Hi all,
Apologies in advance for the long post. If you make it all the way to the end I promise there is a point
. I’ve spent the last several months reading posts here and elsewhere about floor coatings and I’m finally where I need to make a decision.
I’m almost finished building my 60x72 dream/retirement shop. I originally had visions of a putting down a beautiful, smooth, dove gray coating on my concrete floor that would be wear-resistant, keep spills from soaking into the concrete, and make it easy to find the small parts I drop on the floor. I had almost made my decision when I got to thinking about long-term durability. I build all kinds of random things out of wood and metal. I work on cars and fabricate stuff. I drop heavy parts on the floor (usually accidentally). I’m not like the guys on the car-building shows where they remove a pack of leaf springs or the exhaust pipes from a pickup and hurl them across the room, but I occasionally drop heavy stuff or need to drag something that is too awkward to lift and carry by myself (like a heavy box). I MiG weld, and not always on a table. I grind metal with an angle grinder, which shoots sparks a pretty good distance. I’ve learned no poly coating will stand up to weld spatter or molten metal blobs (not sure about grinder sparks) and I don’t mind doing touchups here and there but I don’t want that to become my side hustle.
With all that said, is there something on the market (clear or colored) that can withstand any of this type of abuse without looking awful almost immediately; something to just seal the pores of the concrete against oil/grease/antifreeze spills until I can clean them up? I’m wondering if the coating they use on the concrete floors at Home Depot/Lowe’s/Menards would do the trick. I just don’t want my floor to look like the one in my Dad’s garage which has oil stains everywhere that nothing short of a jackhammer would remove. I will be doing the work myself, or possibly with one extra person and I can do it in sections between the saw cuts if needed. Since I’m not running a business, it’s not a problem if it takes a few days to get all the layers down and cured. I just won’t use that part of the floor while the stuff cures.
Thanks for any input.
Apologies in advance for the long post. If you make it all the way to the end I promise there is a point
. I’ve spent the last several months reading posts here and elsewhere about floor coatings and I’m finally where I need to make a decision.I’m almost finished building my 60x72 dream/retirement shop. I originally had visions of a putting down a beautiful, smooth, dove gray coating on my concrete floor that would be wear-resistant, keep spills from soaking into the concrete, and make it easy to find the small parts I drop on the floor. I had almost made my decision when I got to thinking about long-term durability. I build all kinds of random things out of wood and metal. I work on cars and fabricate stuff. I drop heavy parts on the floor (usually accidentally). I’m not like the guys on the car-building shows where they remove a pack of leaf springs or the exhaust pipes from a pickup and hurl them across the room, but I occasionally drop heavy stuff or need to drag something that is too awkward to lift and carry by myself (like a heavy box). I MiG weld, and not always on a table. I grind metal with an angle grinder, which shoots sparks a pretty good distance. I’ve learned no poly coating will stand up to weld spatter or molten metal blobs (not sure about grinder sparks) and I don’t mind doing touchups here and there but I don’t want that to become my side hustle.
With all that said, is there something on the market (clear or colored) that can withstand any of this type of abuse without looking awful almost immediately; something to just seal the pores of the concrete against oil/grease/antifreeze spills until I can clean them up? I’m wondering if the coating they use on the concrete floors at Home Depot/Lowe’s/Menards would do the trick. I just don’t want my floor to look like the one in my Dad’s garage which has oil stains everywhere that nothing short of a jackhammer would remove. I will be doing the work myself, or possibly with one extra person and I can do it in sections between the saw cuts if needed. Since I’m not running a business, it’s not a problem if it takes a few days to get all the layers down and cured. I just won’t use that part of the floor while the stuff cures.
Thanks for any input.
