My case against epoxy floors

[N969DP]

I have never understood why anyone finishes/epoxy’s their garage floor concrete. To me it’s just for aesthetics. The only issue I can think of to warrant spending money on a garage floor is if it’s cracked to the point it’s not level/even anymore, and that might warrant a new slab.

Oil stains don’t bother me as it don’t do anything that affects the usability of the floor. As for cracks any small enough to get covered up by an epoxy most likely isn’t big enough to cause issues (like rolling a creeper or toolbox around). As for sealing the concrete, there’s a reason concrete highways and public sidewalks aren’t sealed. It just don’t matter especially for the cost.

If looks matter that much to you go for it but I’d bet anything spent on epoxy is probably better spent on better lighting or a new tool.

What am I missing that convinced you to spend the money and time to epoxy your floor?

 

[bgarrett]

its purty

 

[Alex_OT]

It looks great and is more finished, plus it makes the space easier to keep clean!

Where I am located they use chemicals, salt and salt brine on the roadways in winter to which when tracked into your garage and left to sit on your concrete for even a small period of time leads to erosion. I bet that if you were to look in the majority of garages here there would be damage to the concrete pads (I know there is damage to my current pad and at all of my friends' places.) The epoxy floor makes it way easier to clean/squeegee the snow/ice out of the garage and helps to sustain the life of the pad.

 

[cvairwerks]

Depends on what work one does...Every try to find an aluminum washer that is gray anodized on a bare concrete floor????

 

[Bogie1632]

There is definitly good and bad for each type of floor...bare, epoxy, tile, etc. It really comes down to preference.

Personnally, I prefer bare. But I've also worked in a few shops with epoxy floors. Easy to clean, looks nice and professional, etc. Problem was in one shop it was white. Who in their right mind would coat the floor white in an industrial maintenance facility? 18ft snow brooms being ran, torches and welders running off and on, steel wheels on floor Jack's rolling around, jack stands being slid all over...the list goes on. There is no coating that will stand up to that abuse long term. Recoating nearly 100K sq/ft isn't a good option every decade or so either. My first tour at that shop was '01-'03. Floor was 6 years old and looked great. Fast forward a decade and it looked like absolute ****. But again, that was an industrial shop, not a garage or work shop.

Bare I can clean. Bare I can spill or drop tools and equipment on and not worry. Just clean it up. Cracks? Use a quality filler. Deep chipping, same deal. Look nice? No, but it's a floor and I work on it. But that's me. I also use spill pans and clean up any oil spills immediately to minimize staining.

Want a pretty, smooth, glossy coated floor. Go for it and enjoy it. I'll enjoy your floor too. It's just not for me in my garage. YMMV and that's ok.

V/R
Bogie

 

[cvairwerks]

Here's what our hangar floors look like...

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/80...5B_for_Marine_Corps_Air_Station.jpg?p=publish
The white mushroom is the inlet safety zone...if the bird's running, that area is a zone where inlet suction could grab you under the right conditions. Everything else is polished concrete.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I have never understood why anyone finishes/epoxy’s their garage floor concrete. To me it’s just for aesthetics. The only issue I can think of to warrant spending money on a garage floor is if it’s cracked to the point it’s not level/even anymore, and that might warrant a new slab.

Oil stains don’t bother me as it don’t do anything that affects the usability of the floor. As for cracks any small enough to get covered up by an epoxy most likely isn’t big enough to cause issues (like rolling a creeper or toolbox around). As for sealing the concrete, there’s a reason concrete highways and public sidewalks aren’t sealed. It just don’t matter especially for the cost.

If looks matter that much to you go for it but I’d bet anything spent on epoxy is probably better spent on better lighting or a new tool.

What am I missing that convinced you to spend the money and time to epoxy your floor?

To some extent you are right. Many of our customers want to improve the looks, ease of clean and functionality of their garage. In COVID times many are using it for alternate purposes. I mean to be fair any floor covering in the home other than the cheapest possible we could say the same thing.

There are also a ton of benefits to a coated floor. For example, if you live in a climate with freezing temperatures road salts and freeze-thaw can do a lot of damage. Coatings protect the concrete.

 

[SolarColumbia]

Had the lithium siliconate densifiers been available and had I known of it I would have done that 27 years ago and avoided most or all of the salt spalling. It would have been cheap and easy. But failing that I repaired and put down epoxy and polyurea. Not cheap or easy. It's not flaked or fancy but I can sweep and/or mop it clean now.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Penetrating products only take you so far...

High-performance coatings increase lighting performance, cleanliness, texture, traffic resistance, chemical resistance, esthetics, etc...

Used in all matter of industry, food service, retail, etc... for all of the reasons found above and more.



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[Shea]

I have never understood why anyone finishes/epoxy’s their garage floor concrete. To me it’s just for aesthetics. The only issue I can think of to warrant spending money on a garage floor is if it’s cracked to the point it’s not level/even anymore, and that might warrant a new slab.

