Concrete Floor Sealer or Paint...

I've just had a small shop built. It's 24' x 36', 864 sq ft. Concrete was just poured this week. I'm debating about what type of sealer of finish to put on the floor. It will have minimal vehicle traffic...mostly just a work shop. Any of you guys have a favorite or have you finished your garage/shop floor with a product you highly recommend?

I'm leaning towards the Rust-Oleum Professional Floor Coating kit. Anyone use this (not necessarily in this color)?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KESBL6/...ing=UTF8&psc=1

The Rustoleum crap didn't last for beans in my garage. Within 2 weeks of being cured it had peeled under my wife's X-terra wheels.

Save yourself the trouble of doing it multiple times and go with this.

It more expensive, but it holds up to everything. We put it in the shop for the company, and it has only discolored where we had slag from cutting with the torch fall on it. Cleans up really easily, and around the mill and lathe, that is important.

i've had the rustoleum (epoxy, not water based) in my garage for 8.5 years and it is holding up well. would absolutely do it again. i have the red and it took more than the calculations on the box said. I think a total of three kits for a two car garage, where i thought i could get away with two.

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Originally Posted by Grant H.

The Rustoleum crap didn't last for beans in my garage. Within 2 weeks of being cured it had peeled under my wife's X-terra wheels.

Save yourself the trouble of doing it multiple times and go with this.

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Someone else told me about this. But the local dealer doesn't sell it to retail customers because, according to him, few people apply it properly.

The Rust-Oleum comes in two flavors...regular and professional. Bad reviews on the regular but practically nothing but raves for the pro product. Pretty much what funkymonkey said.

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Originally Posted by Bailey Guns

The Rust-Oleum comes in two flavors...regular and professional. Bad reviews on the regular but practically nothing but raves for the pro product. Pretty much what funkymonkey said.

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I used the Valspar pro stuff with a clear coat. Followed the instructions to the letter. The only thing I would have done in hindsight was to give the clear a second coat but it looks good and I am still happy 7 months later. Attachment 64965Attachment 64966

It sucks they won't sell it to you, because it's a much better product.

I used the Rustoleum Pro stuff, and it failed pretty badly for me. Some of it may be the condition of the concrete (previous owners were really hard on stuff), but I just wasn't impressed. Especially not when compared to the ArmorSeal at the company shop.

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Originally Posted by Grant H.

It sucks they won't sell it to you, because it's a much better product.

I used the Rustoleum Pro stuff, and it failed pretty badly for me. Some of it may be the condition of the concrete (previous owners were really hard on stuff), but I just wasn't impressed. Especially not when compared to the ArmorSeal at the company shop.

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When I bought my house the pervious owner had a new garage slab put in, so I wasn't putting it down over oil, etc. I used an etcher like the instructions said, also.

i don't know I'd I would have needed as much if I wasn't using the red.

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Originally Posted by jerrymrc

I used the Valspar pro stuff with a clear coat. Followed the instructions to the letter. The only thing I would have done in hindsight was to give the clear a second coat but it looks good and I am still happy 7 months later.

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Heck yeah...that looks good.

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Originally Posted by Grant H.

Some of it may be the condition of the concrete (previous owners were really hard on stuff), ...

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That's what I'm gathering. Prep makes all the difference.

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Originally Posted by Grant H.

The Rustoleum crap didn't last for beans in my garage. Within 2 weeks of being cured it had peeled under my wife's X-terra wheels.

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Hmmmmm.....

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Originally Posted by funkymonkey1111

i've had the rustoleum (epoxy, not water based) in my garage for 8.5 years and it is holding up well. would absolutely do it again. i have the red and it took more than the calculations on the box said. I think a total of three kits for a two car garage, where i thought i could get away with two.

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This was my experience as well. We used the Rustoleum Epoxy kit we got at Lowe's when we had our new garage built in 2008. The surface is still in great condition, no chipping, peeling or fading. Still completely waterproof, too, which we discover every time we have snow and it falls off the vehicles and just pools on the floor instead of soaking into the concrete.

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Originally Posted by funkymonkey1111

When I bought my house the pervious owner had a new garage slab put in, so I wasn't putting it down over oil, etc. I used an etcher like the instructions said, also.

i don't know I'd I would have needed as much if I wasn't using the red.

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Originally Posted by Bailey Guns

That's what I'm gathering. Prep makes all the difference.

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I think this is the case. I'm guessing those who had problems probably put it on an old slab and it may not have been clean enough. We not only put ours on a brand new slab but we also followed all the instructions and washed it with the acid-etching material before we painted on the coating.

One thing to be cautions of, as I said above, it will pool water and that means if the garage/shop gets below freezing you can have icy spots. Our detached garage does sometimes get them. Still, it's super easy to clean up, and I've even spilled oil on it (while changing oil on one of the motorcycles) and cleanup was a snap.

If you do this, invest in a squeegee for water. A drain on the floor might be a consideration, too. I kind of wish I had one.

i didn't put the grip/chips on my application, nor did i add any grit into the mix. if the floor is wet, there's no problem gripping. but, if you have snow on your shoes, holy crap, it's an ice rink. (i mean snow caked on your shoes).

clean up is definitely a snap--any automotive fluid just wipes right up. i even wax my floor with johnson wax.

