White Garage Floor

[jonniesmith]

I'm building a new house, it has 2 garages, both 3-4 car. I want white epoxy but my builder told me I would have to hire my own installer, as he said white is problematic. I'm not doing anything major in the garage, but can you guys tell me if white is a terrible idea? Here is the look I'm going for:

 

[allinon72]

It won't be white for long fella

 

[shaun oriold1]

White is a pain in the **** to keep clean. As well, glossy white shows every possible imperfection when its curing. **** blows around, bugs crawl onto the floor, and it needs to be prepped super well.

Expect to pay accordingly.

Shaun

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Ask for a super hide white and finish the floor with a white pigmented urethane.

Naturally a white primer is a neccessity.


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[kwfloors]

The car is whiter than the floor, maybe an off white.

 

[BruceH]

I have a white floor in a 3 car that was done by the PO. It is a major PITA. Shows everything. I have lived with it for 7 years and given serious consideration to redoing it.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

An off-white floor with chips actually hides quite a bit of sins.


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[OriginalWhitey]

An off-white floor with chips actually hides quite a bit of sins.


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Do you have any pictures of your off-white installed? I'm also looking for a light color floor and I'd be interested to see the difference between white, off white, and the light gray

 

[swissguy]

Ist a real bad idea! But do it and post pics! It could turn out fantastic!

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Off-White with System # 3 Chips/Flakes.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Here is a customer's floor from a few years back. This is white epoxy with urethane.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Here is light gray.

 

[PCMusicGuy]

Why not just do white gloss porcelain tiles with a very small grout line?

 

[TigerGA]

If going to the expense of epoxy, pick something user friendly. You'll NEVER keep it from showing dirt, tire tracks, etc. Imagine pulling a wet car into the garage.

 

[Wuaname]

Off-White with System # 3 Chips/Flakes.

I was just going to start my own thread but found this one. I am ordering the epoxy from Legacy this week and also wanted white, but heard all that has been mentioned here, so i was thinking white with red flakes, not too much flakes? Could that work? I haven't found a clear picture online , white epoxy and just red flakes or would it be best for some reason red and black flakes?

In my case its just a one car garage and the only tire rolling in or out would be my motorcycle's.

Any ideas? And white primer? I better double check my choices while i was on legacy.

 

[Jim B]

I'd be afraid the red flakes would make the floor look pink from anything over 3 feet away. I've seen pictures of floors with red flakes mixed in with other colors and they seem to have a pink cast to them. May depend on the density of the red flakes.

 

[R7237]

Scotty's post of the white floor above was in my hangar. Amazing floor, very durable, Urathane top coat and High Hide White. Down for quite some time now, and no problems. Very happy. I have abused the floor beyond belief, and have not had any failures. My prep was Muratic Acid etch and well rinsed. There is some yellowing in the area on the outside the roll up door, which I expected and really only painted it to see how the paint would hold up on the exterior. Again, very happy with the results.

 

[mo2872]

This is Epoxy-Coat's "Taupe".....sort of an off-white, but we chipped it:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2235115&postcount=4

 

[R7237]

High Hide White before the top coat

View media item 43130

 

[R7237]

With Urathane Top Coat

View media item 43131

 

[TheOtherChris]

Nice floor.

Looks like the Zamboni just made a fresh pass on the ice rink.
Now you just need a NHL theme.

 

[OriginalWhitey]

Scotty's post of the white floor above was in my hangar. Amazing floor, very durable, Urathane top coat and High Hide White. Down for quite some time now, and no problems. Very happy. I have abused the floor beyond belief, and have not had any failures. My prep was Muratic Acid etch and well rinsed. There is some yellowing in the area on the outside the roll up door, which I expected and really only painted it to see how the paint would hold up on the exterior. Again, very happy with the results.

Without using a primer do you have light and dark spots that bled thru? Did you get the UV inhibitor in the urethane? And finally, do you have any more pics? It looks great..show it off

 

[thegarageguy]

For a showroom garage would look nice but if its an everyday use garage the white will be difficult to maintain clean looking

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Scotty's post of the white floor above was in my hangar. Amazing floor, very durable, Urathane top coat and High Hide White. Down for quite some time now, and no problems. Very happy. I have abused the floor beyond belief, and have not had any failures. My prep was Muratic Acid etch and well rinsed. There is some yellowing in the area on the outside the roll up door, which I expected and really only painted it to see how the paint would hold up on the exterior. Again, very happy with the results.

Glad your floor is holding up well!!

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Without using a primer do you have light and dark spots that bled thru? Did you get the UV inhibitor in the urethane? And finally, do you have any more pics? It looks great..show it off

Always use a primer. Especially with a light colored floor.
Pick our HD322 Pigmented Urethane in white also, it will keep it very nice.

 

[R7237]

I did not use a primer, just put two coats of the HD Epoxy then the top coat urethane clear. I think when I was putting down the floor, primers were not really the thing at that time. I have had no bleed thru, very consistent color throughout. My hangar usually stays closed, so not much exposure to the UV that most would get, and I really liked the white. It is a functional space however and I cannot tell you the number of heavy metal objects I have drug over the floor without any problems. Brake fluid, oil, acetone, Xylene,,, you name it, I have spilled and it always has wiped up and never left a mark. I was concerned it would be to slick after I put it down, and did not add any anti-skid. Glad I didn't and being too slick has not been a problem. Makes it much easier to clean with a blower. 2 to 3 years in, and I am very pleased still. The pictures are first coat (put on sort of thin to make sure I had enough), second coat and then the urethane. This is in a paint booth sort of structure I built on the right side of the pictures above.

First Coat HD Legacy High Hide White:
View media item 43147
Second Coat HD Legacy High Hide White:
View media item 43146
Top Coat Urathane Clear:
View media item 43145

 

[R7237]

Before someone asks, the space under the sheetrock is how I usually hang it in the shop. I put a 2x4 underneath to get spacing and after the floor dried, I installed the base board which is just a 2x4 with the top edge routed to match flush with the wall. It looks very good and did this as a cheap way to have baseboards and not mess up the lower part of the sheetrock when laying the floor. I have found myself occasionally taking the base board off to run network cables and power lines. This keeps me from having to tear into the wall to make such wire runs. I have never seen it done this way before, just thought is was a good way to save the lower part of the sheetrock and ended up making it really easy to run the 220V plug for the welder later on. Sheetrock is fire rated 5/8". I know it sort of looks like an operating room, but it is just the style I like I guess. Makes it really easy to see things I drop.

 

[Shea]

So...
I'm not so well versed on paints and epoxy.
Is the urethane top coating a type of epoxy or just straight paint type urethane?
If it's just straight paint type urethane...why epoxy as an undercoat/color when the urethane is holding up just fine?

Great questions Ducksface. Without making this a long post, you can get all the information about what polyurethane is and how it works with epoxy here.