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Options for rough cement shop floor.

MopardudeWI

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Joined
Oct 14, 2016
Messages
76
Location
Whitewater, WI
Looking for options on how to deal with a roughly finished cement floor in my shop. Can you put down any of the epoxy type of finishes on thick enough to level out the roughness. I don't think whatever previous home owner built this polebarn ever considered making it a shop. It has a very rough brushed finish to it much like they do for a cement driveway but even a lil rougher than that I would say. Any thoughts or suggestion on this?
 
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Armorpoxy

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Aug 18, 2013
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3,735
Location
NJ
Hi
Email us to [email protected] and we can send you a helpful memo on this. The short answer is it depends on how rough your floor is. A high build epoxy floor would be in the 20-25 mil range of thickness, but 1/16" is 62.5 mils so if you need a lot of leveling then using an epoxy to 'fix' this can be very cost prohibitive.

Grinding it smoother may be a less costly option. Make sure to prime so that the epoxy sits up nice and high and doesn't soak in.
 

Garage Flooring

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Joined
May 21, 2011
Messages
5,288
Location
Grand Junction, CO
Looking for options on how to deal with a roughly finished cement floor in my shop. Can you put down any of the epoxy type of finishes on thick enough to level out the roughness. I don't think whatever previous home owner built this polebarn ever considered making it a shop. It has a very rough brushed finish to it much like they do for a cement driveway but even a lil rougher than that I would say. Any thoughts or suggestion on this?

Depends on how rough. If it is like you state, we have had great success using either 2 coats of WB primer or one coat of our high solids (as a primer) followed by our 100% solids.
 
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Jo Diesel

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Aug 26, 2015
Messages
402
Location
St. Johns MI
Home Depot rents a floor grinder for $80 day. Bet you could do a lot in a weekend. They say it works wet or dry.
 

75gmck25

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Jul 21, 2014
Messages
1,320
Location
Alexandria, VA
If the brushed finish is stable and clean you might be able to use a thin coat of self-leveling concrete to even it out. The SLC is expensive if you need a thick coat, but in most cases you can get rid of the rough areas and have a completely smooth floor. When mixed correctly it really does self level and fill in. However, then you would still want a top coat (paint, epoxy, etc.) or some other material (tile, etc.) for the final finish.

Bruce
 

groovyjay

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 17, 2005
Messages
102
Location
Far Far Away
Looking for options on how to deal with a roughly finished cement floor in my shop. Can you put down any of the epoxy type of finishes on thick enough to level out the roughness. I don't think whatever previous home owner built this polebarn ever considered making it a shop. It has a very rough brushed finish to it much like they do for a cement driveway but even a lil rougher than that I would say. Any thoughts or suggestion on this?

What's the intended use of the shop? Heavy traffic? Forklift? If you are looking for durable and something that will out last the rest of the building, then an overlay called tru from rapidset would be my choice.
 

GarageGuy89

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Joined
Jul 12, 2016
Messages
367
Location
Olalla, WA
I'd say grind it or have it polished (don't know the technical term). We had a tenant improvement on one of the buildings next to us in which they did this to the rough concrete. Turns out looking like a nice granite or marble look and seems relatively cheap, vs the alternative of flooring materials. Plus you don't have to deal with chipping or up lift from tiles and or adhesive products.

I think you can have them finish it to several different textures as well. Don't know much about this stuff other than the neighbors place turned out really nice and only took a day or two for a couple thousand square feet.
 
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MopardudeWI

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Joined
Oct 14, 2016
Messages
76
Location
Whitewater, WI
Post up a pic or 2.

Yea I could post a pic tomorrow or the next day.

What's the intended use of the shop? Heavy traffic? Forklift?

Woodworking right now. Its only a 20x30 building when I out grow it and move the woodworking to another shop it will probably become automotive in use in which case I probably still want a smoother floor. Won't be heavily traveled or forklift in either case.

I'd say grind it or have it polished (don't know the technical term).
Yea I have heard about that, its popular down south I guess or anywhere they put houses on cement slabs.

Yea some interesting ideas for me to explore, I will try to take a decent picture that shows how rough the floor is. Its a pain in the *** you really have to work at it with a broom to try and get sawdust swept up and it thrashes the bristles of the broom good I can see wearing out a broom fast. I been using the shop vac on it and I wore the bottom of my floor tool off already.
 
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