We used the acid-etch cleaner as well.

The peeling started along one of the cracks, and the coating just wasn't strong enough to keep from pulling up and apart.

We used the same acid-etch cleaner in the company shop when we put down the ArmorSeal, the only difference was that was brand new concrete. Not 37 year old concrete.

Given everyone else's experience, give the rustoleum product a try and see if it works out.

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Originally Posted by funkymonkey1111

i even wax my floor with johnson wax.

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Wax on, wax off, monkey-san.

I went with Epoxy Coat. It goes on 9.7 mils thick, thicker than most DIY epoxy kits. I've had it on for 3 years now, and it's held up great. I think my first chips were from Skully hammering on his winch bumper project last weekend. [Coffee]

http://www.epoxy-coat.com/

Attachment 64975




Pic was from shortly after coating.

^^ That's looks like good stuff. Not sure I have the budget for that, though.

I purchased my epoxy floor coating from GarageFlooring LLC in Grand Junction. The main guy there is Justin Kraus. He provides good advice and support. I currently don't have the flakes on my floor, but will be adding them soon. The current gloss finish seems to amplify the uneven concrete work in my garage and I'm hoping that adding the flakes will mask this look.

As someone else mentioned, even the gloss-only treatment didn't cause the floor to be unreasonably slick. The only time it's too slick is when I have snow packed on the soles of my shoes. I think it's worse than an ice rink in this situation.

Prepping your floor is absolutely key to a long-lasting floor. The modern solution is to use a floor polisher and a diamond grinding pad. This package can be rented from Home Depot. I used the diamond grinder AND muriatic acid--because I've seen people strip a floor gone bad and it looks like no fun.

Have fun with your project. I've done 4 garages so far. My current garage:

http://www.woodardfamily.com/hosted/Garage.JPG

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Originally Posted by NFATrustGuy

I purchased my epoxy floor coating from GarageFlooring LLC in Grand Junction. The main guy there is Justin Kraus. He provides good advice and support. I currently don't have the flakes on my floor, but will be adding them soon. The current gloss finish seems to amplify the uneven concrete work in my garage and I'm hoping that adding the flakes will mask this look.

As someone else mentioned, even the gloss-only treatment didn't cause the floor to be unreasonably slick. The only time it's too slick is when I have snow packed on the soles of my shoes. I think it's worse than an ice rink in this situation.

Prepping your floor is absolutely key to a long-lasting floor. The modern solution is to use a floor polisher and a diamond grinding pad. This package can be rented from Home Depot. I used the diamond grinder AND muriatic acid--because I've seen people strip a floor gone bad and it looks like no fun.

Have fun with your project. I've done 4 garages so far. My current garage:

http://www.woodardfamily.com/hosted/Garage.JPG

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You obviously need more stuff...

LOL. I wish my garage was this empty.

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Originally Posted by Grant H.

You obviously need more stuff...

LOL. I wish my garage was this empty.

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I believe that picture was taken the day the epoxy was laid down.

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Originally Posted by Irving

I believe that picture was taken the day the epoxy was laid down.

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I would expect so.

I'm just annoyed with my garage currently, as it got completely trashed when I had to move my wife's parents estate here from OK.

Now we are slowly working through getting rid of stuff, so I can actually have my reloading bench back. It was a total cluster to clear a space for Opie to deliver my new safe.

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Originally Posted by Irving

I believe that picture was taken the day the epoxy was laid down.

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Exactly!

I've been able to maintain pretty well, but it comes and goes. I'm remodeling right now and will be moving on July 1, so it's in a perpetual state of flux these days. Sometimes boxes to be moved to storage... Sometimes a trim saw and 300' of base trim...

My 24x40 is stuffed. And dirty.

Attachment 64993

That's a nicely done floor, NFATG.

The paint place on Santa Fe and Hampden sells a paint that is used to coat above ground tanks. It can be used on floors as well. I used it on my garage and it is bullet proof.

Before you can do this, isn't there a new-slab curing wait time? Didn't jump out at me while I was speed reading the thread.

Z

Yeah...about 28 days seems to be the consensus. It's been almost two weeks now. There's a test to determine moisture content...tape a small square of plastic to the floor for about 24 hrs, remove, check the underside of the plastic for moisture. Still waiting for the electrical hookup, too.

Painters Supply is the place I was talking about. Also if you need paint chips for traction I have a bunch of extra from my garage. It's a blue,grey and white mix.

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Originally Posted by Lurch

Painters Supply is the place I was talking about. Also if you need paint chips for traction I have a bunch of extra from my garage. It's a blue,grey and white mix.

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It's probably a bit of a drive to pick them up...but thanks for the thought.

I will echo the comments on floor prep. I wish I could re-do mine (used Seal Krete coating and sealant) now that I have had one winter. It is not sticking well in the high use areas and this home had an immaculate garage floor when we bought it. Probably could have used three to four times the etching process I did.

That being said, I'll just throw another coat of clear on this summer and call it good. It is a garage, not a museum!


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