Garage Floor Sealer

[tmleadr03]

Looking around for some concrete sealer. Any recommendations? Never done this before, most shops I have worked in have either had crapy stained floors or already had the epoxy on it.

Seal Krete any good?

[sniper7]

tag for interest

[tmleadr03]

tag for interest

Might end up with slightly different ends. I am looking to do at least 2500 sq ft of it...

[sniper7]

Might end up with slightly different ends. I am looking to do at least 2500 sq ft of it...

pfft, I'm going to do 20,000 sq in






[Tooth]

[Great-Kazoo]

You will need to strip it (what ever the tech name is) first. Have lots of N95's on hand .

[MrPrena]

I saw some deals on sealing concrete on groupon and livingsocial. STILL VERY EXPENSIVE. :(

[newracer]

I have read a lot of good things about U Coat It. Prep is key.

[tmleadr03]

I saw some deals on sealing concrete on groupon and livingsocial. STILL VERY EXPENSIVE. :(

Amazon shows Rust-Oleum kit for 99 bucks. Covers a whopping 3-400 sq ft. So with 3000 sq ft it would cost me 750-990 bucks to cover the floor.

http://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-203373-Professional-Coating-Silver/dp/B0008JIQUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350102160&sr=8-1&keywords=garage+floor+epoxy

Hadn't thought about stripping it though... blech.

[TriggerHappy]

My last place I used Epoxy Coat. It was expensive and didn't hold up as I thought it should. I would recommend the cheaper rustoleum type products. My last place looked great for about 6months.

Prep was key. It took me about a day to totally strip the new concrete. And, only mix as much as they say, if it sits in the bucket too long it will turn chunky and you have to order more. The second batch didn't match. My experience anyways.

[tmleadr03]

My last place I used Epoxy Coat. It was expensive and didn't hold up as I thought it should. I would recommend the cheaper rustoleum type products. My last place looked great for about 6months.

Have you used the rustoleum stuff? Or just because if it isn't going to work for long why spend the big bucks?

[newracer]

Go to the garage forums, Rustoleum gets very bad reviews.

[TriggerHappy]

Have you used the rustoleum stuff? Or just because if it isn't going to work for long why spend the big bucks?

Good friends in Alaska used rustoleum and were happy with it. And because it wasnt worth the $400 for a 2 car garage that didn't hold up. I found that it scratched fairly easy.

Also use the sand (traction material), mine when wet was as slippery as a mother effer.

Let me see if I have a pic. Standby.

[Ripper]

I used the stuff from an online store called Girots Garage. Expensive but has held up pretty well for 4-5 years. I took a ton of time prepping, used a buffer with a wire brush and muriatic acid. Good stuff but like I said pricey.

[TriggerHappy]

It was a medium gray, with black,white and dark gray specks. I wished I would have applied heavy specks.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e156/jake82/CE24E001-49A7-4DDF-A1DD-F32C8B3DA02B-6634-0000091707CE5A2B.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e156/jake82/E656EC66-DC77-4C8E-831E-29E5AA2C1784-6634-0000091704E7C7B6.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e156/jake82/423A6689-88D6-4F9D-976D-055FBB6809CD-6634-00000917064A0574.jpg

[Great-Kazoo]

It was a medium gray, with black,white and dark gray specks. I wished I would have applied heavy specks.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e156/jake82/CE24E001-49A7-4DDF-A1DD-F32C8B3DA02B-6634-0000091707CE5A2B.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e156/jake82/E656EC66-DC77-4C8E-831E-29E5AA2C1784-6634-0000091704E7C7B6.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e156/jake82/423A6689-88D6-4F9D-976D-055FBB6809CD-6634-00000917064A0574.jpg

I'd destroy that finish within the hour. Besides looking nice how long would that finish hold up in a shop?

[TriggerHappy]

I'd destroy that finish within the hour. Besides looking nice how long would that finish hold up in a shop?

Like my previous posts. It didn't last, and wasn't worth it.

[merl]

how much of this depends on moisture coming up?

[JohnnyEgo]

I did a lot of reading and research before I had my garage floor done. One of the smarter things I did was to quit and hire out. After my head started swimming with "100% Solids" and "Flake Density", I called a couple locals and asked what to go with. I ended up with something called "polyaspartic" as opposed to polyurethane. It is tougher and more chemical resistant. I went with small flake, and they used a blend of whatever chemicals that gave it some texture, so it has a bit of slip resistance. Allegedly, it's the salt and snow melt and hot tire pick-up that destroys coated floors, and this stuff is resistant to all that. It has held up pretty well to power tools and other sharp pointy things as well. The contractor told me that it is mostly used in commercial applications, so perhaps it is more suited to your needs.

