Here's my gripe

[shedkept]

Here's my gripe about epoxy floors. I've had mine done once professionally and once by me. Here's what you get after a year or so of use.

Expoxy + Urethane top coat did no better.

Because of this I have no plans to do the floor in my other garage. It's a 64x36 with all the bells and whistles. Right now it has a low VOC acrylic coating that has worked really well for dust and resists oil. I'm using a bunch of high bay CFL's that make enough light to wear sunglasses!

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[garage_man]

what about a polyurea floor system? i used Rock Solids DIY kit and havent had any issues like that or any others, i think they are giving some of their new product away right now even! Owners username is www.rocksolidfloors.com, its on here somewhere

 

[vrog]

What is the problem?

Tire marks I assume? What are you using to clean the floor, this is very important in maintaining you floor.

 

[shedkept]

I don't use anything stronger than Simple Green. These stains are not coming out as Acetone or any type of reducer like lacquer thinner have no effect.

Unless someone can guarantee the results I'm sticking with plain old concrete.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Gary S]

I'd never put epoxy or any other coating on my garage floor. I much prefer a nice smooth concrete finish. It is more durable and less slippery in the cold with just the simple concrete.

Epoxy coating is just for show, and my garage is for work.

 

[reyna14]

The great thing about my plain concrete floor is that I can not give a **** about what happens to it.

 

[shedkept]

Gary S/ reyna14:

Couldn't agree more. After the experience with the floor in the pictures garage I have serious doubts about coating floors with anything but a sealer. That's what we did in the barn/garage shown in the photo with the lift.

Thanks.

 

[Dragster Racer]

I'm not an epoxy guy either. What do you guys do when you have oil that has soaked into the concrete and leaves kind of a cracking stain. Hope that makes sense, but it highlights the cracks that weren't visible before the oil. What is the easiest way to draw out the oil? Surface feels clean. I want to reseal, but need to get it looking good first.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

Get your buffer out !

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

what about a polyurea floor system? i used Rock Solids DIY kit and havent had any issues like that or any others, i think they are giving some of their new product away right now even! Owners username is www.rocksolidfloors.com, its on here somewhere

Garage Man do you work for RockSolid? I think you do.

You have been running around this site throwing comments out about every epoxy manufacturer and plugging RockSolid.

We get it. RockSolid is the best and everything else *****. We're all going to run out and get some tomorrow and a year from now when then UV inhibitor you add to your poly-urea fails we'll all have piss yellow floors.

Now give it a rest man.

 

[hidollartoys]

I have been in the industrial/commercial game for almost 30 years. I have seen and used just about every type of concrete floor finish out there in office to heavy fab applications. The simplest way to say this is....Once you paint/seal/coat/stain/etc you will always have to re-paint/seal/coat/stain/etc. It is just a "matter of time".

Stain is the best for concrete because is penetrates the surface. ANY surface applied product will wear according to the use. I am not debating the quality of ANY floor coating system, just posting my experience. I am sure someone will point to prep and application but I have had these systems installed by the suppliers with there "certified" crews and experienced failure at all levels. In hard application use such as steel fabrication/ sheet metal there is NO floor coating that will stand up over the long haul. If you are in a light use area, even high traffic your experience will be directly related to the $$$$$$ you spend.

I love the look of a finished/coated floor but there are limitations. Nothing is forever.

 

[dcs Inc]

There are good epoxies and there a crappy ones. Solids contents "can" tell you something but what some manufactures are doing is counting the fillers they mix into the epoxy as solids. If it smells of a solvent then more than likely it has been 'stretched' a little. Of course the water based epoxies are less than stellar in longevity compared to the solvent based ones.

As far as UV inhibitors, some have them some don't. If you have direct sunlight, even the high dollar epoxies with UV resistant additives will start to yellow. As with anything, you get what you pay for.

Prep is the biggest issue on failures, (besides the cheap box store epoxies). I only work with 100% solids epoxy.

