Which Garage Floor Coating?

[Harms Inc.]

Ok, I realize this subject has been beaten to death but I'm at a crossroads. I just cleaned and painted my two car garage (built and abused thoroughly since 1952) and used a rented floor buffer with a diamond grinding disc to clean off the old worn away paint and top layer of concrete (what a grueling 7 hour ordeal that was!). 40lbs of concrete dust later the floor is now clean, dry, and nice and rough. The last picture shows it in bare freshly ground concrete (which has a tan hue).

I want a coating that will withstand cars tires (2 cars parked there every night year round, hot, cold, dry, snow, etc.) and occasional light maintenance with a jack and stands.

I only want to do this once, I had a nightmare with my shop floor, ended up polishing and sealing it and am so far, happy there. This concrete isn't as nice so I want to coat it and need my DIY options please.

 

[ard]

what do you want it to LOOK LIKE, visually? Pattern, flake, monochromatic?

Primer, epoxy, flake, polyurea topcoat is one option.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Nice job on the floor, like ard says, what finish are you looking for? I would give a shout out to some of the vendors on the forum. These guys all offer great product and will give you honest advice.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Nice canvas!!

 

[Toomanytools?]

This has been beat to death even by me it shouldn't be so hard. I have one side of my shop done 2000 sq, done in a sealer HD40, but still deciding on the other side.
If cost is a factor plug that into your decision, with a sealer you can be around .50/sqft or less. Most film coatings Epoxy, Polyurea push that up to $1 - $2/sqft, a metallic even more.
Most of the vendor products Epoxy/Poly will do what you want with different degrees of chemical resistance. List out what you want in looks: Solid color, clear, flakes, stain. The ease of application if it's just you, or you have help.
You are halfway there the floor is prepped for anything, good luck.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi
We have a terrific coating in the 60 cent/sq ft range, our SPGX Single Component polyaspartic/polyurea.

https://armorpoxy.com/products/spgx-one-part-polyurea-coating/

Alternately our www.armorcladepoxy.com 100% solids system is also very popular at about $1.00/ft for all three layers.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Ok, I realize this subject has been beaten to death but I'm at a crossroads. I just cleaned and painted my two car garage (built and abused thoroughly since 1952) and used a rented floor buffer with a diamond grinding disc to clean off the old worn away paint and top layer of concrete (what a grueling 7 hour ordeal that was!). 40lbs of concrete dust later the floor is now clean, dry, and nice and rough. The last picture shows it in bare freshly ground concrete (which has a tan hue).

I want a coating that will withstand cars tires (2 cars parked there every night year round, hot, cold, dry, snow, etc.) and occasional light maintenance with a jack and stands.

I only want to do this once, I had a nightmare with my shop floor, ended up polishing and sealing it and am so far, happy there. This concrete isn't as nice so I want to coat it and need my DIY options please.

Mine is the best Just kidding. You will find some great vendors and some great support here

I would look at our All Weather Floors Polyurea, Scotty @ Legacy has a great one Nohr-S and other similar products. Great performance and easy to install

 

[Toomanytools?]

Hi
We have a terrific coating in the 60 cent/sq ft range, our SPGX Single Component polyaspartic/polyurea.

https://armorpoxy.com/products/spgx-one-part-polyurea-coating/

Alternately our www.armorcladepoxy.com 100% solids system is also very popular at about $1.00/ft for all three layers.

How many coats of SPGX? Site says one or two, most likely two?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Normally a single coat of SPGX is satisfactory, but of course a 2nd coat can be applied for better protection. It can be recoated at any time in the future by a light buffing/scratching up and recoat.

 

[Harms Inc.]

Solid color, biege, flakes optional

 

[Harms Inc.]

I'm actually considering the flooring tiles now, seems a lot simpler than the whole pour on coating dice roll.

 

[JohnnyK81]

How does SPGX hold up to salt/snow?

Thanks!

 

[Armorpoxy]

Superbly. It is even more resistant to salt and chemicals than urethanes.

 

[katilicous]

Wow u did an awesome job prepping. It looks serene in there.

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[Harms Inc.]

Ok, so Landed on a preferred finish. I want white (or near white) high polish gloss appearance, no flakes, with a slip reducer.

I did the math and have 552 SQ feet to cover. We park two cars inside every night, we have mild summers, snow and cold in the winters. I do light mechanical work in this garage, change tires, oil, etc. have an aluminum floor jack and stands. I want a product that is easy to repair if damaged, don'
t want to have to strip and start over if I get a scratch, etc.

Soup to nuts what will it cost and what product is best?

You vendors please offer up your advantages/benefits over your competitors. Seems everyone I've talked to so far "Has the best" product.

