ucoat-it?? HELP

[hartattack]

I am wanting to purchase an epoxy floor coating this week. I thought i had decided on ucoat-it just like E46M3 did. I love the look of his floor and the price is good. Now i have been reading some move reviews and some are not having good luck with the product and are also saying it is a water based epoxy, it is a very thin product.Who has used it and what do you think? Any help would be great.

I was also looking at epoxy-coat but was thinking that if i do a black base with white and gray flake that it would stain with out top coat over flake.

 

[Lou's Garage]

UCoat It may not hold up to an industrial setting but it's been on my son's garage floor for 5 years now and still looks great. No hot tire pickup in the part that's used for daily parking, no damage from activities in the area that's used as a workshop including the part that was used for major auto repairs when it was only 3 weeks old. There's no welding going on so I can't say how that would affect it although I suspect it would probably burn through. Prep consisted of cleaning up a couple of oil stains and acid-etching. I'll use it for my garage floor when the time comes.

Lou

 

[reddog1970]

I have been researching all the choices as well. There are so many out there and not a huge amount of feedback. It seems like once people put their floor in they don't comeback to the forum to update us on how the floor holds up. I have pretty much decided on Armorchip from Armorgarage.com. The price is about the same as Ucoatit, but it is 100% solids, a lot thicker, 8 lbs of chips, notched squeegee. Again, I haven't been able to find many reviews, so I'm taking a chance. Wolverine sounds like a very good product also, I just can't afford it. But I think with any of these floors the biggest key to success is floor prep. Good luck.

Mike

 

[Nutty 5.0]

Like Lou's garage said, in a general use its fine. I have two lifts and use my garage pretty hard. My U coat It has not held up well particularly the past year or two. I'd look into other options unless you won't use your floor hard.

It looked awesome the first year when I treated like a baby. Then after some spills of PB blaster (Stained it orange when it set in for 24 hours) and where the lift arms contact the floor when rested and moved into position, it took its tool. Also some hot tire pick up of clear coat that just started this year. And under car on lift where heavy traffic is it is wearing down.

 

[Cobra5L]

I installed my U-Coat it floor back in May. So far the floor has held up pretty good. I did notice two areas where the rear tires of my wife's daily driver had a bit of hot tire pick up.

When I installed the coating, I ordered enough to do more than my 3 car garage, but it seems I barely had enough when applying. When I applied the UV top coat, i had it tinted to the same colour as the base because I was not using any flakes. It covered up any thin spots I had. (which may be the reason for the hot tire pickup.

Even the best epoxys will fail if you dont prep properly. I did the concrete grinder, vacuum, acid wash, the preasure wash. You do not want the epoxy to bond with the concrete dust that are in the pores.

I've only started to do minor work in my garage, so far so good.

My 2 cents.

 

[Nutty 5.0]

Good point Cobra5L. I prepped my exactly how they prescribed but would not recommend U coat it when I've heard so much better from the others out there.

 

[reddog1970]

Well, I ordered my ArmorChip today. We'll see how it goes. I have about 2 more weeks of curing time before I can put it down.

 

[thammel]

Definitely post how it goes! I plan to be doing mine first thing in the Spring and Armorchip was at the top of the list!

Tom

 

[james66g]

I am in the same boat but havent pulled the tripper just yet met with a guy about having the floor actually stained instead of coated. Had a guy come out and he seemed great but wow $5 per sq foot and I am looking at just under 430sq ft. Like always house is eating up funds so I am watching the forum with great interest!

 

[Cobra5L]

By the time I was done everything (tool rentals, etc) it cost about $1.75 sqft. for the U-coat it. It's a little easier on the wallet when doing a 750 sqft garage. I was quoted $6 sqft by a professional. With all the expenses of buying your first house, it came down to the best bang for your buck.

Plus, I bought the u-coat it before I became a member of this forum. Best thing to do is research this forum and take everything with a grain of salt!

 

[Hammerdown]

Well, I ordered my ArmorChip today. We'll see how it goes. I have about 2 more weeks of curing time before I can put it down.

Please let us know I this project turns out. I had spoken with someone at Armorgarage (Armorclad epoxy as well) and they ruffled my feathers a little. I was trying to get some more info on it and he kept trying to sell me. Sell me more. I am not a fan of the hard sell! Tell me what I want to know and I'll make up my own mind, thank you!

 

[ironroad 9c1]

well after over a year of HARD use my rustolium is holding up really nice, , it has some scratches , but all and all its not peeling and welding slag really just barely makes a brown spot that I can almost clean completely off. it was 2 coats of base and a layer of clear. the other side with the cantol was one coat and no clear , has also held up pretty well.