I happen to be an Elite Crete Systems product distributor and only offering information. You have to be trained and certified to use our products. (that cuts down on the application errors)

ALL epoxies will show scratches. Urethanes are a good top coat as they have a harder matrix and more difficult to scratch. Of course once again, there are good urethanes and crappy ones. Chemical resistance is across the board on different products and the quality of each.

As you work up the ladder (in quality/longevity) Polyureas and Polyaspartics come to mind. Harder to work with and of course, more expensive.

Another option is polished concrete. It can be colored and the surface is densified through the polishing process which can be brought up to a mirror finish.

 

[dcs Inc]

Here's my gripe about epoxy floors. I've had mine done once professionally and once by me. Here's what you get after a year or so of use.

Expoxy + Urethane top coat did no better.

Because of this I have no plans to do the floor in my other garage. It's a 64x36 with all the bells and whistles. Right now it has a low VOC acrylic coating that has worked really well for dust and resists oil. I'm using a bunch of high bay CFL's that make enough light to wear sunglasses!

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks!

Hey shedkept, looks like hot tire marks. Graffiti remover or even brake cleaner should remove these. Test a small area first as I don't know the quality of the products installed.

 

[ThatsWhatSheSaid]

Legacy, ill post this here to just to make sure you see it.


Legacy, what the hell is your problem, you are on every post telling people i work for rock solid and that i am slandering your product! i came on here to help people and learn more about what people are doing with their garages, i am a general contractor here in mn, we build and remodel great homes, check out my posts, i hopefully have already helped a few people with their projects,

all you are doing on here is selling Epoxy-coat, and there are many people on here who say they have had problems with it,

sorry i had the guts to say something good about one of your competitors that you are obviously worried about, i used their product after much research, and spent a lot of money on it, and i love it, of course i am gonna get on here and look for other people that have used it and see how they liked it.

You need to go pitch your products like everyone else, at the store, or from your email list and quit harassing members of this forum for your benefit.

How much is epoxy-coat and christine paying you to spend all day on this forum pimping their product and telling everyone how good it is when obviously it has its limitations. maybe i should call rock solid and spend my day bashing you guys on here, maybe they will pay me or give me some free ****.

I don't really have a problem with anyone posting up a product that offers a solution to my problem, so I dont mind if you even work for the company. I just don't understand why you (legacy) are going after garageman for this when you do it as well. Anyone that posts is giving an idea of whats out there but the time that this kind of post really kind of bugged me was in this post ( http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80495 when you put down someones work to offer up epoxy-coat. Its your post #11. I know you said no offense but If I was spekterg35, I would have taken offense. I wouldn't have minded if you posted for epoxy coat in this situation but I think it was the way you did it. I guess what I'm saying is I just didn't like how that post came across but I may be the only one that sees it that way. Anyways just don't call people out on something you do as well. I'm not trying to attack anyone just giving my two cents.

 

[Cruzin90]

Well, if you go with a polyaspartic (polyurea) and a few years later you think you need to recoat it. All you have to do is:
1. Clean it (soap and water).
2. Scuff with 80 grit.
3. Apply a new coat.

No hot tire marks and no fading with a polyaspartic.

A polyaspartic is EASY to work with!

 

[Hammerdown]

Well, if you go with a polyaspartic (polyurea) and a few years later you think you need to recoat it. All you have to do is:
1. Clean it (soap and water).
2. Scuff with 80 grit.
3. Apply a new coat.

Good advice, this is pretty much standard procedure for re-coating any epoxy or coating system. Sanding it will give it some "tooth" for the new coating to "bite" into and mechanically bond to.

 

[vrog]

I think what everyone is missing is the age old saying " you get what you pay for ".

I dont understand how people expect miracles out of a thin mil coating on their garage floors. Granted, 90% of the people on this forum only use thier garage as a showcase for thier prized posessions, car, bike etc etc.

The fact of the matter is this, you can't expect a $300 product to last a lifetime and hold up to chemical attacks, wear and tear, welding slag and scrapes I could go on and on. Like anything else there is a product that will work in the environment that you have.

