What Kind Of Flooring Is This?

[Jandrews]

I notice it a lot in schools and hospitals. Seems very durable and was wondering if it would work well in a garage? How is it applied? What is with the curved joints? Seems it would be ideal for hosing down and/or mopping.

Thanks,

JA

[Moses]

Zolatone. That stuff is epic.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Nope. Not Zolatone.

It's trowel applied resinous epoxy with integral cove base

About as expensive as floors get. Seamless and waterproof.

Floor needs to be ground or shot blasted, primed with epoxy then trowelled with the resinous epoxy and top coated with a clear urethane to aid in UV resistance. Many times a barrier mat is installed as well to deal with water and potential cracking.

[Oh Haha]

It's awesome stuff. It's mostly used in commercial applications but it would certainly work in the garage.

If you don't mind, could you post the price per sq. foot?

I used the epoxy in a bucket for my garage a cfew years ago.

[URY914]

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

Nope. Not Zolatone.

It's trowel applied resinous epoxy with integral cove base

About as expensive as floors get. Seamless and waterproof.

Floor needs to be ground or shot blasted, primed with epoxy then trowelled with the resinous epoxy and top coated with a clear urethane to aid in UV resistance. Many times a barrier mat is installed as well to deal with water and potential cracking.

Agree.

[tcar]

Is called terrazzo?


Zolatone is just paint, like in the trunk of your old Chebby.

[kaisen]

I don't think its Terrazzo.

[rsNINESOOPER]

definitely NOT Terazzao-

The flooring material in the picture that the OP submitted is indeed a resin based material.
It is indeed expensive and probably doesn't hold up well to point loads like jack stand feet and floor jacks, etc.

Terazzo is a cementitious material containing crushed marble, etc., and is poured like concrete then the surface is cut and polished to reveal the matrix.

Epoxy paint is a better choice because you can spot repair it yourself unlike the material shown which must be installed by a contractor on the material suppliers "list". Not to mention that the stuff requires a bit of experience using it to get it to work properly. It is tough to do any spot repairs in areas that lose adhesion etc. Oh, and as oters have mentioned its expensive. I had a quote for a restaurant project I did and for 650sqf of kitchen floor it was about $10,000.00 without a guarantee because our guys blasted the floor.

[Jandrews]

Good discussion so far. I figured it was expensive, but really, if they can afford to do an entire hospital or school with it, wouldn't you be able to find someone who could do your garage for something somewhat reasonable? I mean, $10,000 for 650 sq. ft.? That would mean they have a multi-million dollar floor in my kid's public elementary school. Is that even rational?

JA

[vonsmog]

Looks like the three or four part epoxy treatment that my parents had done to their garage floor this past summer. It took the guys doing it about 10 days to do it, and cost about $2400 for a 30'X24' floor. They had to strip off the old paint, then treat the concrete, next fill and smooth out the cracks. Then start applying all the layers, and allowing it to dry between coats. Looks just like the photos above. I don't know if I would want it in the shop, as I think it would chip when you drop a Unimog axle on it, or hammer some piece of metal that you are trying to straighten out! But seems like it will last for ever when just parking a car on it.

[javadog]

Actually, what you most often see in a hospital is probably sheet vinyl. Not suitable for garages...

JR

[MFAFF]

It an expoxy resin based thick coat 'mortar' flooring system. Hi build( in that they are c 5-8mm thick and can be used to level concrete slabs to a degree. Also the aggregate in them (usually different coloured sands can be custom and on site mixed to provide the colours/ tones wanted)....

The prime reason for their use in hospital/ primary schools is that they are impervious and easily 'deep cleaned' with decent chemicals. As the OP's picture shows they can be made into curved covings which help hygiene, cleaning etc.

They are also hard wearing with respect to footfall and low weight rolling trolleys etc.
And comfortable to walk on as they have a slight resiliance in them.

This is their greatest downfall as they do not necessarily have great concentrated point load resistance and stability.. at least not the ones I have had installed.
If you are simply going to park on it its possibly a bit of overkill and as for using in a workshop then I htink the 'softness' might be an issue.