 

[retfr8flyr]

I'm actually considering the flooring tiles now, seems a lot simpler than the whole pour on coating dice roll.

Even if you go with tiles, you should put something on that floor. After the grinding the surface is all open pores with zero protection from the elements. I would at least put a sealer on it before you put the tiles down.

 

[Harms Inc.]

Understood, I would have if I decided to go tiles.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi, we offer virtually any type of solution you need, one part polyureas SPGX , tiles www.supratile.com (ours are solid not hollow like many and are super heavy duty), 100% solids epoxy www.armorcladepoxy.com, Spartacote Polyaspartic, metallic systems and Ghostshield sealers.

We leave the choices to our clients as they are all different and have different price points, installation times, and other considerations. About 80% of our business is commercial, industrial and military sales so our team has a lot of experience with virtually any type of flooring to assist with purchases.

They all work great and we have tens of thousands of satisfied customers who have purchased in these categories, and like any purchase all have pros and cons. Tons of great reading on GJ to help with decision making.

Shoot us an email directly with any particular questions so we can try to assist with feedback.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Do you know if there is a vapor barrier under the concrete? If its 1952 vintage, I would guess not.

If no vapor barrier, should you be concerned about moisture coming up through the porous concrete and disturbing whatever you put on the floor?

What do the floor experts have to say about moisture?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi
Our Armorclad instructions indicate how to test for moisture. If found, we offer special moisture remediation coatings to remediate. Others sometimes use ribbed ventilated tiles to allow the floor to breathe.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Do you know if there is a vapor barrier under the concrete? If its 1952 vintage, I would guess not.

If no vapor barrier, should you be concerned about moisture coming up through the porous concrete and disturbing whatever you put on the floor?

What do the floor experts have to say about moisture?

Aqua-Dike is our go-to moisture vapor barrier.
When you are in this business for a while you develop a nose for moisture.
These are things to look for:

• Mold on floor or walls
• White residue on floor surface
• Low Lying area or draining near the slab
• Sub-Grade Construction
• Gutter spouts pointing towards slab

These are just some. We come across moisture rarely in FL, unless very near the coast or a lake.

 

[Harms Inc.]

Ok, I did the moisture test, virtually none so not a problem. The problem with Armorpoxy is that you guys label everything with all of your unique brand names but to a layman they mean nothing in terms of what the product actually is or does, your descriptions are a bit confusing. Bottom line I want the "best" one time only application product you sell. I've listed my intended uses. I am an overkill guy, price is way down on my list of concerns. Per my above description which specific product do you recommend?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Our best and most tried and true is our www.armorcladepoxy.com system with primer and military grade topcoat.

 

[Harms Inc.]

Thanks, do you recommend the two part top coat or the one part? I have a handful of pretty decent sized chunks of concrete missing from heavy objects being dropped and gouging the concrete (maybe an inch deep, inch wide triangle shaped divots) as well as a couple spider cracks that run across the floor in a couple areas (no real gaps but cracks none the less). What should I fill them with? I'm thinking of going with your off white color with no flakes, will the small cracks and divots show up like a sore thumb or does the epoxy fill and self level some of that stuff?

 

[Armorpoxy]

Hi kindly send us an email directly so we can send you our Surface Prep Memo which reviews this.

Short answer is you need to make repairs first as no liquid coating alone will fix a floor. They will help, but not a solution. Also a light color and no flecks will show EVERYTHING on the surface that isn't perfect.


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[Gerald O]

Ceramic or porcelain tiles make for a very nice coating that will last for the life of the building.
And you don't need a perfect concrete surface under them.
And there are no fumes while it cures. And no hazardous chemicals to fool with.
And moisture is pretty much a non issue.
And it's no more expensive.

 

[Harms Inc.]

Well I ordered the www.armorcladepoxy.com system, seems like forever ago....The wait is killing me, cold weather is closing in on us fast.

 

[Johngm45]

I’m wanting to know the same thing .
I have quotes for POLYASPARTIC coating but it’s double the price of racedeck but a lifetime warranty and such a cool look!!
Thoughts or anyone have experience with this product ?

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[Harms Inc.]

Ok, after as much prep as I could think of I have an issue. The areas that had oil stains from parked cars over the years (area where the oil pans would drip) apparently still have some oil in the concrete, enough that the primer coat fish eyed in those spots. I diamond ground the floor and cleaned it very well with solvents, no oil was visible but apparently there's enough left in the concrete to resist the coating. What's my next move before I continue on? Entire floor is now coated in (still wet) primer.

 

[Harms Inc.]

I called the tech line today and was told to sand the fish eyes and re-coat with primer (luckily I still had some unmixed). seems to have done the trick, next is the epoxy, then topcoat. I'll post as progress is made.