 

[Randar68]

Comparison of cost:

Raw coatings cost for Wolverine Coatings (BondTite primer + LiquaTile + flakes + EnduraShield + Supergrip850) was a little over $2 a sq ft. Including all the repair stuff I needed for a badly damaged floor, it was around $3 a sq ft. Shot blaster was $1.25 a sq ft for me but the more area you have, the cheaper per sq ft you will pay since it is a flat cost.

Overall, for about $4.25 a sq ft I have a seamless, 20-25 mil surface that is essentially impermeable and looks gorgeous. Maintenance free. Work can basically be done a long weekend.

 

[Nutty 5.0]

Sounds like a good deal Randar68 for a great product from what I've been seeing and heard.

 

[thammel]

Wait a minute! For my 837ft^2 pad at $4/ft^2 this would cost about $3500! I don't think I'm going to do that! If I can keep this job to a grand or less I'll be happy.

TOm

 

[Nutty 5.0]

My 24x32 cost me under 1k with the clear coat for automotive use back in 05 fwiw...

 

[Hogan646]

Comparison of cost:

Raw coatings cost for Wolverine Coatings (BondTite primer + LiquaTile + flakes + EnduraShield + Supergrip850) was a little over $2 a sq ft. Including all the repair stuff I needed for a badly damaged floor, it was around $3 a sq ft. Shot blaster was $1.25 a sq ft for me but the more area you have, the cheaper per sq ft you will pay since it is a flat cost.

Overall, for about $4.25 a sq ft I have a seamless, 20-25 mil surface that is essentially impermeable and looks gorgeous. Maintenance free. Work can basically be done a long weekend.

Do you have any pictures to share?

 

[Randar68]

Do you have any pictures to share?

I need to get some better ones if the sun ever shines in Chicago again, but here are a couple:

 

[Hogan646]

Looks great, I love the color combination. How many people did you have working with you during the project?

 

[Randar68]

Looks great, I love the color combination. How many people did you have working with you during the project?

I had my wife help with brushing in the stem walls and trim areas, but otherwise, I did everything myself. Definitely could have used a second hand to help keep the magnet broom going during the shot-blasting, but it wasn't too bad as a one-man job all around.

Color combo was 6-equal-parts of paint chips (3 light ones and 3 dark ones) along with some metallic IllumiFlakes.

 

[reddog1970]

Finished my floor this week. Armorchip looks great! Installation went very well. I did a second etching to be sure. The 2 things I would recommend. The spike soles where a HUGE help. Even if you don't think you need them, spend the little extra and get them. Also, I used a respirator. The fumes from the top coat where pretty strong. The floor looks great. I'm going to wait a little extra time before moving the vehicles in. So I will update on how it looks after vehicle traffic. I can't say enough about the customer service from Armorgarage. I asked a lot of questions and Jim responded very quickly and professionally everytime.

 

[Hardware]

well after over a year of HARD use my rustolium is holding up really nice, , it has some scratches , but all and all its not peeling and welding slag really just barely makes a brown spot that I can almost clean completely off. it was 2 coats of base and a layer of clear. the other side with the cantol was one coat and no clear , has also held up pretty well.

Waterbased?

 

[rickey1013]

This requires some prep work before applying. Applied a commercial degreaser from home depot first waited till it dried, then used muriatic acid to etch the concrete. Then followed the directions pretty easy to follow gives you a dvd but he flies right through the process without really showing someone for the first time how to do this. Would have liked to see some type of pictures of what I was looking for when etching as this cost me $600 wanted to get it right the first time. It has been 3 months so far car leaves no marks even when turning the front tires on it. I have spilled some paint on it wipes right up with ease. I will be welding soon not setup yet. Walked my commercial compressor across it no marks either. I purchased the Medium grey, Uflek-AF with Granite flek.

 

[Hammerdown]

Rickey1013, that floor looks great! The dog looks like he enjoys it as well. I have used ucoatit before and had good success. It looks like a work bench is being built in the last photo. Is that going to have supports mounted to the wall or legs?

 

[rickey1013]

I went with the 4x4 legs as never know what I could be working on. The Dog loves the floor when the temps get into the 90's. I am happy with the product as I sure did not have a clue what to do as first time I have had a garage that is mine. I am going with new cabinets so these are from an old work van I am using temp. till can afford the new ones.

 

[Hammerdown]

Nice. It's starting to get that "lived in" look. The dog looks like my "ole girl" lab/sheppherd mix I had about 15 years ago. Not a great field dog, a decent watch dog but boy could she fetch! Frisbies, balls, sugar beets, rocks, whatever! If you threw it, she'd retrieve it, all day long.