Yup, another "numpty" wants to paint the floor...

[Great white]

Yup, another flooring question. I'm sure we're all tired of them, but here goes.

Here's the scenario:

New house, new garage, virgin floor (6 years old).

I do a fair bit of work in the garage that includes jack stands, oil, grease, grinding, welding and scratching the floor with heavy/sharp metal objects. It's also only going to be "home" for around 5 years or so (I'm military and we get moved around about that often).

Options:

1. Racedeck - Whoa, Holy Jebus momma! Expensive and won't hold up to my use. Issues with water getting under it. Looks super nice though. In theory, I could take it with me, but whatever "mess" is under the floor will hurt resale....

2. Professional epoxy coat - Wow! Waaayyy too expensive! Supposedly, burns like all epoxy and just doesn't stand up well to the MIG/grinded cast off. Seals floor well though. Looks super nice too....

3. DIY Epoxy - moderate price. I'll need at least 2 gallons. Same welding/grinding/scraping/scratching issues as "Pro" stuff. Looks nice and seals floor from oil/grease. If it ever lifts, gonna be a "B" to repair and just doubled the price of an already moderate priced floor.....

4. Tile - Kinda expensive. Won't stand up to my use. Canadian winters will quickly kill the grout. Yup, that's out.....

5. Sealer - Price OK. Still looks like concrete though. Burnt/damaged floor can't be hidden with reapplication. Messy floor not good for resale.....

6. Vinyl tile - Nope, not gonna last. Especially not attractive for the price vs durability. It's outta here....

7. Polished/sealed concrete - Mmmmm, very nice but outside my price range and it'll still burn....

8. Concrete "paint" - Inexpensive. Seals floor, but burns and scratches easily. Cheap and easy to make "showroom fresh" again....

So, all things considered, I think I'll be painting the floor. Now before the naysayers start, consider this:

I'll be using the garage as a "working" garage for rebuilding my old 89 Chev 4x4 half ton and will be really beating the floor up with welding, grease, oil, cutting, grinding, dragging body parts around and such all over it.

The shop I used to work in (used to be an apprentice mechanic before the military) had painted shop floors. Yes, I said painted, with actual paint. Sure it scratched and was a bit slippery when wet if you weren't careful pulling a car in, but once a year it was redone and held up very well through a year to commercial use in a very big/busy shop.

As I'll be selling the house in the (relatively) near future, I need it to look fresh just before selling. With paint, I can afford to redo it just prior to sale and have it look nice and sharp.


I may take a "little" extra time and paint a checked board pattern just for a little bit of "pop".

With all this in mind, can anyone recommend a good, durable paint that will adhere well to the concrete? Or even some good prep techniques prior to painting?

Anyone?

 

[Shocker]

Sounds like it won't matter much as to which paint. Clean the floor with degreaser.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

http://superfloorcoat.com/concrete-ts100.asp

That would be what I used. I recomend two coats. You would need a paint respirator. This company has many products. I used this one because it offers superior penetration and adhesion. I think the paint you use does matter.

 

[Jaguar Fan]

First,

Thank you for your service in the Military. I don't live in your country, but I thank you anyway.

The way you stated the problem, maybe leave the concrete completely alone until you're getting ready to sell the house. Then powerwash/degrease it & paint it.

Or, do the DIY quality epoxy route which as you point out won't hold up to welding, so instead put welding blankets down to protect the floor; everything else (oil, fluids, jack stands, etc etc) would not be a problem.

Personally, I like the DIY epoxy because of the ease of clean-up, but that's a personal opinion.

 

[Drev]

Great White, have you considered acid staining and putting a clear sealer on top? You would need to like the random look, but it's not a coating that will scratch off since the stain actually changes the colour of the concrete. I just did this in my garage and it looks pretty cool. I used a latex-based high gloss clear polyurethane from a company called Rainguard and I would assume that if it were to scratch off I could just reapply over top. Simple as that. As far as cost goes it's relatively cheap. I did my 24x22 garage for less than $300 CDN. I didn't see this as an option on your list of possibilites so I thought I would put it out there. Good luck with your decision!