Help picking floor color and layout

[Wileel]

First, I have been lurking for a long time now and I would like to say thanks to all who post here!

As an introduction... I bought my house about 5 months ago and have spent most of that time window shopping and planning my shop layout. I have an unusual job where I deploy 4m on/off so I have time to "build" and plan the last 3 months, this is good and bad...y'all can be a bad influence...lol

Ok, the place has a detached double that will be my shop. Its roughly 24x28 and is semi-finished. I am a car guy so I will be using this shop from engine work to brakes. Have a giant project list for when I get home to finish it (I'll start a thread and post the progress when I get back) but would love some help if anyone wants to get involved.

First is the floor. I plan to epoxy coat the floor (flake till rejection) and would love people to post pictures of their floors with what colors and flake blend they used. I know there are a ton of picts around but it is hard to find what was used to get the result in the photo's. That would make a great thread on its own! Right now I'm leaning towards grey base and one of the basic grey ish flake blends..

Second is layout. I'll upload a sketch-up shot of what I have and would be interested in ideas where to put stuff t get the best use of space.

Sorry so long but thanks in advance!!

Chris

 

[Garage Flooring]

First, I have been lurking for a long time now and I would like to say thanks to all who post here!

As an introduction... I bought my house about 5 months ago and have spent most of that time window shopping and planning my shop layout. I have an unusual job where I deploy 4m on/off so I have time to "build" and plan the last 3 months, this is good and bad...y'all can be a bad influence...lol

Ok, the place has a detached double that will be my shop. Its roughly 24x28 and is semi-finished. I am a car guy so I will be using this shop from engine work to brakes. Have a giant project list for when I get home to finish it (I'll start a thread and post the progress when I get back) but would love some help if anyone wants to get involved.

First is the floor. I plan to epoxy coat the floor (flake till rejection) and would love people to post pictures of their floors with what colors and flake blend they used. I know there are a ton of picts around but it is hard to find what was used to get the result in the photo's. That would make a great thread on its own! Right now I'm leaning towards grey base and one of the basic grey ish flake blends..

Second is layout. I'll upload a sketch-up shot of what I have and would be interested in ideas where to put stuff t get the best use of space.

Sorry so long but thanks in advance!!

Chris

I really love B-411 1/8" flake for full broadcast. This was aa Rust Bullet project http://www.garageflooringllc.com/2015/04/23/full-broadcast-rust-bullet-garage-floor-coating-project/

 

[K13]

I love the look of full broadcast but how difficult does it make it trying to find stuff you drop on the floor? I have a hard enough time on a plain concrete floor half the time I can't imagine what it would be like with flake.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

We supply excellent flake samples, check us out or give a jingle.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi, the possibilities are endless. We do tons of full flake floors. Our thoughts...

1. The 1/8" are better to use since because they are smaller the 'overlapping', of the flecks is minimized and the floor requires less sanding to make it smoother prior to coating the flecks. Using larger flecks requires more work to knock off the high spots and also creates much larger of the millions of gaps due to overlapping.

2. As for colors there are so many combos and we can direct you to some excellent online 'fleck mixers' so you can visualize the floor.

3. Due to the floor becoming a 'sponge' from the overlapping flecks we strongly encourage putting a coat of 100% solids clear epoxy on before topcoating. This will give an amazing floor.

We carry all of the above, email us for more info. Thanks!

 

[Wileel]

Thanks for help so far, hopefully others will post in here as well. As I look around more and more I see some companies recommending two clears over the broadcast and some just one. I had been planning on using the Epoxy Coat system based on results here, reviews and cost... however I am open to options and other systems.

Im intrigued about the 1/4 vs 1/8 fleck for full broadcast...does anyone have side by side picts?
I do plan on adding clear as the top coat, and I can see how that will help bed the flakes to add thickness and resilience...are there any advantages besides the obvious for adding additional clear vs more base coat?

One more question for the suppliers here. My shop is 672sq ft, most of the kits are designed for either way more or under for the coverage I need. Maybe a dumb question but what kind of plus/minus is built into the coverage. Should you try and stretch it or get more material and lay it thicker

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi,
Just to clarify when we recommend clear for a full broadcast what we recommend is putting two layers of clear on top of the full broadcast flecks (after you have sanded and vacuumed them).

The first layer should be a 100% solids non yellowing/uv stable clear epoxy, and then a coat of clear urethane protective topcoat.

The reason for this is that topcoat is not very thick and won't do much 'filling' of the voids left by the overlapping flecks (imagine if you through thousands of playing cards on the floor, the gaps caused by the overlapping would be impossible to fill with topcoat alone). The voids are made much larger by using 1/4" vs 1/8".

If you want we can create a kit for your exact size floor since this is a custom job anyway so you won't need to go thick/thin, please call or email us directly for info/pricing etc. Thank you!

 

[EdT]

Regardless of the flake size and density, you need to think about the kind of work you're going to be doing in your shop space and how you're going to feel about dings, nicks, divots, burns, scrapes etc. on your floor because they will happen if you're actually doing work. If you're OK with that; great. If it's just a place to hang out and have a couple of beers with the guys while you wax your car, that's different. Another thing I observed personally in a staging area at work with an epoxy floor is that it was slippery as hell especially if it had any sawdust on it. I imagine that there are things you can do to reduce that problem, but it's something to be aware of.

 

[Wileel]

I will be actually working and welding in the shop, so I fully expect to accumulate dings and such, that's one of the reasons for laying full broadcast...I feel like it should camouflage minor bumps and bruises. I do have some concerns about dragging a jack back and forth across it as well as jack stands but I've got some ideas to reduce that damage.

Armorpoxy; I get the need for the two coats and just now realized you use an epoxy clear as the base clear then the urethane on top for UV and additional protection. I'll draft you an email soon to see what I would be looking at for costs

Legacy; I sent you an email, sorry about the questions... . I can see any options for full broadcast of flakes on the site

 

[Armorpoxy]

Due to the high cost and significant amount of materials we don't sell a lot of full broadcast as the costs seems to scare a lot of people away we will be happy to put a package together for you based upon your needs just contact us directly with the size and what you want and well get you a quote. You are correct that a full broadcast will do a great job of hiding problems. Thanks.


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[Jcourt]

Just did Armorclad this weekend after exhaustive research and planning.
After selecting the product, I spoke with Greg and he was very helpful with the planning and tips for a successful install.
Ordered the master kit with military top coat upgrade and everything went smooth.
Topcoat is drying as I write this.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Looks great! Well done.


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[Wileel]

I have to agree, as I look at all of the companies the cost of raw flake per pound seems outrageous, so I'm not surprised people run the other way. Looking ways to piece meal the materials from different companies to try and save some bucks myself. My shop is 24x28 and I'm having a hard time justifying spending over $2000 on the floor...I most likely will but that's a tough pill to swallow.
Things I know...or at least think I know;
Grind the floor
Use primer
Use 100% solids epoxy. Not sure how these are different between companies...if at all
Don't use epoxy for top coat, so I need a TON of polly for the clear