Also the issue of petrol slippages is one to be mindful of...the thickness of resin may be detrimentally affected by petrol on it...or oil, let alone brake fluid etc. This is why resin paint is so popular..as its easy (ish) to clean.. hear wearing and if it does peel/ bubble off at least the concerte below remains steady.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Originally Posted by Jandrews

Good discussion so far. I figured it was expensive, but really, if they can afford to do an entire hospital or school with it, wouldn't you be able to find someone who could do your garage for something somewhat reasonable? I mean, $10,000 for 650 sq. ft.? That would mean they have a multi-million dollar floor in my kid's public elementary school. Is that even rational?

JA

Price per square foot goes down as the footage goes up.

Small floors get expensive because you still have to do all the steps and make multiple trips, thus a high unit price.

Not sure what someone would charge for a garage but that type of floor is definitely overkill. The reason schools and hospitals use them is because they hold up well to constant cleaning and they can be made waterproof to protect the areas in a building under the floor. When you mop a floor everyday, you have to worry about seams in a floor leaking. Thus, the seamless floor.

There is an alternate to get the same look as someone mentioned above. You can apply a coat of epoxy and then broadcast media to excess. Go back the next day, sweep up the media and do again. You can build up a floor that looks similar to the above.

The pictured floor is definitely trowel applied due to the integral base.

You would have a lot of trouble trying to get media to stick to a vertical surface.

[crustychief]

It looks like the same coating they use in the galley on most US Navy ships, way to soft for a garage floor, it is designed to reduce fatigue as well as other purposes.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Definitely epoxy flooring and not terrazzo. The real advantage of it is that there are no joints or potential failure points. Very durable and easy to maintain. If you want to do a garage with the stuff it'll run you a few hundred bucks.

My only complaints are that it isn't the most slip-resistant material (if you spill oil/gas/petrochem products on it it's like a skating rink with some of the products - some are better than others), it's a bee-yatch if you ever have to modify your floor slab, not the most environmentally friendly stuff in the world. All-in-all though it's a good choice if your slab is prepped well with all the openings/penetrations you'll want and graded/sloped properly - and your car doesn't leak.

[look 171]

Sorry for going off topic a bit. POP, what is the product that's use in apartment walkways that are water proof. It has a rubber feel to it. It looks like its rolled or towel on. I can't get it anymore around here( maybe its no longer available in CA?). No one seem to know what I am talking about. I need to waterproof a small car port. Ther decking is 1" T & G plywood. It needs to be cheap. Any suggestions? Thanks

Jeff

[Porsche-O-Phile]

DuraCoat or the stuff you see around pools and on track surfaces and places like that? If it's the squishy feeling stuff it might be Mondo (makes a bunch of different surfaces for tracks and tennis courts & stuff) or Protectakote or RockSolid or Goddard (a few I'm vaguely familiar with and a couple popped up on a web search). I think it's just a rubber/latex kind of topcoating you can stick into Division 9 though... I'm pretty sure the stuff we used as a pedestrian walkway coating was the DuraCoat but I'd have to check...

[look 171]

What did you look under on the web? I keep getting cement base products or installers. This stuff I am talking about is not hard like dura coat, and not squishy like tennis courts. You find them in walkway or steps in our typical mini malls. It has a rubber texture and it isn't thick.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I just tried Googling "Division 9 rubber finish". There's a ton of stuff on sweets.com too. Try 096100 and 096500

Flexco maybe? There's a whole section for resilient stairs & stair nosings too but I'm not sure which one you're looking for.

[sc_rufctr]

Nice finish but it really is overkill for a garage floor. This is the sort of stuff used in operating theaters in hospitals. There are different versions.

Meanwhile Terrazzo is something else again and a lot more common. It's like seamless marble floor... But it's not flexible like this stuff.
I once owned a house with a Terrazzo floor in the bathroom. It was pink and it matched the tiles on the walls.
Really old bathroom with curved edge tiles at the boarders. Circa 1930s.

It's really difficult to find anyone who can do a Terrazzo floor nowadays.