Need your help

[Jay H]

I just finished preping my 2000 sqft concrete floor (4 months old). I cant afford a professional installed epoxy floor and after reading many threads, I'm hestitate to use the DIY kits available.

I was leaning toward staining the floor and using a topcoat sealer from HC-Concrete.

questions are:

1) Is staining OK?
2) Will staining cover like epoxy?
3) If I should stay away from staining, what should I go with?

Please help as I need to get this floor completed ASAP so I can proceed with moving in,etc.

thanks in advance!

Jay

 

[NXC1978]

Personally, I would do a quality DIY epoxy kit before I would try staining/sealing myself. Most of the stain and seal jobs I have seen get damaged easily by "hot tire pickup". Not to mention that the clear coat scratches easily. I am no expert though and I am sure it all depends on the product and prep work.

I did a stain in my work/welding area of the garage, but didn't seal for fear that welding would just destroy it. The rest of the garage (where the cars park) is covered in racedeck tiles. Good luck on your project!

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Hi Jay,

Specifically, what prep work have you done? did you grind the floor? acid etch? what will the floor be used for? what is your climate (e.g., snow & salt in the winter? Death Valley heat in the summer?) Do you anticipate wanting to do a different floor cover later when you have the cash budgeted?

I just finished preping my 2000 sqft concrete floor (4 months old). I cant afford a professional installed epoxy floor and after reading many threads, I'm hestitate to use the DIY kits available.

I was leaning toward staining the floor and using a topcoat sealer from HC-Concrete.

questions are:

1) Is staining OK?
2) Will staining cover like epoxy?
3) If I should stay away from staining, what should I go with?

Please help as I need to get this floor completed ASAP so I can proceed with moving in,etc.

thanks in advance!

Jay

 

[Jay H]

Jaquar fan,

I live in central NC. I have just finished acid etching with muratic acid. This is for a residental shop that I will be storing my car and doing car hobby work. Thanks for any help.

-Jay

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Jaquar fan,

I live in central NC. I have just finished acid etching with muratic acid. This is for a residental shop that I will be storing my car and doing car hobby work. Thanks for any help.

-Jay

So, it sounds like you were going to do a DIY job, but changed your mind after the first step (etching) -- and nature of the mind change is that you got "cold feet." My guess is that if you were to stain & seal, you would need to re-seal after a few years, which of course would involve quite a bit of new prep work (cleaning at the least -- check the sealer instructions about re-sealing after time -- do they want you to strip the old sealer first? etc).

I'm just guessing, but I suspect if you stain & seal the concrete now, you'll wish you had done the full epoxy treatment later.

I have about 2000 sf of exterior stamped concrete (2 tone - color is embedded into the concrete) that was sealed after it was poured (decks, driveway, swimming pool area, etc). It looked great for about 2 years, and then the sealant basically "wore out." It didn't flake off or anything - it just wore away from the elements, I guess. I would have resealed it but a contractor wanted too much, and I was worried about resealing my driveway (long) because it is on a hillside, and I was afraid of it being too slippery when wet. So.... concrete sealants don't necessarily last that long.

I'm not sure why you have the cold feet on the DIY epoxy -- just get a good quality product (several listed on this forum; watever you do, don't go buy whatever is on sale at Home Depot), read the instructions multiple times very carefully, and follow them precisely. Get a friend or two to help out. I think you'll find it works out well.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks. I dont have cold feet at all. From some of the posts I've read, I cant get a clear answer on which DIY kit is best. Some say Rustoleum, others epoxy coat etc. I am leaning towards the Devoe Coatings Tru-Glaze 4058 product that ICI Paintings sells. Its seems a little better than Armorseal 1000 that Sherwin WIlliams has or at least the rep knows their product better than 2 separate SW stores I called.

Heres a link.. http://www.devoecoatings.com/Specifications.do

What do you guys think?

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Thanks. I dont have cold feet at all. From some of the posts I've read, I cant get a clear answer on which DIY kit is best. Some say Rustoleum, others epoxy coat etc. I am leaning towards the Devoe Coatings Tru-Glaze 4058 product that ICI Paintings sells. Its seems a little better than Armorseal 1000 that Sherwin WIlliams has or at least the rep knows their product better than 2 separate SW stores I called.

Heres a link.. http://www.devoecoatings.com/Specifications.do

What do you guys think?

I think you have a typo - I think you mean "4508" rather than "4058". It seems like most people on this forum either prefer or recommend higher solids content - the spec sheet indicates 52% +/-... which is quite a bit down from 100% solids that lots of people here talk about. The thickness spec'd seems a bit thin, too -- 3 to 5 mils thick dry. I've read elsewhere people prefer quite a bit thicker applications - even to triple that thickness. I personally don't have any experience with this product, nor am I a professional installer (just a DIYer)... just my 2 cents. Separately, I'm doing my own research to do a project in Las Vegas.. either a pro job or perhaps a DIY job. Currently I'm leaning toward a 100% solids epoxy product, and am considering alternatives to epoxy.

 

[Jay H]

thanks again. Im actually now looking at Devoe Coatings product 224HS as this has a solid percentage of 75%. This product seems a little better than SW's Armorseal.