gleaming garage floor

[fly944]

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A GARAGE FLOOR. I WAS THINKING EPOXY?

[83930]

I know a guy who did his concrete restroom floor with boat deck paint(some sort of epoxy I think) three years now and it still looks new.(did it in grey)

[MarkY]

Epoxy by itself is OK but after a while it will show wear and it isn't easy to keep clean. My floor is done in a Polyurethane coat and is beautiful. Its easy to keep clean and spills wipe right up. It is the same stuff that you will find in airplane hangars and high end automotive garages.

[Mrdi]

The boat deck paint was probably linear polyurathane, comes in two parts (expensive). There are some good threads on this topic on this site, do a search. The most difficult part is cleaning the current floor to accept the new surface. Seems acid washing was the most indicated.
If the floor had a plastic liner placed beneath it before it was poured , you could consider asphalt tiles. Easy to lay and you can do all kinds of unique patterns. The most common seems to be black and white squares. If you screw on up with a spill of something horendous (MEK) you can just replace the destryed tile. Asphalt tiles are cheap.
Keep us apprised.

[bell]

at my shop we have a grey industrial floor paint and it's been on it for about 4 years and still looks nice, all it needs once and a while is a good mopping and it shines again. i'll check to see what we used exactly.

bell
85'911 targa

[stormcrow]

The best thing I have seen for shop floors is a two part epoxy that you mix and roll on. You can also put sand into it to make it non-skid. The floor has to be acid etched prior to laying it down.

The best place to find out about it is from a general contractor who does butler buildings.

Steve

[speeder]

Most important thing is to use coating that is compatible w/ tires rolling and turning on it. I worked as pro painter and have used some of these floor paints that are excellent but say,"not for garage floors" on can. Nothing nicer than a clean, painted garage floor.

[Fishcop]

What about a good quality ceramic floor tile? Easy to lay, impervious to oil/fuel and tyre abrasion, and will certainly take the weight of a car. Other than that, maybe a good quality vinyl floor covering?

[Siena911]

I am planning the following sometime soon.

15 mm polystyrene (sp?) for insulation (it gets cold here in winter and working in the garage gets a bit painfull especially when you trap your fingers between the chassis and your spanner

On top of that I am planning on putting 18mm chipboard (loftboards) and then putting a vinyl layer on top of that Not too sure as to how long it will last but it beats lying on a cold garage floor and I dont have to do any type of acid wash etc...

Cheers
Jakes

[johnco]

I've done several garage floors and concrete slabs with a colored sealer/stain from Increte and also from Spraycrete. The Increte is solvent based and will dissolve some with spilled gas if not wiped up soon. the Spraycrete is water based and I've left muratic acid sitting for over a day with no problems. I think Sherwin Williams paint stores have a similar product. There are many companies making this product. comes in many colors and is just rolled or sprayed on. Increte is about $125 for 5 gallons and covers 700sq ft. I'm not sure how much the stuff costs at Sherwin Williams . It will last for many years and oil will not soak into the concrete. spilled oil washes off with soap and water. don't get the stain where you don't want it as it is impossible to get off. with Increte you can add a microbubble to the mix for a slip resistant surface. or spray a texture in your favorite design and then stain if you want to get fancy. better than ceramic tiles and cheaper but looks similar with the texture. tape your designs and spray the texture. then clean up, stain/seal and you're done. you can get real fancy with multiple colors.

[Jamie79SC]

I'm thinking of old fashioned linolium in a black / white checkerboard pattern. (It is for a Porsche after all) does anyone have experience with linolium's durability, oil resistance, etc...?

[cstreit]

I have little experience in the matter, but that won't stop me from presenting my opinion

The cheaper epoxy stuff seems to chip and wear after a few years of heavy use.... But this is based on a buddies shop which probably gets a LOT more ear than your average garage...

I would worry about heat and solvents on linoleum though, I wonder if the heat of a hot exhaust would damage the linoleum over time.?

[GIBSON]

Has anybody tried the stuff from Griot's garage? They advertise it to never lift from tire tread. I've never been that impressed with their stuff and especially prices but this might be an exception. Looks good but who knows?

Bruce Herrmann

[jluetjen]

After I had my garage built about 3 years ago I painted the floor using Thompsons Garage Floor Protector (Gray). I bought it at Home Depot and maybe spent $100 for the paint, acid, cleaner, etc. . It worked out pretty well. Spills clean up quickly and it does a great job preventing the floor from making dust.

Pluses:
1) Oil comes right up with some kitty litter and a sweep.
2) The floor does not create dust.
3) It looks neat

Minuses:
1) Brake Fluid will remove the paint. (Surprise?)
2) Applying it can be a PITA because the floor needs to be CLEAN , etched with acid and then cleaned again before it can be painted.
3) The stuff is pretty noxious when drying . I had both garage doors open as well as the back door and fans for ventilation while applying it. Even though the fire door was kept closed to the house, you could still smell it from inside the house for almost a week.