Oil stains don’t bother me as it don’t do anything that affects the usability of the floor. As for cracks any small enough to get covered up by an epoxy most likely isn’t big enough to cause issues (like rolling a creeper or toolbox around). As for sealing the concrete, there’s a reason concrete highways and public sidewalks aren’t sealed. It just don’t matter especially for the cost.

If looks matter that much to you go for it but I’d bet anything spent on epoxy is probably better spent on better lighting or a new tool.

What am I missing that convinced you to spend the money and time to epoxy your floor?

Coatings or any other garage flooring option really is dependent upon what the person thinks is most important to them. That's all that really matters -

As others have mentioned, there are quite a few benefits to having a good coating applied to a garage floor. However, it's not for everyone. I know of people who have stained encrusted garage floors with all kinds of material stuck to them, but they are fine with what they have. They would rather spend their money on something else.

 

[Ohio Auto]

Some guys marry a good looking woman, other guys marry a dog.

It's just a preference.

 

[brownsmustang]

The thing that's got me baffled is why you care what others spend their time and money on..... after doing it to my garage a few years back I won't have another without it or some type of covering if I can swing it.

 

[N969DP]

The thing that's got me baffled is why you care what others spend their time and money on..... after doing it to my garage a few years back I won't have another without it or some type of covering if I can swing it.

I don’t care what others do. I was more trying to see if there’s a reason I’m not seeing that I should do it too. From what I’ve looked up about epoxy floors it’s mainly for looks. From most of the comments here it sounds like that still is the #1 reason people put it in, which is fine if that’s what your after.

What started this thread is I read a different one for what to do in a new garage and a lot of people suggested getting the floors epoxied while nothing is moved in yet. It had me wondering if I was missing something, or if most people just care what the floor looks like.

 

[glennm]

I epoxied mine. It makes it very easy to sweep, after winter I can mop it out and get rid of the salt. It is 14 years now and still looks good. There is the odd bubble, scratch and chip but my attached garage that has no covering was badly damaged by the winter slush

 

[Black300zx]

Oil stains don’t bother me as it don’t do anything that affects the usability of the floor.
....

What am I missing that convinced you to spend the money and time to epoxy your floor?

My 2 car garage is attached. It houses my Z and my wife's DD, and is the place where I do all of my vehicle maintenance. Bare concrete = oily stains = oily dirt that gets tracked into the house. Have a coated floor allows for easy, complete cleanup which keep the floor clean and prevent me or my wife from tracking oily messes into the house.

It also makes general cleanup of dust and debris easier, since the coating fills in a lot of the fine texture that holds dirt. I like being able to lay on the floor, slide under my car (too low for a creeper) and not have my back covered in dirt.

That being said, I went with Hellfire from Legacy Industrial. It's a plain grey coating, no flakes. My primary purpose was to protect the concrete from spills.

 

[wanderer]

I live on a gravel road and my wife parks in the garage. When it’s muddy the mud falls off and great big clumps on the garage floor. they are impossible to get off with anything short of using a scraper. I like the idea of having something that won’t bond with the mud clumps.

 

[RogueFab]

Have you swept an epoxy coated floor? Sweep one and you'll understand.

 

[Flexbox]

How effective is it?

 

[HPRifleman]

What about vehicles that leak fluids on epoxy? Is the cleanup easy? Will there be a ghost puddle that will be there forever?

 

[haugy]

-For me it was easy to clean. I could clean it with a dust mop.
-Being a bright white color and good lights, I never needed a flashlight under a car.
-I sealed my shop with foam and insulation. Coating the floor also kept out any moisture intrusion through the floor. My shop was very dry inside which I needed.
-When I spill, I wipe it up, and can lay back down right where the spill was with no stains on me or my clothes. Made cleaning easier, for me and the shop.
-Looks pimp as hell. My floor was immediately the first thing people would ooh and aah about when they walked in.

 

[Kaizen]

Looks are great. Not one person entering mine has not commented on them as the first thing. Not the lift. Not the huge compressor or custom cabinets.
2/3 of my garage is wood and car stuff. Floor makes it very easy to keep clean and mop.
Other third is the war room. That area has hot slag dropped and heavy auto stuff where scratches and chips will happen. Still…98% of that concrete is protected.
The concrete cost me a pretty penny. Made sense to protect it.
Hard money choices have to be made by you. We all have to live with our decisions


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[gatewaysysop]

Bare I can clean. Bare I can spill or drop tools and equipment on and not worry. Just clean it up. Cracks? Use a quality filler. Deep chipping, same deal. Look nice? No, but it's a floor and I work on it. But that's me. I also use spill pans and clean up any oil spills immediately to minimize staining.

Want a pretty, smooth, glossy coated floor. Go for it and enjoy it. I'll enjoy your floor too. It's just not for me in my garage. YMMV and that's ok.

This is pretty much where I land on this as well. No issue with those that opt for it, but it's not for me. I'm also put off a bit by all the horror stories I've come across from bad installs, both here and elsewhere. I understand that the availability heuristic plays into that, but it still gives me pause.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Tons of benefits to an epoxy floor as noted above. We have sold over our lifetime over 50,000,000 of epoxy sq ft so there must be benefits!