Using professionals on new construction, it still took them the better part of three days to finish up. It also took a lot more of the stuff to complete the job, because new concrete absorbed a lot of it. I had them caulk my expansion joints before they sealed the floor as well. It's not cosmetically pretty, but it is a hell of a lot easier to sweep up sawdust and screws and what-not. Cost me just under $4k to have the walls painted, the stem wall sealed and painted, and the floor done. I used Mile High Coatings out of Fort Collins.

Pictures do not do the floor the justice it deserves. Comes with a 5 year warranty:
http://www.johnnyego.com/dump/garagefloor01.JPG
http://www.johnnyego.com/dump/garagefloor02.JPG
http://www.johnnyego.com/dump/garagefloor03.JPG

[Lurch]

The auto paint place on Santa Fe and south of Hampden sells this stuff that is used to coat outside tanks and walls and now is used for floors. My father inlaw and I used it and it's bullet proof. If you want flakes I have a mix of blue,black and silver you can have for cheap. I bought 10lbs and only used 5.

[cebeu]

I'm with JohnnyE...go with pro installation and I'm doing that on my next house. That said; after a lot of research three years ago I went with Epoxy-Coat (http://www.epoxy-coat.com/)and self-installation over a weekend, liked it then and like it now.

As stated, prep is the key (I missed allowing a few spots to dry enough in the process before application = small bubbling and flaking later), I used the "grit" to ensure non-slip, added-in UV protection to prevent "yellowing" and I did good on the flaking but...even after "over-planning" how I wanted to do it I would still add more flake density next time and better contrasting colors. I used gray base and granite, black white flaking and I should have went went with gray base and black, white and red for my desired effect.

As mentioned above I've had some flaking over the past few years especially where the sun pounds on it near the door (I live above 9k', UV impact is intense up here) but this shit is durable and Epoxy-Coat sent me a free "warranty" touch-up kit when I asked. Studs last winter had no impact, no hot tire pick-up, I carry in heavy gravel chunks every day from my road/drive-way and when cleaned-up...still looks great.

A man's gotta have a nice garage...that's just the way it is... [Dance]

I posted other pics here in the past but here is close-up:

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/cunroe/Closeup2.jpg

[ChadAmberg]

I know the folks who make truck bed coatings like Line-X now do garage floor coating too. May be worth considering.

[funkymonkey1111]

Amazon shows Rust-Oleum kit for 99 bucks. Covers a whopping 3-400 sq ft. So with 3000 sq ft it would cost me 750-990 bucks to cover the floor.

http://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-203373-Professional-Coating-Silver/dp/B0008JIQUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350102160&sr=8-1&keywords=garage+floor+epoxy

Hadn't thought about stripping it though... blech.


Chris,

if you remember the floor at my garage (ford escape with the new oil pan gasket)--that red floor was the rust oleum pro--the non water based kits. it took three to do my two car garage.

[newracer]

I'm with JohnnyE...go with pro installation and I'm doing that on my next house. That said; after a lot of research three years ago I went with Epoxy-Coat (http://www.epoxy-coat.com/)and self-installation over a weekend, liked it then and like it now.

As stated, prep is the key (I missed allowing a few spots to dry enough in the process before application = small bubbling and flaking later), I used the "grit" to ensure non-slip, added-in UV protection to prevent "yellowing" and I did good on the flaking but...even after "over-planning" how I wanted to do it I would still add more flake density next time and better contrasting colors. I used gray base and granite, black white flaking and I should have went went with gray base and black, white and red for my desired effect.

As mentioned above I've had some flaking over the past few years especially where the sun pounds on it near the door (I live above 9k', UV impact is intense up here) but this shit is durable and Epoxy-Coat sent me a free "warranty" touch-up kit when I asked. Studs last winter had no impact, no hot tire pick-up, I carry in heavy gravel chunks every day from my road/drive-way and when cleaned-up...still looks great.

A man's gotta have a nice garage...that's just the way it is... [Dance]

I posted other pics here in the past but here is close-up:

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/cunroe/Closeup2.jpg
What was your final cost?