How to make a boring floor?

[Il Gattopardo]

Long time reader, first time poster.

So many of the floors in here are **** and awesome. In our new construction, I actually want boring. Partly because I may end up needing to run that same flooring into our adjacent basement which is the entry into the house from the garage. No way is the wife gonna allow a flaked floor in there.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Maybe a solid color epoxy, in a low key tan or beige, with some anti-slip added? The garage will be typical residential light duty -- some gym stuff, couple cars, workbench, etc.

Also, I spoke to a local installer, and with new construction they doesn't grind or chemically etch the floor. Surprising given the reading I've done here. They have a couple hundred 5 star Yelp reviews so it can't be peeling off very often. Interesting.

Thanks for your ideas.

 

[Mike65]

Welcome to the forum. What I did to our new garage/shop once the concrete cured was to just protect it with a concrete sealer. It works great to protect it from stains when stuff is spilled on it.

 

[Il Gattopardo]

Thanks. That might be a bit too boring.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Long time reader, first time poster.

So many of the floors in here are **** and awesome. In our new construction, I actually want boring. Partly because I may end up needing to run that same flooring into our adjacent basement which is the entry into the house from the garage. No way is the wife gonna allow a flaked floor in there.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Maybe a solid color epoxy, in a low key tan or beige, with some anti-slip added? The garage will be typical residential light duty -- some gym stuff, couple cars, workbench, etc.

Also, I spoke to a local installer, and with new construction they doesn't grind or chemically etch the floor. Surprising given the reading I've done here. They have a couple hundred 5 star Yelp reviews so it can't be peeling off very often. Interesting.

Thanks for your ideas.

Any "professional" who does not etch, grind, or otherwise prep a floor is not someone you would want to deal with.

Be it from us or a local source or one of the other great vendors here, you have lots of boring single-color options at your disposal Personally I prefer gray but tan is also good.

 

[dcg9381]

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Maybe a solid color epoxy, in a low key tan or beige, with some anti-slip added? The garage will be typical residential light duty -- some gym stuff, couple cars, workbench, etc.

Solid epoxy colors are fine if that's your thing.

I do a base stain, then coat with polyurea and anti-skid. Think about a walnut color for inside. Pretty boring, but you can also make it as wild as you want...

House garage was white stain, then polyurea.. Idea was to be able to see things that get dropped. Garage gets anti-skid too as wet cars make for wet floors.

 

[Il Gattopardo]

Thanks, GF. That was my thought as well, given the reading I've done here. I was incorrect, with new concrete they clean it, and then say they "etch with a special bonding degreaser formula and scrub it".

 

[Il Gattopardo]

This floor looks interesting. The floor of a Starbucks. Does it look like just stain and sealer?

 

[Matty J]

This floor looks interesting. The floor of a Starbucks. Does it look like just stain and sealer?

That is either a poor attempt at polished concrete or a poor attempt at a "grind and seal"

 

[LopezBart]

Consider perhaps just tinting the concrete. We had them tint the concrete in the truck so the color is all through the mix so if someone drops a cast iron pot somewhere a small ding doesn't stand out. The color isn't completely even which we much prefer.... There's a sealer on top.

 

[Andy Smith Jr.]

Long time reader, first time poster.

So many of the floors in here are **** and awesome. In our new construction, I actually want boring. Partly because I may end up needing to run that same flooring into our adjacent basement which is the entry into the house from the garage. No way is the wife gonna allow a flaked floor in there.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Maybe a solid color epoxy, in a low key tan or beige, with some anti-slip added? The garage will be typical residential light duty -- some gym stuff, couple cars, workbench, etc.

Also, I spoke to a local installer, and with new construction they doesn't grind or chemically etch the floor. Surprising given the reading I've done here. They have a couple hundred 5 star Yelp reviews so it can't be peeling off very often. Interesting.

Thanks for your ideas.

Run as far away possible from any professional installer who doesn't prep a floor. Any product that is "no prep" is absolute lie. Be careful if they offer any newly launched technologies. Make sure they use products that have been around a long time (10+ year minimum).

 

[Dig Doug]

You can do a plain ( color ) epoxy floor in a wide range of colors

The most important part is the prep! It will make or break the finished floor, You do not the epoxy to flake or peel - Then it’s a do over.

I had my epoxy floors “ shot pinged “ to etch the concrete it was expensive but the floors lasted many years as a Low Humidity Biotech Lab

Do some research on line to educate yourself of the process so you can ask the right questions or buy the correct product

 

[BombShelter]

One of the cooler floors I've seen was heavily sealed plywood with a nice finish on one side. The one drawback is the golden retrievers did leave small scratches.

I'd pick something without a ton of "grain," they used normal color plywood, white-ish/yellow, and the grain didn't look too busy. Our 3/4" finished plywood at Menards is pushing $100/sheet, so ballpark around $3/sq/ft.

Another flooring I liked was like a high-end version of gym rubber floors. A bit stiffer then a gym floor, this comes in 2'x2' square and lays in place without fastners. The squares can be easily lifted and cleaned but it's much more expensive then gym matting although it also looks 10x better.