 

[Keep]

Ease of cleaning and reduction of concrete dust. I simply wanted a floor that was easy to clean, and kept the dust down for the winter storage months.

I was just going to paint it, but learned that the chemicals in damn near every automotive product would have lifted the paint easily. Now with epoxy Oil spills, transmission leaks, water, all wipe up easily.

Now its been 12 or so years and the epoxy does not look as fresh, but that was more do to welding, torches, dropped parts, snow, ice, salt etc eating away at it.

Sure it looks great and when you spend a vast amount of time in the garage, you want it to look good. Of course, its a very slippery slope, First the floor, then the cabinets, then better lighting, then you fix the walls because the better lighting shows off the defects.........very slippery......

 

[rburke65]

I have bare concrete floor that was cure -n-sealed right after it was placed. I like it. I’ve heard too many horror story’s of failed epoxy attempts.

 

[Vintage Veloce]

I densified and used a pentrating sealer. Looks like concrete and I love it. If I really wanted a "classier" floor I'd tile it before I'd epoxy it.

 

[P0234]

Why bother with a garage at all? Dirt road is good. Maybe a tarp.

I won't be without some sort of coating if I can help it. Minimal dust and super easy cleanup. Normal stuff you just blow out with the air hose or leaf blower. Spills, old clothes as rags to mop it up. I don't even bother with a drip pan. Cleaning the drip pan was more work.

 

[Vintage Veloce]

Why bother with a garage at all? Dirt road is good. Maybe a tarp.

I won't be without some sort of coating if I can help it. Minimal dust and super easy cleanup. Normal stuff you just blow out with the air hose or leaf blower. Spills, old clothes as rags to mop it up. I don't even bother with a drip pan. Cleaning the drip pan was more work.

Except for putting down some cardboard for very messy jobs, that is exactly how I treat my designed and penetrating sealed concrete floor.

 

[p00p]

easy to clean oil slicks & coolant off of, & it helps reduce the clanging of the floor jacks when rolling them around. Not a fan of the noise that metal casters rolling on bare concrete make.

 

[Black300zx]

My case FOR a floor coating (that contrasts well with dropped parts). See that little itty bitty snap ring on the floor in the corner between the base-cove molding and floor matt??? It took flight while removing it from the shaft of my Zs speed sensor. I never heard it hit off of anything, so I had no clue which direction it went. Looked on my bench...no luck. Looked on the shelving behind my bench...no luck. Started looking on the floor and spotted it from 5ft away

Fwiw, this is ALSO my case AGAINST flakes on the floor lol!

 

[Ralf11]

I have never understood why anyone finishes/epoxy’s their garage floor concrete. To me it’s just for aesthetics. The only issue I can think of to warrant spending money on a garage floor is if it’s cracked to the point it’s not level/even anymore, and that might warrant a new slab.

Oil stains don’t bother me as it don’t do anything that affects the usability of the floor. As for cracks any small enough to get covered up by an epoxy most likely isn’t big enough to cause issues (like rolling a creeper or toolbox around). As for sealing the concrete, there’s a reason concrete highways and public sidewalks aren’t sealed. It just don’t matter especially for the cost.

If looks matter that much to you go for it but I’d bet anything spent on epoxy is probably better spent on better lighting or a new tool.

What am I missing that convinced you to spend the money and time to epoxy your floor?

I understand why people finishes/epoxy’s their garage floor concrete.

It makes it clear that their garage is a showplace and is not used to do any work in.

 

[BlackJackJim]

I have never understood why anyone finishes/epoxy’s their garage floor concrete. To me it’s just for aesthetics. The only issue I can think of to warrant spending money on a garage floor is if it’s cracked to the point it’s not level/even anymore, and that might warrant a new slab.

Oil stains don’t bother me as it don’t do anything that affects the usability of the floor. As for cracks any small enough to get covered up by an epoxy most likely isn’t big enough to cause issues (like rolling a creeper or toolbox around). As for sealing the concrete, there’s a reason concrete highways and public sidewalks aren’t sealed. It just don’t matter especially for the cost.

If looks matter that much to you go for it but I’d bet anything spent on epoxy is probably better spent on better lighting or a new tool.

What am I missing that convinced you to spend the money and time to epoxy your floor?

For the same reason you paint your house, comb your hair, trim your beard or mend your clothes -- all aesthetics.

 

[milkovich]

I just put epoxy down on my new build:

A. It does look good. I wanted a floor that isn't "concrete colored" and no other coating was going to last as long or be as low maintenance. If "clean, durable" are an aesthetic, that's what I wanted.
B. It makes your slab last longer. Many chemicals I use and spill will reduce the strength of the slab and I didn't want to do that again with the new slab.
C. Speaking of low maintenance, other than fluids, a quick sweep or blast of a leaf blower leaves it looking immaculate. If you spend any time doing anything that requires low dust (paint, varnish, engine assembly) you understand why a clean floor (and clean air) is important. I've lost count of how many gallons of transmission fluid I've spilled in my life and my old shop floor was disgusting. Sliding around on a greasy floor was no fun.