Honesty. On long term flooring epoxy or other. Question.

[sixty4]

Ok not trying to start a riot here, but I do have a question. Eight years ago I put down a Rocksolid Polyurea floor in my house garage. It has held up ok, however I do have a spot that has lifted due to my darling bride turning her steering wheel when she pulls into the garage. When we did this floor we used a diamond grinder and did entire floor. It was 100% clean and followed directions to the letter. We even added an extra two coats of clear to protect the floor.

Has anyone put down an epoxy or used a stain that they have had zero problems with?. Speaking today with a person who does garage floors for high end dealerships he told me told unless you plan on redoing the floor every 10 years just have it polished really well when pouring the cement or tile it. Is this true?
I ask because I have a 40x30 outter garage that I want to do and will see more action than the floor I mentioned that we did several years ago? Thanks for all responses.

 

[Angelfire]

Search this sub-forum as there are many posts on this very question. You'll find there to be an awful lot of opinions on all the flooring options. After having read as much as I could, and applying some thinking with regards to my own situation, I'm putting down porcelain.

 

[macdabs]

Nothing is forever and the abuse a floor takes with temp changes, cars and foot traffic all takes a toll on the surface just like the elements do a car paint job. If you use your garage for welding , grinding ,floor jacks and abuse your wasting your time with high end epoxy systems without a maintenance commitment to refinish every 5 years.

If I had to do it all over again I would have not even bothered with a sealer. The only thing I might have done would be colored concrete in the mix .

Mac

 

[mnavillus]

I'm a fan of the Epoxy flooring. However stay away from prepackaged garage floor kits. Purchase quality products!

Remember over 90% of any Resinous flooring failure is due to the surface preparations.

I can't stress that last point enough!

In my own garage (860SF) I used a 100% solid epoxy with 100% broadcast flake with 2 coats of a "satin" sheen polyurethane. (don't use a high gloss finish) Product I used are not available over the counter!

Floor been down 8 yrs and looks like new!

good luck!

 

[Notgrownup]

If you get it polished It will eventually need to be addresses but it does ok, We have it in our distribution warehouse...it is showing wear after 12 years but we're talking forklift all day long...
I chose acid etch stain , will clear it with epoxy as soon as it warms up enough....clear is clear, no matching anything if I need to fix later... I went with Legacy products.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

This is a testament to using a primer with a quality epoxy base coat.
Flash in the pan, super easy, coating in a bag, magic-bullet, etc... are not long term solutions. I recently toured a factory (eyeglass mfg) that I had coated nearly 20 years ago with epoxy. The floor is still intact, it could use a fresh topcoat but no peeling, cracking, etc...

Do it once, do it right and enjoy a low maintenance, high impact floor.

 

[kd3pc]

What scotty says.

DO the prep, use the correct products.

 

[Shea]

I'm a fan of the Epoxy flooring. However stay away from prepackaged garage floor kits. Purchase quality products!

This is great advice if you want something that is going to last and last long term. 8 years for a RockSolid floor with a couple of hot tire issues is not bad.

As Scotty from Legacy said, use a primer coat with 100% solids base plus a top coat or two of polyurethane or etc will give you a floor that will last at least twice what you got out of your RockSolid floor. You won't develop hot tire issues, your wife can turn her tires without moving, and it will be very hard to scratch down to the color coat. Once the top coat does start showing its age, it's easy enough to rough it up and apply another top coat to make it look brand new again.

 

[sixty4]

This is a testament to using a primer with a quality epoxy base coat.
Flash in the pan, super easy, coating in a bag, magic-bullet, etc... are not long term solutions. I recently toured a factory (eyeglass mfg) that I had coated nearly 20 years ago with epoxy. The floor is still intact, it could use a fresh topcoat but no peeling, cracking, etc...

Do it once, do it right and enjoy a low maintenance, high impact floor.

This product changed a lot since doing my installation. This product did in fact have a primer base back when I put it down. Maybe they were bought out (seems like Rustoleum has a hand in the product now). and now sold for the home centers?
Any pictures of the floor your speaking about and what kind of traffic (fork lifts, rolling carts etc)? I have a rather large outer garage that will see more work traffic that I am thinking about doing.
This is 8 years ago.

 

[sixty4]

ame floor today...

Not sure I would call it a "flash in the pan type floor" by any means. I did not start the thread to po po anyones products just to get long term opinions on how they really have held up before I do my other outter garage.

 

[BeachBoy]

The only way the floor will stay the same as day 1 would be porcelain.

I doubt any coating can stay as day 1 over decades.

 

[shaun oriold1]

Another top coat will make it brand new again. Especially if you sprinkle a few flake into it. I tell my customers to expect 10 years out of the floor. I know it will last longer, but for a looks thing, there is a limit.

Same goes with anything. Even tile. Grout joints will get gross over time. Tiles mine chip etc. I move into a new house next month, and its epoxy all the way!

 

[BeachBoy]

Yes its true grit joint can get dirty.

But tile breaking is a myth, many tests shows you can bang them and they won't break unless they are really badly installed.

 

[2slow]

In talking to those I know, and my experiences at work. Mist high quality epoxy jobs last about 10 years before there are enough little problem areas to start thinking about a redcoat. That is the reason I did prcelain tile in my shop. Slightly more expensive, easy to repair, and when I posted a thread looking for anyone that had a single bad experience over time I found no one.