How to address this pitted floor?

[Hollowellreid]

Here is my little 20x20 garage, I think it was built sometime around the 1940's or so.

Soil is really sandy around here so everything is in good condition. The floor is fairly flat and has no cracks, heaving, or other problems.

However, it looks as if the concrete was mixed way too wet and the excessive bleed water caused the top to pop/spall on a large majority of the floor.

As of now it seems to be pretty solid. No more flaking or wear that I can see.

Basically I use the garage just for storage of a car, a couple motorcycles and maybe do a little woodwork in there. No real mechanical work, welding, fab, etc going on in this garage. Just storage, the family has a large shop to use for in depth work.

It would be nice to have a smoother epoxy finish. Would look much nice and also be easier to clean. As of right now it is so rough that it is a pain to sweep/vacuum up the dirt.

In essence I need to find the best/most affordable way to fill the divots/rough spots in the concrete before epoxy (I think I will probably go with Epoxy-coat, they are based in the state) I could do multiple coats of epoxy, but I think that will be EXPENSIVE.

Could I float a coat of self leveling concrete compound over all of it then epoxy? Would this provide the compression strength for a lasting floor? Any other ideas?

In a perfect world I would float 2-3 layers of epoxy on the floor, first 1 or two to fill the indents, then a final. Can't justify the cost for this place though.

Here are pictures- The spalling/rough areas are probably 60%+ of the floor. Some spots are up to 1" deep, although most less than 2" diameter.

Any assistance appreciated...

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

self-leveling epoxy slurry

 

[Hollowellreid]

So some sort of fine dry bagged silica sand or something of that nature mixed with epoxy?

Do they make a more "basic" epoxy for this type of installation, a "primer" grade per say? One that might not be glossy, smooth, etc. but would work as a good filler?

 

[AlphaGarage]

We offer TrowelEase, a 1000% solids epoxy binder. Mix a 1 gallon kit with 45 lbs of fine, clean, dry sand and apply. It's self priming so it can be applied directly to prepped concrete. It's extremely hard and durable, but has a bit of flexibility, that's one reason why it adheres and doesn't delaminate, unlike a lot of concrete repair products. A one gallon kit will fix 16 ft2 to a depth of 1/4".

 

[munkey]

In a perfect world I would float 2-3 layers of epoxy on the floor, first 1 or two to fill the indents, then a final. Can't justify the cost for this place though.

It sounds to me like you are VASTLY overestimating how thick a typical garage epoxy coating is. Yes, they are thicker than a coat of paint, but not as much as you might think and nowhere near thick enough to even out the types of depressions you have. If I had to guess it would probably take DOZENS of coats of a regular garage coating to even begin leveling out that surface.

IMO you should definitely use a product designed for patching/filling damaged concrete (as mentioned above) before you even think about a top coat. Do not rely on your epoxy topcoat to fill in cracks, etc., and DO assume that whatever texture it has before you add the topcoat is what you're going to end up with.

 

[NUTTSGT]

However, it looks as if the concrete was mixed way too wet and the excessive bleed water caused the top to pop/spall on a large majority of the floor.

It would be nice to have a smoother epoxy finish. Would look much nice and also be easier to clean. As of right now it is so rough that it is a pain to sweep/vacuum up the dirt.

Man oh man do I feel your pain. I had the same problem with my floor, you could sweep it 4 or 5 times and still get a pile of dirt. It's pretty hard on brooms too. Luckily, I am fortunate to have tall ceilings and could pour right on top of the old floor. It did require reframing the door though. That doesn't look to be an option in your case.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Wow.
I just looked at ALL the pics.
You need to pre-fill the really bad areas with a trowel grade epoxy resurfacer.
You don't have to be an expert trowel man if you mix it wet (resin rich).

Once you have all these pockets filled you can apply an epoxy slurry coat, 1/8" thick.

I agree with the previous response, plain old coatings will do nothing for you here.

 

[Not All There]

the floors in my detached garage has a similar pitting issue, believe me, you dont want to just use the epoxy and hope it fills in the imperfections. it will if you use enough of it, but you will be spending tons of extra money on materials because that will dramatically kill the amount of square footage your final coat will cover.

