Need some general suggestions/advice

[Monkey Boots]

Hey guys...I've been reading through lots of posts about epoxy floors and the time has finally come for me to address my garage floor. A little back story...

We purchased our home 3 years ago and prior to that, the renter who was occupying the house did some serious work (read: beat the hell out of the garage floor) on his hotrod in the garage. I have some pretty serious gouges and chemical breakdown in some spots. Additionally, he decided to build and secure a pretty overly build workbench to the garage cinder block wall.

We plan on living in this house for another 3-5 years, but don't plan on it being my 'Dream Garage', so we just want to fix it up to make it usable for mechanical, electrical and crafting (wife) projects. So here are my questions...

Is it totally silly to even think about leaving the workbench in place (water heater as well) and epoxy around it?

Our garage floor was polished at some point and is quite smooth, but still absorbs some stains if left on there...is there anything special that needs to be done other than the typical degrease, etch and apply?

We are looking for a cost effective solution, but don't want to cut corners and do a half-assed job. Ideally, I wouldn't want to remove the workbench that's there, but if that's the logical approach, I am not fully against it.

Just looking for some educated advice and help with brainstorming.

Thanks!


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[kd3pc]

If you are only going to be there for 3-5 years, I would just use it as is, with some personalization...but not spend the money on epoxy. That is a pretty big chunk of change that you may or may not get back in the short time you own this home.

If you do choose epoxy, do it right. Remove any thing that you can from the floor (the WH should have a pan under it, anyway), clean or grind the floor, per the coating maker's information. You will have to do some patching, again use the products that the coating maker suggest or will guarantee compatible with their coating.

I have always mounted my water heaters on a platform, with the tray, even in a garage. Storage under can always be used....I usually turn the drain towards an outside wall, if possible, with a PVC pipe to drain things outside, just in case.

All the best in which ever way you go.

 

[Monkey Boots]

Thanks kd3pc. That's good advice regarding the water heater. Would be easy to have it drain outside the garage as well.

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[LegacyIndustrial]

Most folks leave the water heater in place and go around items like cabinets or benches.
Those rough spots are easily repaired using an epoxy patch material.

 

[Monkey Boots]

Most folks leave the water heater in place and go around items like cabinets or benches.
Those rough spots are easily repaired using an epoxy patch material.

I was curious what most people did around cabinets. After looking into the cabinet some more today, I think that just pulling some of the fascia pieces that are shoddy, replacing the top and the bench is in good shape again, so no real reason to pull it out.

Is it necessary to grind the floor, or will an acid etch be sufficient for my semi-polished floor?

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[LegacyIndustrial]

It is an option. However, your best bet is a diamond grind.
Home Depot rents a nice unit for $100.00 per day. Diamabrush head mounted on a clarke floor maintainer. The second picture is an Edco machine. Sunbelt has these, ask for a single head if there is a choice.

 

[NitroShark]

The second picture is an Edco machine. Sunbelt has these, ask for a single head if there is a choice.

Why a single head preference ?

 

[James-W]

Does it have to be an epoxy floor? I was thinking maybe a Racedeck floor might be a better alternative. You can lay it down and use it until you move, then you pick it up and take it with you to your new house. That way you aren't really spending any money on the garage floor in your current house, and when you finally move to a different house you will have all the tiles to lay down in the new garage. You may need to add a few more tiles if the new garage is bigger than the one you have now, but you will already have most of the tiles. It's just a suggestion, but it may be something you want to look into.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Why a single head preference ?

They are easier to control and can get closer to the wall then the dual-head.