a number of years ago for my neighbor. It took me quite a while to grind the walls as flat as I could and we got the effect that he wanted. Still looks great http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20542

 

[BabaGanoosh]

this is one I did a number of years ago for my neighbor. It took me quite a while to grind the walls as flat as I could and we got the effect that he wanted. Still looks great http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20542

FFPL: I read your post above on your friends garage. I am about to do my garage with Legacy products and have a few questions if you don't mind:

1) What type of grinding wheel did you use? Was it a cup wheel or a diamabrush? 2) Did you just role the primer, epoxy and sealer on the walls as if it were the floor? I thought the products would run down a vertical surface, but I guess not? 3) I have 40 year old rusted grates on my drainage channel. Cleaning them would be outrageous. I see you coated clean metal, but do you think the primer and epoxy would bond to rusted metal?

Thanks again. Great work and I will post my story when i get done.

 

[benwah]

Since no one has responded to this yet.

3) I have 40 year old rusted grates on my drainage channel. Cleaning them would be outrageous. I see you coated clean metal, but do you think the primer and epoxy would bond to rusted metal?

No. That is a bad idea. The coating will only marginally bond to the rust, which is no longer bonded to the steel. The system will fail. You should remove all rust before coating.

 

[BabaGanoosh]

Thanks, Benwah.

 

[FFPL]

FFPL: I read your post above on your friends garage. I am about to do my garage with Legacy products and have a few questions if you don't mind:

1) What type of grinding wheel did you use? Was it a cup wheel or a diamabrush? 2) Did you just role the primer, epoxy and sealer on the walls as if it were the floor? I thought the products would run down a vertical surface, but I guess not? 3) I have 40 year old rusted grates on my drainage channel. Cleaning them would be outrageous. I see you coated clean metal, but do you think the primer and epoxy would bond to rusted metal?

Thanks again. Great work and I will post my story when i get done.

The grinder wheel was the bosch DC510.

Wolverine gave me a thickener to add to the epoxy. I first used it in my garage on the stem walls http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13347&page=2

I just rolled on the epoxy like the floor. My helper (neighbor) followed with a brush to make sure any missed holes were filled with epoxy. It's a little more difficult to get the flakes to stick so you need to do smaller sections at a time.
The drain grates were first blasted and there was no rust. The epoxy stuck extremely well. I think they use this stuff for tank lining as well. I'm not sure I would put it on rusty grates.

Its a fun process but it takes quite a bit of work. Definitely worth it in the end though