Ill be honest, we ended up using an extra two buckets to get the divots in our floor close to level, because in that particular area we were more worried about sealing the floor, and getting rid of cement dust. The floor being perfectly smooth was not a concern, we use that damaged area just to store vehicles.

Sounds like epoxy resurfacer is the way to go for you.

 

[Hollowellreid]

At that point it's probably the same price for me to hammer out the old concrete and re-pour. Might be less work too with the mini-x and the hammer. I probably pour 1-2k sq. ft of hand finished flatwork every year, so maybe that is the best answer. oh well.

Say 6 yards concrete- $600
Disposal of old- $70
Helper- $150

A bit of fuel, wear, etc. but have all the tools etc. Might need to hire a helper for the day also. Just sounds like a lot of heavy dirty work.

I'm thinking the epoxy to do this would cost at least as much.

Time to get creative....

 

[Not All There]

whatever you do, look into putting some nice aprons on the garage to keep the inside all nice.

 

[REAL HOT SCHITT]

Hi from new zealand.
The cheapest option is to blow of dust and coat with thick mortar then tile with terra cotta or white and black ceramic tile.
We get the stuff here for under 8 bucks n.z a squre meter.

 

[scout57]

the guy above that said remove and replace is RIGHT ON....

 

[thegarageguy]

No need to replace your garage floor when you can resurface! The trick is to use the right products and get the right applicators.

In the North East, your condition is very common. First we would have to check for moisture, if moisture present we would recommend the following;

A self leveling urethane concrete with full chip broadcast and a polyaspartic sealer. Finished floor would be 3/16 inch thick, resistant up 20lbs of gas vapors (epoxy is 3lbs) and tough as nails. Done in 2 days, park it the next!

If no moisture is present, then we would use a good penetrating primer, the pour a sand & flour slurry epoxy mix and add a full broadcast of chips with a polyaspartic sealer. Finished floor would be 3/16 inch thick as well. This is a 3 day install, slower cure system, park your cars 96 hours after final coat.

Here are some examples;

Close up Before

Close up After

Overview

Another project, total garage makeover;

Close up Before

Close up After

Overview Before

Overview After

Or you can do it yourself and end up like this guy

 

[stevens racing]

No need to replace your garage floor when you can resurface! The trick is to use the right products and get the right applicators.

In the North East, your condition is very common. First we would have to check for moisture, if moisture present we would recommend the following;

A self leveling urethane concrete with full chip broadcast and a polyaspartic sealer. Finished floor would be 3/16 inch thick, resistant up 20lbs of gas vapors (epoxy is 3lbs) and tough as nails. Done in 2 days, park it the next!

If no moisture is present, then we would use a good penetrating primer, the pour a sand & flour slurry epoxy mix and add a full broadcast of chips with a polyaspartic sealer. Finished floor would be 3/16 inch thick as well. This is a 3 day install, slower cure system, park your cars 96 hours after final coat.

Would either of these hold up to using a floor jack or jack stands? Or would they crack and break up? How long should anyone expect them to last? Thanks!!

 

[Hollowellreid]

What is the cost per sq. ft for a 3/16" thick coating like that?

Looks great but I'm sure the cost is also. Get what you pay for, I guess..

 

[JustDrive]

Quick Level Floor Leveling compound if youre going to epoxy over it or the Quikcrete Resurfacer if youre not. QuickLevel cant be used as a wearing course. Dries to 4400psi. Make sure to prep right. I did the same thing in my garage which had a floor similiar to yours, 300sf took about 3 bags of compound. Once you get the hang of the right mix consistency (roughly that of cake batter) it goes on and dries very smooth. Youll have better results if you can do the whole floor in one shot, I didnt have that luxury.

Link to my thread:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92278

 

[thegarageguy]

@Stevens Racing, For a working garage I would not recommend chip broadcast but rather colored quartz or an aluminum oxide sand mix.With the proper maintenance schedule it should last a long, long time.

@Hollowellreid, in a 400-1000 sqft, a slurry chip-polyaspartic floor would run $7.50 per sqft. The project pic above was $6.50 @ 3500 sqft.......of course, excessive cracks, repairs and coating removal would affect the total cost.

 

[hazexban]

I know this is an old thread but any update? I basically have the same issue in my garage and interested to see how it worked out for you.

Thanks