rustoleum pro

[hd5]

I have a 480 sq ft garage and have bought two kits.

I emailed Rustoleum but they only sort of partially answered my question.

What I need to do so my wife doesn't kill me is half of the garage at a time.
I have dawdled around until cold weather and if she has to park outside, it won't be pleasant at my house.

I had in mind doing half of the garage without flakes, wait till it dries. Do the other side without flakes, wait till warmer weather, then put a final coat on the entire floor with flakes.

They also said once I etch with muriatic acid not to drive or walk on it until it was painted. so if I follow my plan should I etch the entire floor, then re-etch
(sort of sounds like pukeing. don't it) the other side.

Don't beat me up too bad. I have done numerous searches and still not sure what to do

 

[XRetailGarageGuy]

First there are many good people on this board that have detailed explanations on floor coatings like Wolverine. But first out of the gate I would never use Rustoleum! Hopefully you can return it. Second is your floor able to hold an epoxy or polyurea product? What is the condition of the floor? Have you looked at a tile product? You should check moisture level because if it is too high you will probably lean towards a tile product because in many instances putting down a water barrier product is very pricey. Do more research! If you lean towards a tile product then you need to see if you want to use a polypropylene product (hard and noisey, usually less expensive) vs a PVC product (more rubber like, little to no noise, heavier which can mean higher costs maybe for product and or shipping).
My Checklist:
1-Budget
2-Floor condition
3-Time
4-Product choice
5-proper installation
All make Happy customer!

Hope this helps, you will find good and bad information on this site but you will find enough to make an educated decision which will be great in the long run!

Good Luck
Bob

 

[sammerdog]

Okay - ex-retailgarageguy, you're beating up on Rustoleum pretty hard. Looks like you're also in Michigan, so I'll ask what the draw backs are for it up here in the great white north.

I'm in the same boat as hd5 and need to do my garage in "steps" - three stalls total. How to etch / re-etch is a head scratcher to me also - wouldn't want to get muiratic acid on a freshly done floor. The cold weather has pushed me back to next year to begin. I was planning on using Rustoleum also. A few buddies have used Rustoleum with decent results, but have been able to do their complete floors all at once. I've done the plastic square taped to the concrete and seem to be all set as far as moisture wicking up.

Is there a product in the same general price range as Rustoleum that works better?

 

[hd5]

I'm pretty much gonna have to keep what I got. Had a friend who runs a hardware store special order it for me a while back. Wouldn't even ask him to take it back. I know he would but I aint gonna ask...

No moisture problem, floor is 9 years old. I cleaned it with tsp.
No oil on the floor, however Maggie has peed on it a few times, that's my daughter's dog, not my wife.
I pretty well cleaned that up. you can still see discoloration, though.
I bought the Rustoleum after reading on here where some folks seemed to like it pretty good.
By the way I'm in SE Missouri
Thanks

 

[atvmech]

I was told by a friend, who is a professional painter, he has painted several garage floors and such, and insisted after you etch to mix up baking soda and water, and wash the floor to neutralize the acid....makes sense

 

[awakeinAZ]

There are lots of people here with no Rustoleum issues unless you go cheap with water based.

11/24 is my floors 1 year birthday with no issues what so ever.

 

[hidollartoys]

It would seem that you have one option.... Wait tell warm weather next spring. Then start again from the beginning.

 

[Rob Beckers]

In a previous house I put Rustoleum Pro on the garage floor, and used it for 3 years. No issues, the floor looked good all that time, no delamination or wear. My only regret with that floor was that I didn't put any anti-slip down; it got very, very slippery with any water on the floor.

-Rob-

 

[Fuller]

Keep in mind that "re-etching" a floor that already has a coating on it is pointless. The acid needs to react with the raw concrete to work. Your previous coating will keep that from happening.

Most manufacturers will advise you to sand the painted surface and wipe it down with a solvent (I use xylene) to soften the surface before applying a finish coat. This advice only applies if your first coat is beyond the re-coat window (usually 24 hours).

My opinion: you can do better than the Rustoleum kit. I grind 'em off all the time.

 

[XRetailGarageGuy]

Product Change all the time so the Rustoleum may be getting better but my experience has shown there are better products.
Regardless of that I would NEVER etch the floor I would only diamond grind it. You can now rent a great diamond grinder at all the home depot rental centers. That will always be better than etching. No matter what the product (not really) but you will always get better adhersion when a floor is grinder vs etching. So if you have a product and want to give it the best shot at working diamond grind vs etching!
Good Luck!

 

[XRetailGarageGuy]

I was told by a friend, who is a professional painter, he has painted several garage floors and such, and insisted after you etch to mix up baking soda and water, and wash the floor to neutralize the acid....makes sense

Professional painters in my experience paint and do not lay a good quality floor! Again always exceptions but you do not PAINT your floor!

But he is correct about baking soda!

 

[awakeinAZ]

diamond grind for best results!

 

[slicksleeve]

I just applied rustoleum pro to my garage floor. I am exteremly pleased with the results. The rustoleum has yet to go through a winter so I'm anxious to see how it holds up.

 

[hd5]

Some may have misunderstood me, I don't want to re-etch the side that I am going to paint first. I want to paint half the garage while the wife is parking on the other half, then do the other half... Wait for warmer weather and recoat the whole thing this time with the chips.
Is that not workable?

Thanks

 

[awakeinAZ]

Spammer sighted (lmno961)

 

[sammerdog]

Some may have misunderstood me, I don't want to re-etch the side that I am going to paint first. I want to paint half the garage while the wife is parking on the other half, then do the other half... Wait for warmer weather and recoat the whole thing this time with the chips.
Is that not workable?

Thanks

I don't know if you'd want to "double up" coats on one side and not the other. My vote would be to completely etch, coat, and chip one stall up to an expansion joint and then stop. Let it dry for a week or so, move everything over onto that section, then do the other side.

I'm just not 100% sure how to protect the finished portion from the etching / rinsing generated when prepping the second part. Duct tape and tar paper come to mind quickly, but seems like it would try to pull up the one week old finish and/or wick coloring from the tar paper down into the finish.

Please post your results when you get done. I'm doing the exact same thing, but not until spring.