White epoxy in a garage?

[sns1938]

Looking at the regular premium epoxy brands that sponsor GJ, and thinking I'd love white, but maybe light grey is better. I don't want flakes.

1) Does white just get covered in tire marks?
2) Many reports talk about having a few helpers when putting down the layers. One to edge in, one to do rolling etc. Am I crazy to do a 2 car garage on my own? One brand had a version with 3% solvent in it to make it easier to spread ... maybe that's better for me?

Apart from that, I'll be ordering once I confirm square footage and we take possession of the new house in a month.

Thanks

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

White is tough to keep looking snappy. Check out light gray or a light-tan.


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[James-W]

Many years ago a guy I worked with had painted his one car garage floor white. He used floor paint and not epoxy, but in any case the white floor looked terrible in no time at all.

 

[bigjon]

I did white epoxy in my previous shed and recoated it a couple of years later due to the constant mopping. If your OCD like me you will hate it. My current place has light tan, with medium broadcast of flakes, in the shed and dark brown with flakes in the garage. The flakes hid my application sins.

 

[Trey T]

I have tan color and I wish I did white. Look at some porsche garages for inspiration.

 

[vavet]

I have white ArmorPoxy. It shows every little thing on it.
I do not keep a pristine shop.
Despite that, I love how easy it is to find the small washer I've dropped. I also love how bright it makes the place.
If you can live with the fact that a working garage will never look clean, then it's OK. If that is going to bug you, then choose gray or tan.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Looking at the regular premium epoxy brands that sponsor GJ, and thinking I'd love white, but maybe light grey is better. I don't want flakes.

1) Does white just get covered in tire marks?
2) Many reports talk about having a few helpers when putting down the layers. One to edge in, one to do rolling etc. Am I crazy to do a 2 car garage on my own? One brand had a version with 3% solvent in it to make it easier to spread ... maybe that's better for me?

Apart from that, I'll be ordering once I confirm square footage and we take possession of the new house in a month.

Thanks

GJ Member -- Polyurea

Local Customer WHite with flake

GJ Member

 

[haugy]

As Garageflooring posted, you can see some do white with a real light broadcast of flakes. I did this as well on my shop and it looked great all the time. I wanted it as white as I could but with enough "texture" to hide dings, scratches, scuffs, etc.

I will definitely go with the white and light broadcast of flakes again.

 

[tncatadjuster]

I've been putting down epoxy for 35 years only this year did I do my floor in white, best choice ever. I highly recommend white with shark grip, I hate flakes.

 

[Armorpoxy]

White us tough to keep nice looking. It's fine if you are larking planes, boats, etc which is light traffic. Daily use it will look dirty from road **** coming in. We recommend light gray or our light Desert Tan.

Note on white, if you want white and want to fleck you MUST put down a coat of white non yellowing topcoat to broadcast the flecks onto and then another coat of clear on that adding to the coat. White epoxy will yellow if not done this way.

 

[sns1938]

Thanks all. The white looks amazing, but I'm going to go light grey ... just not sure I will cope with it getting that dirty with daily car movements.

Now to work out which system is easiest to put down on your own ... I highly doubt I can find someone to help me do this project.

Off to measure the garage tomorrow to see how many sq ft I have to do.

Thank you

 

[Uncle Fester]

Depending on climate it can be done by yourself but at least one person is helpful. We had one edge and one to roll it on. With epoxy you only have a window to use it in and do not want it to harden in the bucket. I wanted white as it looks so clean but ended up going a light tan and love it. Take a look at Armorpoxy it is great to use.

 

[Armorpoxy]

Our 'Desert Tan' is a very light color as is our 'Light Gray' which is like a light pewter color. Both are very light, but much easier to keep clean than white.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Thanks all. The white looks amazing, but I'm going to go light grey ... just not sure I will cope with it getting that dirty with daily car movements.

Now to work out which system is easiest to put down on your own ... I highly doubt I can find someone to help me do this project.

Off to measure the garage tomorrow to see how many sq ft I have to do.

Thank you

For what it's worth... our polyurea kits are naturally UV stable and definitely easier to install than a common epoxy kit.

Also... no spike-shoes needed with a polyurea kit, you flake as you go!

 

[Armorpoxy]

All kits are flaked while applying, the issue is that once you move past an area and if you didn't apply the flecks evenly and want to go back and try to even them out. Without spike shoes there is no way to 'go back'. This possible problem has nothing to do with the type or brand of coating.

 

[sns1938]

I got a chance to look more closely at the floor.

1) spalling (?) where the tires sit for each car, although mostly for one of the cars.
2) There's a crack, but pretty minor
3) A drain (with some slope to it) to manage

Assuming I'm going 100% solids, and I rent a floor polisher with diamond wheel:

1) I should clean the concrete off as good as I can (water blaster?)
2) Patch the spalling and crack
3) Grind the floor
4) Sweep, vacuum, blow, mop the floor
5) Undercoat
6) Main layer
7) Military top coat

Job done?

Is the time critical steps for curing just the middle layer of 100% solids, or is it the undercoat and top coat too?

Thanks,

 

[Armorpoxy]

This damage looks like more that can be grinded with a Diamabrush. We would suggest that you rent a true diamond grinder to smooth this out, since no liquid coating will do much in the way of repairs. If you are looking for a like-new finish, some serious prep and repair work is called for.

If you patch with skim coat remember that these can fail at the feathered edges since there isn't enough material in the thin areas and expansion and contraction of the slab can cause failures at thin points which is what you see when sidewalks are repaired this way. For this reason we don't like to recommend skim coats with feathering in garages especially if those areas will see tire traffic weight. Repouring the floor with a self leveler would work much better, but much more work and coat. We are a Master Distributor for Laticrete and carry these products if required.

Another solution would be to just normally prep the floor and do a full fleck broadcast of a single light color like light gray or off white, as full broadcast does a very good job of hiding floor damage.

Lastly the only part of the coating system that has a shorter working time is 100% solids epoxy, but if you follow our instructions on mixing you won't have a problem.

Thank you.

 

[sns1938]

This damage looks like more that can be grinded with a Diamabrush. We would suggest that you rent a true diamond grinder to smooth this out, since no liquid coating will do much in the way of repairs. If you are looking for a like-new finish, some serious prep and repair work is called for.

If you patch with skim coat remember that these can fail at the feathered edges since there isn't enough material in the thin areas and expansion and contraction of the slab can cause failures at thin points which is what you see when sidewalks are repaired this way. For this reason we don't like to recommend skim coats with feathering in garages especially if those areas will see tire traffic weight. Repouring the floor with a self leveler would work much better, but much more work and coat. We are a Master Distributor for Laticrete and carry these products if required.

Another solution would be to just normally prep the floor and do a full fleck broadcast of a single light color like light gray or off white, as full broadcast does a very good job of hiding floor damage.

Lastly the only part of the coating system that has a shorter working time is 100% solids epoxy, but if you follow our instructions on mixing you won't have a problem.

Thank you.

I think that basically means I’ll do the flakes. I don’t have the budget for major work. It’s not the floor of my dreams, but will allow AC,central heat and water heater projects to be funded. My wife appreciates heat and hot water more than a nice floor

Thanks.

 

[Armorpoxy]

In the bad areas some handing grinding with a cup wheel would help a lot. Make sure you prime this floor!

 

[dreamgarage]

How did the white flakes turn out? I’m thinking about doing this and want to hear how you feel a couple years later