Prep for clear polyurea over bare concrete

[Bodj Built]

Hey everyone,

My wife and I closed yesterday on our first home, which means I get my first garage! After working out of my parent's garage for the past 15 years, I have learned that I do not like painted epoxy floors, especially with flakes. I primarily do offroad fabrication and general automotive maintenance. The epoxy coating in their garage has taken quite a beating from welding/plasma slag, solvents and oils, metal tubing dropping and nicking the floor... I haven't been too nice to it and owe it to them to redo their floor in the future lol.

For my floor I want to keep the concrete look, while adding protection, which has led me to the wonderful world of polyurea. The previous owners stored everything in the garage, and when any work was actually done in the garage, they were meticulous about keeping oil from spilling. So the floor is pretty much as perfect as it comes, especially for a home built in 1973. I don't really want to abrade the surface with a grinder, which I believe is required for proper bonding? Is an acid etch sufficient/needed? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. As of right now, I'm looking at the coating from GarageFlooring.com, but I'm open to others suggestions.

Polyurea Garage Floor Coating

An outstanding single component garage floor coating that is not garage floor epoxy. High performance Polyurea hybrid with long pot life.

www.garageflooringllc.com

 

[Shea]

Just use the recommended etching solution that Garage Flooring LLC sells and you will be good to go.

 

[Bodj Built]

Just use the recommended etching solution that Garage Flooring LLC sells and you will be good to go.

Great, thanks!

 

[dcg9381]

Polyurea is great. I power wash, etch, then ready to roll on. Do 2 coats.

 

[Bodj Built]

Polyurea is great. I power wash, etch, then ready to roll on. Do 2 coats.

Good to hear. I'll try getting pictures up whenever I get to it!

 

[Armorpoxy]

Have you taken a look at the Ballistix we carry which is clear but has greater resistance characteristics than any urethane or polyurea (we carry all of these products)? Lots of posts on GJ about the Ballistix, or contact us directly for more info if you cant find on our website.

For polyurea we carry our one-part SPGX (also lots of postings about it) which applies like a paint but gives the look of polished concrete.

 

[cullen]

I used SPGX 4 years ago on brand new etched concrete. The coating is great but it definitely shows any concrete flaws. I suggest buying more than you need so you can really coat it. If i had to do it again, I would do grey instead of clear.

 

[Armorpoxy]

All thin-mil coatings that don't use flecks will show and often magnify 'issues' with any floor. Pigmented products tend to help, and use of flecks, especially full broadcast floors visually hide imperfections. Unfortunately a liquid-only coating won't do much to 'fix' a floor. They do excellent jobs of protecting and making much nicer and easier to keep clean, but generally not do too much 'repairing'.

 

[dcg9381]

I used SPGX 4 years ago on brand new etched concrete. The coating is great but it definitely shows any concrete flaws. I suggest buying more than you need so you can really coat it. If i had to do it again, I would do grey instead of clear.

One way to deal with this is to stain the concrete (water or acid based) up front. The flaws become part of the character. You can do some really cool things with concrete stain, but the results are not always predictable.

I totally agree that clean coated floors - they're like gloss paint - imperfections show up.

 

[Armorpoxy]

 

[Bodj Built]

Well I had thought the garage floor was immaculate, but once the sellers moved a few boxes from the middle, I saw the large section of oil stained concrete. So now I'll be looking to do a dark epoxy. Is the Ballistix able to be colored with some flake? Or would I be better off looking at a different product? Like I said, I'll be doing a lot of mechanic/metal fabrication, so I'd like something pretty solid without breaking the bank.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi
Ballistix is only in clear and can’t be tinted. If you want a colored product with excellent performance on the lower priced side look at our SPGX one part Polyurea In gray (sorry only comes in one shade of gray).

 

[Garage Flooring]

Well I had thought the garage floor was immaculate, but once the sellers moved a few boxes from the middle, I saw the large section of oil stained concrete. So now I'll be looking to do a dark epoxy. Is the Ballistix able to be colored with some flake? Or would I be better off looking at a different product? Like I said, I'll be doing a lot of mechanic/metal fabrication, so I'd like something pretty solid without breaking the bank.

Hey, has this been resolved? I have been ******* with a build out and not on the forum as much. You should have my cell

 

[Bodj Built]

Hi
Ballistix is only in clear and can’t be tinted. If you want a colored product with excellent performance on the lower priced side look at our SPGX one part Polyurea In gray (sorry only comes in one shade of gray).

I’ll look into it, thanks!

Hey, has this been resolved? I have been ******* with a build out and not on the forum as much. You should have my cell

Sorry, but I don’t think I’ve ever contacted you.

 

[Garage Flooring]

I’ll look into it, thanks!


Sorry, but I don’t think I’ve ever contacted you.

Oh I read our name mentioned earlier. I send my cell out with every order so customers can contact me if the need help