New User - Flooring Dilemna

[akpilot]

Well, I've been search this forum for a couple of days, and even though many of you have covered this before, would really appreciate your thoughts and opinions.

I'm living here in the Midwest and have just finished insulating, drywalling, heating, and painting our garage. And now that we're all done, I'm looking at this ****-ugly floor wondering what to do. I've narrowed it down to three choices:
a) Epoxy it; w/shot blast
b) Epoxy it; w/solvents
c) Armstrong VCT tiles

Emptying out the garage, cleaning the floor, etching it, drying it, putting down the epoxy, and then waiting for a few days to move things back in. I'm not happy with the thought that this could turn into a two-to-three day project, with our garage goods being outside during that time; that and I don't have a lot of vacation time. Not only that, but we've got a raised 2" concrete lip between the floor and dry that I'd have to carefully etch and not get anything on the walls.

Shot blasting sounds like an option, but how do I shot blast and avoid the drywall. I'd really need to finish that 2" concrete lip, right next to the wall, and don't want to accidentally etch my newly painted wall.

Armstrong VCT tiles sounds like it can be done in a, long, day. But I'm not sure about durability over the next few years.

Whatchya think?

 

[snorvet]

akpilot-

I would shotblast and epoxy. The shotblaster I used didn't get into the corners and within 4" of the walls. I used a hand grinder for the edges and corners. That might work for the 2" lip. I etched also but I diluted the acid too much so it didnt do anything. I wouldnt acid etch if I were to do it again - just shotblast and/or grind.

I dont know about vct tiles but I thought I read something that they dont like the cold.

 

[joecaver]

I just put VCT on my garage 3 weeks ago. I can't say how long they will last but a lot of folks on this board have had them down for a while and are happy with them. That is what I based my decision to use them on. It took me 2 days to do the whole job. On friday I took everything out and cleaned the floor with an Armstrong product that they recommend on their site ( idon't recall the name). The floor dried quickly and I was able to do my layout and set the lines for starting the tile the next day. On saturday I installed the tile (about 400 sq ft) in around 7 hours with no help. It has to cure for 48 hours before you can apply the finish, but you can walk on it as soon as it is in place. So I applied the finish on Tuesday. After the finish was dry all the small stuff came back in. They recommend no rolling stock on the floor for 5 days after installation so I waited before bringing in the cars untill Thursday. I am very happy with the way it looks. I have pics of the whole process and should be posting them here soon. Good luck which ever way you decide to go.

 

[AHotRod]

I used Porter-Concrete-Stain in my 1100 square foot shop, and I love it. No wear and stands up to everything.