Whats wrong with box store epoxy floor coatings?

[ToocoolZ28]

I'm going to coat the floor of my house garage. I don't park in here, just bicycles and storage. What is wrong with using the epoxy floor coating from Home Depot? It is Rustoleum brand and seems like decent stuff. I'm not really trying to be cheap but if it is good enough I cant see spending more money.
How about "U-coat-it" brand? Its more money but is it that much better?
I will be doing this myself sometime in the next month. Garage is 22x22.
Any recommendations??

 

[workhurts]

Obviously not an expert at this but since so much time is consumed with prep, most of us just don't like taking the risk. I have a friend that put down some valspar two part epoxy a decade ago and the floor still looks great. It's never seen a car or brake fluid or oil or transmission fluid or a floor jack.

If you're using a two part and you never park anything on it and prep the floor properly then I can't see it failing. I'd defer to the experts to chime in but that my 2 cents. The 1 part epoxy stuff is **** and I wouldn't recommend you paint anything with that stuff.

I did rustoleum two part with a rustoleum clear in a previous garage and the only place it failed was where my original 1 part coating failed. The rest of the floor is still going strong.

All that being said, for an extra couple hundred bucks why risk it?

 

[rsanter]

This is the first garage I did with epoxy. I used the valspar stuff and it was a ton of work and you had to work quick before the stuff flashed.
It turned out well but I didn't get to do the clear coat because they don't sell it around here because air quality restrictions.

In my past garages I just used garage floor paint. Cheap and easy. Then bad thing is that I did get some hot tire pickup and I did scratch through it a few times dragging heavy metal stuff across the floor. On the good side I just cleaned the floor and touch up painted that area, can't do that with epoxy.

For you...I recommend just use the garage floor paint since you are not parking on it. Cheap and easy

Bob

 

[ToocoolZ28]

Yeah, I see your point. Every brand of floor coating that I have looked at on the 'net has people that love it and people that say its ****.
How do you decide??

 

[workhurts]

I would never recommend that anyone just use garage floor paint or anything that is a 1 part epoxy. Hot tire pick-up galore and it's super thin so it scratches. If you at least put a 2 part down, even if it's not 100% solids then at least you have a decent 'primer' down so you can do something else later.

Putting down just concrete paint (whether it's labeled garage or not) is just asking for headaches.

Like I said previously, I may not have a ton of experience with epoxy but I can't imagine recommending just painting the floor.

 

[theoldwizard1]

My son used Rustoleum in his laundry room. It came out great ! But a laundry room is not a garage !!

One problem with all paints on concrete is tire "pickup". I'm not sure what causes it (improper prep, incomplete drying, etc.) so this is something you really need to check into.

 

[sickjuice]

Most chemical products sold at consumer stores are inferior to products available at industrial suppliers. Glues, paints, cleaners, weed killers, exct are usually diluted/weaker when sold at box stores compared to the stuff you can get at professional stores. This hold true for floor coatings.

 

[LIGOOMBA]

Yeah, I see your point. Every brand of floor coating that I have looked at on the 'net has people that love it and people that say its ****.
How do you decide??

So true !!
I helped out two friends do box store bought Rustoleum epoxy.The industrial one 2 part.One had a new floor the other had a floor that was a bit old.Same prep for both.No flakes or clear coat on them either.We pressure washed them 3xs. The oils spots were hit with Simple Green, acid and reressure washed.Both garages get used for lots of hot rod/race car work.Cutting with a torch, grinding,engine building ,welding etc....No peels,no lifting of epoxy.Ive spent lots of time there and they look just as good as the day the epoxy was put down.My one buddy pressure washes his floor every once in a while and it looks brand new! I think prep is the deciding factor,so is the weather .Im still debating on who's epoxy to use.I used the DuPont Brand.I swear buy it ! I beat it to **** doing the same stuff and no problems !!! I cant find it anymore.I am still trying to find a supplier.Thats my experience !
I may just put a few company names in a hat and pick one!!!!

 

[rsanter]

I would never recommend that anyone just use garage floor paint or anything that is a 1 part epoxy. Hot tire pick-up galore and it's super thin so it scratches. If you at least put a 2 part down, even if it's not 100% solids then at least you have a decent 'primer' down so you can do something else later.

Putting down just concrete paint (whether it's labeled garage or not) is just asking for headaches.

Like I said previously, I may not have a ton of experience with epoxy but I can't imagine recommending just painting the floor.

I use my garages hard and a lot. 3 garages over time had just the floor paint and I was pleased with how well it held up. The hot tire pickup happened only a little bit over the years and was easy to touch up.
Scratching through only happened with dragging sharp edges across is and was easy to touch up

Bob

 

[workhurts]

Wonder if durability of paint vs epoxy vs whatever else also has to do with climate and environmental conditions. Seriously though, for an extra 100-200 bucks, why risk it?

 

[pauls_workshop]

The thing with the box store rustoleum or valspar kits is that they cost alot for the amount of cured epoxy you end up with. On a dollar/microns of epoxy thickness when cured basis, the 100% solids types are much better values. You can do this math yourself.

If you prep the same way, and did a couple kits, you can end up with I think just as good a floor and as thick as the 100% solids types, but why do 2 or 3 kits worth for at least 2x the cost and 3x the time vs. just the 100% solids kit with one pass in the first place? Epoxy is fundamentally expensive stuff. If you are going to use it at all, I would just do it right.

Having said all that, the water based epoxy can make a nice primer coat for a 100% solids basecoat later. Paul Oman's website talks about this in detail. I do not like Valspar kits though myself - I think they are a low grade product and have talked to more than a few people with problems with these. And some have said the higher end rustoleum kit is much better than their lower end one. I would only use a water based kit as a primer coat myself. - Paul

 

[Shea]

The thing with the box store rustoleum or valspar kits is that they cost alot for the amount of cured epoxy you end up with. On a dollar/microns of epoxy thickness when cured basis, the 100% solids types are much better values. You can do this math yourself.

Exactly.... when you do the math, this is always the case.

I wrote and article about why store bought epoxy paint kits get a bad wrap that helps to explain it more. They do serve their purpose if you know what to expect when purchasing them.

My sister actually applied a water based Rust-Oleum kit to her condo garage floor without telling me about until it was too late. I told her no worries, when it starts peeling up I will come over and grind the floor to install a better epoxy. That was 7 years ago and it still looks almost new. Granted, she only parks her cars in the garage and it never sees sun. I'm still amazed it has held up this long, but this is the type of garage that many people install these kits in and have good luck. I don't care for them, but they are still on the shelves for a reason.

 

[charlie horse]

Paul and Shea said in better words than I, the point I would have tried to convey. I bought Epoxy-Coat after I did the cost analysis of the Valspar Rustoleaum stuff. It was dimes a square foot more but I'm so pleased with the result.

Been a very busy month moving into a new home, banging out the garage and making the wife happy with all the interior painting, new tile and window treatments. Once things calm down, I hope to post the pics of my before and after pics from what I've done with floors and walls with the knowledge I've gained from this awesome community.