New Garage, Small But Sweet

[thundercow]

My Austin, Texas Garage by Garage and Storage Plus. It's only a one-car; this is the wife's garage...

Before:

During:

After:

Detail:

 

[PAToyota]

Wow! Very nice. Not exactly what I'd want on my shop floor - only because I'd likely destroy it in a couple months with weld spatter and such - but very nice job for the wifey's garage. Good to see some "outside the box" type stuff every now and then.

How did you do the "medallion" part? I'm assuming that the rest is stained/acid etched?

 

[Kevin54]

I like the looks of the floor. It kind of gives it a leather look. Nice!!!

 

[jay50]

Floor looks too girlie; needs some man-oil (motor oil) splattered on it...LOL

 

[Bib Overalls]

Classy.

My wife has her own garage. Actually, she simply took over our attached garage and told me to park in the driveway or inside my shop. I'd be inclined to fix it up for her. But she is a junk-aholic and it is and always will be a mess.

 

[Kevin54]

Actually, she simply took over our attached garage and told me to park in the driveway or inside my shop.

All the more reason to not fix it up. LOL!!! If you do fix it up, kick her to the drive. LOL!!! My vote is to put money into the shop. Plasma TV, computer, the whole shooting match.

 

[PhantomEB]

Classy.

My wife has her own garage. Actually, she simply took over our attached garage and told me to park in the driveway or inside my shop. I'd be inclined to fix it up for her. But she is a junk-aholic and it is and always will be a mess.

This is my brides thinking as well as she knows full well I want a Ram 3500 on 35s so it aint gonna fit in the attached anyways... BUT the street car will.... and I need somewhere to put the garden tools anyways.

Dont care, the detached will be MY space!

 

[Cursed]

I love those cabinets! Any information on who makes those? Cost?

Thanks!

Adam

 

[markb1]

That floor is the sh!t, tell us about it.

 

[sixty4]

Don't hold us out on the floor.....Please! It looks Great!

 

[Dustoff 35]

Great looking floor. How was it done?

 

[camfather]

Looks like it could of been done with a Flattoo

http://www.surfacegeltek.com/products-flattoos.shtml

 

[thundercow]

The cabinets are...wait for it...IKEA. Only IKEA has the 93 inch tall cabinets. Plus, they have cool hardware and great internal parts like shoe holders and slide out baskets and such.

This was sort of an experiment and is definitely not your everyday man's type garage.

The concrete floor is two colors of Kemiko acid stain. The lighter color was applied first, and the decorative medallion is a stencilled sticker/mask from modello concrete. It's pretty easy actually if you work very slowly and carefully...

 

[dodgepolara500]

I love the IKEA cabinets. I just checked their web site and can't seem to locate them? Do you recall the name of the cabinets? They don't seem to be in their garage selection so I am assuming they were meant for the bedroom or laundry.
Thanks

 

[North of 40]

Looks Awesome!!!

What products did you use on the floor?
What sealer did you use?
How lond did it take?
How was it applied?

Are you worried about wear, especially from hot tires and Jacks and Jack Stands?
Have you had any experience or seen a garage with this surface before and what was their experience interms of wear and how the surface held up.

I have a 300 sq ft garage that holds a classic car and was thinking of modifying the floor like you did but do have some concernes as I do work on the car, more routine maintenance.

Let me know,

Great job.

It's nice to see the different and unique garages out there.

Lots of imagination out there.

Thanks

 

[ninjarico]

The concrete floor is two colors of Kemiko acid stain. The lighter color was applied first, and the decorative medallion is a stencilled sticker/mask from modello concrete. It's pretty easy actually if you work very slowly and carefully...

How durable is something like this versus say epoxy? Sorry if this is a rudimentary question but I'm not familiar with acid staining. What is the cost of something like this? I'll be moving into my first house (in round rock) come May and would love to have something like this done in the garage (20' x 20').

 

[thundercow]

Well, if you would like it done, you can contact me throughGarage and Storage Plus of Austin. Actually, I am the general manager of the company, and I did this floor.

To answer some of the other questions, the Poly floor coating is a two-part solvent-based aliphatic urethane. I am a little lost when it comes to the underlying chemistry of this product, but so far it has been tough as nails. It has been strong, resists abrasion, cleans beautifully, and adhered without fail. The Poly is intended to coat architectural concrete. This product is used in garages and restaurants, but I doubt it would be appropriate for industrial facilities and that sort of thing.

And to answer ninjarico, The color in the concrete is actually *IN* the concrete--the stains are actually chemical deposits that bond molecularly with the concrete. It isn't a paint that can come off when adhesion fails.

As for jack stands, I would NEVER--regardless of any product put on a garage floor--use a jack stand on an expensive floor without a simple rubber mat. Just about the only thing that can mar a coated garage floor is a sharp object; a properly applied coating will shrug off everything else.

How durable is something like this versus say epoxy? Sorry if this is a rudimentary question but I'm not familiar with acid staining. What is the cost of something like this? I'll be moving into my first house (in round rock) come May and would love to have something like this done in the garage (20' x 20').

 

[thundercow]

Oh the IKEA cabinets are "PAX". They are for closet organization, but we have put them in several garages in the last few months in connection with our installations.

 

[Mals]

About the questions of durability. I also did the acid stain in my 4 car bay shop. I can only say what the durability has been after about 1 year old and mild mechanical repairs/mods. I hope to do some fab and welding at some point so ask me again how it's holding up in 4 or 5 years.

The stain only penetrates the top layer of the concrete very very slightly. Any dropped heavy metal objects that chip the concrete will chip through the color. That's happened. Brake fluid will eat through the poly sealant. But not the color underneath.

Rolling floor jacks around on it have been fine. I put plywood under jackstands. I lay out a truck bedliner underneath my 4 post lift to catch those errant tools and such. The posts on the lift aren't bolted down and I have no idea what the posts are doing to the area they're standing on. I suspect it's OK for now but after some years have gone by, they'll wear through the color (10 years? 20 years?) So far I have no idea what welding spatter will do. But I'll be protecting the floor as best I can.

If I had to do it again, I'd probably just keep the floor plain concrete protected by the clear poly sealer to keep stains off. I'd read too much about the epoxy failures and lifting. The staining is simply beautiful though and very eye catching. I do pretty mild stuff in the garage and I probably wouldn't do the stain if the garage was going to get constant heavy duty use. It'd worry me too much.

 

[TejasBimmer]

Wow! Looks great!