New Garage Floor - what type?
 

I am building a new garage, and was of the mindset to put down a good epoxy that will resist solvents etc. A nice commercial grade material, but a buddy suggested that I just polish the floor. I thought about and considered this may be a good option. I know this is used in offices in some applications but did not know if anyone has used in their shop. Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks

For what it’s worth I dyed my concrete , rough trowel, sealed then epoxy. Another section I used race deck.
My concrete is a bit dark but overall I’m happy

We did an clear epoxy coating over old concrete that was ground down before flooded with epoxy. It’s done well except for a few areas where it got chipped.

Completed floor.

https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/...skzvd1tde.jpeg


https://i285.photobucket.com/albums/...siqcbmyyc.jpeg

Just finishing a new garage and had the concrete polished. I would do it again. I have epoxy in one of my shops and what was supposed to be non staining etc is staining etc. Floor is actually dirty in these pics.

You cant go wrong with terrazzo, it will last longer without stains than anything else.

I just went through this last spring.


After 16 years of use I had some salt pitting on the floor that I needed to address...…….and like most car projects it evolved into something larger........a garage refresh with new lighting, paint, furnace, and some other things....




I work in the commercial construction business and chose to use a SikaFloor system based on recommendations from a vendor that I had 25 years of good experience with. It is a 3 step, seeded system. First day they come and grind the floor and install the base color and chips, second day an initial clear coat and more chips, 3rd day a final gloss clear coat.


Not inexpensive for sure, but very happy with the results and performance. I did not want to mess with the home store do it yourself kits that start to fail after 10 years or so. Very impact resistant with floor jacks, jackstands, dropped impact sockets (just used them last night), highly resistant to everything I have put on it so far (melting salt water from cars, oil, grease, gasoline, mineral spirits, etc.)

----WOW, Jake! Where did you put all your stuff for the days needed. Just that moving of everything is why I probably won't redo my epoxied floor which seems to chip and scratch way too easily. Not happy...…..Bill S

Here is my shop floor I had done in 2004. Was a new slab that I let sit for a few months. Supposed to withstand everything etc. Expensive 3 part epoxy that looked great for a few years. Mind you this is not a working shop, just a place to park done stuff. After a few years, staining, lifting, hot tires pulled it up etc. Company that did it is no longer in business.

I did the same thing in my garage as Jake did above with the color flakes and epoxy.
Its industrial use flooring. I had this in my old garage I built in 2006. Never any issues.
They can run it up the wall 6 inches which acts as a base.

Sikafloor was the brand. Same as Jakes.

Cost installed for me was around $4/sq ft. I also have a 60x72 garage. The grout lines also added to the cost.

The peeling etc is why I dyed my slab. Even though I cleared it when it flakes or stains you can’t tell.
In my older barn As mentioned I use race deck. Put down some black felt to keep the noise down and just snap that stuff in place awesome I’ll attach a picture

Heres some pics. I havent had an issue with the newer stuff as far as tires making marks or peeling. It was afresh concrete floor and they came in and bead blasted it with a machine. I have oil, trans fluid gas spilled and never an issue.
They did also put some sand in it to make it less slippery. If you go straight epoxy, you will end up on your back!!

You guys are making me feel like a hillbilly.

:haha:
Lynn, that is why I don't post pics of my garage. :grin:

I did it before my in laws came back north for the summer - all the big stuff went into their garage, and then I put most everything else on the patio with a couple of big tarps over the whole mess - which my neighbors appreciated I'm sure. Start to finish was about a week, so not too long.

Sorry to hear - looks and sounds similar to what I did. Do you remember what Mfr. if was?

Can't even buy the material in my area for $4/SF - that is a deal!

No but it was a big Co. The local guys came and ground the floor with a diamond grinder, did the base coat, added the flakes and then the clear coat.

Race deck flooring. .

The Garage Journal has a specific thread for garage flooring...There are some very knowledgeable folks there that can give you solid advice.

That really turned out nice Charley!

Agree, a lot of information over there on this topic.

with that said, I also would do polished concrete.

Thanks for posting the garage journal info. I have an old barn with some new concrete but the original that I left isnt great. Real problem to roll the hoist around on. It really needs something to fill cracks and pits but local concrete guy said putting a skim coat on it wont last. I will do some reading

I did RUSTOLEUM epoxy on my brand new floors 3 kits for 1500 ft sq. I used VALSPAR texture additive, I DID NOT use the ENCLOSED flakes, I find it makes the floors too busy if trying to locate a dropped screw or the like.

The kits came with CITRIC ACID, however I etched the concrete with muratic acid, pressure washed then let dry for 2 days then checked them--- still had a powdery residue... pressure washed again, 2 days no residue...
I did half and half.. while doing the first half I dripped a couple of drops of paint on the non finished half... 2 days later when I took a razor blade to scrape them up... they took the floated finish of the concrete off with the paint chips... I'D HAVE TO SAY IT BONDED!

2 weeks after finishing my dad dropped the tractor scrape blade from 2 feet and they did not chip - I have, in the last few months, dropped multiple heavy tools, parts etc landing on the sharpest edge, the epoxy has not chipped.

I thought about this a lot when building my shed, which should be finishing up shortly. I considered epoxy, stain, pigmented and polished. What it came down to was several factors, mostly aesthetics, maintainability, functionality and cost. The shed is 60x80 so it was a relatively large area. With aesthetics I will admit the space will be more for entertaining and storage than work so the right look (color) was important. I was afraid with the epoxy it would inevitably chip and flake. One thing I'd be careful with polished is that it will be very slippery when wet, or with just sox on when dry . I ultimately went with pigmented concrete (addition or iron oxides to the concrete). With pigmented if it chipped the color would be relative undisturbed, it was finished and sealed a little rough so it wasn't so slippery when wet, it came in a color that went with the look I was going for and it was the least expensive option...polished concrete was 2x the pigmented and epoxy was 3x. I went with a shade called rawhide...I'll try and upload a couple pics.

Contrast of pigmented against standard.

The big flakes are the worst for finding bolts, screws and washers. If I were to do it again, it would be really small flakes that are uniform.

Never again without sand, especially in the walk ways. When it is wet, it is dangerous, the sand would help big time.

The coatings never hold up. Maybe it would longer if you used a shop peen machine. My floor at my new place was coated a few times, all Flaking off, huge mess. With Race Deck I can now go in my garage with just socks on, the race deck is awesome. Super clean. And not slippery. Plus you could always take it if you move. The front last row is custom cut for this place. Even that was easy, just run through a table saw.
I wouldn’t do black again though, the sun hits it and it does swell up temporarily. I have a double black border.

Damn Fred, that is a nice building, looks like you had a PBR POW WOW



Mike

:beers::beers::beers:

Final polish on floor. Just bare concrete.

^^ Zamboni'd!

Looks very classy Charley.

Here is what mine looked like before clear coating applied. It will give you an idea on the color but doesn’t show the variations in terms of the shades of grey. The concrete has fiberglass and I had it machine troweled rough to decrease the slippage factor.

Damn, you guys have some insane garages.
I thought my 6-car garage in the city was a big deal....

Lift is in

.......

When it was all done, I put like $4500 in my garage. But I love it. Last addition was a flat screen and a nice smart DVD player
My garage most was filled with hand me down cabinets from the trash. Everything had to go. I did the garage before I moved in. Once all your stuff is in, its too hard to do then.

Pics

What brand is it. Any reason why you decided on a dual vs 2 singles? Space maybe?

I built this garage with the two car lift in mind for storage. I also have room for another one right in front of it. Brand is Advantage Lift. Very well built.

Used the sliding jack today.