Whether its epoxy, urethane, polyurea you have to make a decision as to what its actually worth to you. Its been said time and time again on this forum, prep is the most important part of a successful install. 9 out of 10 times its not the product that failed its the person/people who are installing it. I dont care who's product you decide to use, as long as it is the right product for your floor and the prep is done correctly, installed by a qualified installer or company it will last you a long time and you will be satisfied with it.

Installing a seamless floor is one side of it, the other is maintaining it. They go hand in hand. Sorry for the long rant................


dcs Inc good post!

 

[JD in DFW]

Garage Man do you work for RockSolid? I think you do.

You have been running around this site throwing comments out about every epoxy manufacturer and plugging RockSolid.

We get it. RockSolid is the best and everything else *****. We're all going to run out and get some tomorrow and a year from now when then UV inhibitor you add to your poly-urea fails we'll all have piss yellow floors.

Now give it a rest man.

All I can say is wow!
Who's calling the kettle black here??

 

[ambenz]

I have been looking at "ALL" of the epoxy flooring threads, trying to decide if my idea of industrail vinyl checkered floor tile might be a better alternative.
I can strip it when dirty and rewax it when dirty using a buffer.
If it wears too bad, I can peel up the tile and return the floor to orginal concrete or replace the tile.
It's less expensive than racedeck.
How come no one is recommending floor tile?

 

[rugerlady]

Wow, I guess I sure missed alot being gone for a week. Scotty, I do appreciate the props! Sorry guys, he is not getting kickbacks from me.

 

[MBfreak]

Hi to all.

I have a 25x25 feet garage. When I bought the house the garage floor was painted concrete , and impossible to keep dustfree. Spent a weekend with a tungsten carbide big floor grinder and a equally large vacuum attached to it. Brought back the raw concrete , no paint left. A buddy of mine the covered the floor with ceramic floortiles. That is his day job, so it went fast, and the result is an abolutely level floor. The tiles were cheap , total cost excluding labor was less that US$ 900. Labor was free.
It is true that an oil spill will stain the sealer between the tiles, otherwise the floor is next to impossible to damage. Should i drop somethin really heavy, it is posible to chisel out the damaged tile and replace, result is invisible.

The car is a GT40 replica, having work done to the starter and gearbox.

Best regards

Ola


Ola

 

[97Tahoe]

No problems with my cheapo box store solvent based epoxy in the 3 years I've had mine down. Other than the marks from ME doing a burnout.no flaking ,peeling .or bubbling.

 

[jmh21586]

My wolverine floor has a couple tire marks like that on it. The tires werent hot either.

 

[rwhite692]

I have been looking at "ALL" of the epoxy flooring threads, trying to decide if my idea of industrail vinyl checkered floor tile might be a better alternative.
I can strip it when dirty and rewax it when dirty using a buffer.
If it wears too bad, I can peel up the tile and return the floor to orginal concrete or replace the tile.
It's less expensive than racedeck.
How come no one is recommending floor tile?

I have less than 300 bucks in the VCT tile floor of my 24x36. If you watch craigslist you will see VCT tile turn up all the time. I like it for all the reasons that you mention.

Some pics in this thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16310&page=6

 

[shedkept]

A lot of water under the bridge!

I've been busy installing heat this week so no time to post. Great ideas like the
B&W tiles and "ceramic tile" garage are appreciated.


Keep it coming!

 

[cowboyjosh]

I think its safe to say that pretty much any finished floor in a garage is going to be a maintenance issue and a ***** to keep clean, doesn't matter if you have epoxy, Race Deck, Vinyl, or Ceramic.

 

[97Tahoe]

A coated floor stays much cleaner than bare concrete

 

[thelews]

In my opinion, nothing beats epoxy slurry from a professional.

http://www.cmscmr.com/cms_color.asp Click on the various tabs/links.

I have it in both my garages and it's great. It's been down 6 years now with no issues. I had done my daily garage three times with a paint on epoxy and it showed what you did and more (lifting from hot tires) every time.

BTW, nice car!