It has started to show some wear in the bay where the family van / daily driver is kept. Specifically under the front tires of the FWD Honda Odyssy. But we have snowy winters with salt on the roads and I can see how any scuffing of the tires will start to wear the paint. I'm not convinced that any paint would withstand that.

Given the choice, I'd do it again.

That's my owners report.

[MarkY]

Originally posted by GIBSON
Has anybody tried the stuff from Griot's garage? They advertise it to never lift from tire tread. I've never been that impressed with their stuff and especially prices but this might be an exception. Looks good but who knows?

Bruce Herrmann

I agree that Griot's has some nice stuff. However, anything they sell you can find the same stuff (marketed under another name) for a LOT LESS. I imagine the garage floor covering is no exception.

This company definately caters to the more money than brains clientel.

[URY914]

I'm a project manager of a commercial general contractor and have installed all the above listed floor types. Let me share a few thoughts:
Linoleam-this is the stuff that come in rolls from Home Depot and is about the cheaped type of flooring product there is. I would never use it for a garage floor. It is too soft- it will get cuts in it from jack stand legs and dropped screwdrivers. The cuts will lead to tearing and it will look like crap quick. There is also linoleam tile-the peal and stick stuff, but same story. It is not the right thing to use for a garage.
VCT tile: This is the commerical product which comes in 1/8" x 12" x 12" squares, but must be glued down with mastic. Also the floor must be clean and "floated" out to get the low areas level with the rest of the floor. This is the product you see in Walmart,K-Mart, and supermarkets. It is strong stuff. But spilled oil will get in the joints and you won't be able to clean it up. You can wax it and it will shine up real pretty. This is about $.85 /sf installed. Yes you can make nice checked flag designs with it.
Ceramic tile: Just like in the bathroom, but you'll get oil in the grout joints and it will look dirty soon. You can use a dark color grout which would help. The tile can break of course and they can be replaced-but your floor is not really flat, rolling a floor jack over it could chip the edge ot the tile. This is also the most expense floor to install.
Epoxy: See the above posts-everyone is right on with the pros and cons.
Paint: See the above posts, also. The best cost for the use and looks product. And can be touched up if needed. My garage floor is painted with the Home Depot floor paint system.
Good luck....

[Jamie79SC]

URY 914,

By linolium, I meant the old fashioned squares, glued down with mastic like you saw in homes and resturaunts 50 years ago. Perhaps it's not even available any more.

[URY914]

Jamie,
We are probably talking about the same thing, but still don't use a peal and stick floor. It is fine for the house kitchen or bathroom where hot water and a broken glass is about the worst it will see, but there is too going on in a garage. (Gas-oil-heat-dirt and sand from the tires- brake fuild-break cleaner, etc, etc.) Linoleum is sort of a paper material with a wearing surface applied to it. When you wear though the surface to the paper like backing it is done and time to replace. The wearing surface is 1/32" at the most and is soft.
VCT (vinyl composition tile) is the same material all the way throught it. There is not wearing surface. It will mantain its color until it wears throught to the concrete. It is an 1/8" of an inch thick and very hard so it will take awhile to wear though. VCT would be a great option if you can keep the oil and other fluids out of it. It will get in the joints between the tile and won't come out. It does come in all colors and I've seen it at Home Depot. This is the stuff people use to call Asbestos Tile, but we won't be using that any more. VCT is its replacement.

[carnut169]

I am about to do mine w/ the Bear (Bher?) system- 4 steps Cleaner, Etching, Primer and then an epoxy final coat. I think I will need to wait for warmer weather to apply it...

[ToyCollector]

I got this off a website from a guy who builds garages for a living in NJ. Note the word commercial however--may be overkill for a private use garage.

"The floor I prefer for most commercial installations is an epoxy/quartz based system (check with the industrial flooring installers in your local yellow pages). This solution is used by many auto dealerships and fire departments. If this surface will hold up to the abuse of a 66,000 lb. fire truck, it should last a lifetime in your home garage. Overall thickness of the finished application is 1/8" (125 mil) with a textured surface to prevent slipping. A wide range of colors are available and multiple colors are popular on many projects. You can even seal your favorite logo (like a 48" BMW roundel or Porsche crest) below a clear coat on the surface of the floor. Installed price for this product (the prep is very labor intensive) runs $4-6 per square foot."

I will be calling him today to discuss, along with questions on some wall material he likes to use.

Other clippings from his site <www.ultimategarage.com>

"- If you've got a newly poured floor, don't do anything for at least 30 days (it takes a while for concrete to totally cure). Most people will just leave the floor a natural light grey. In my opinion, this is better than painting it with a regular masonry paint which will tend to light and peel when a hot rubber tire rolls or turns on the surface. In addition, basic paints will not hold up to many basic automotive fluids (oil and brake fluids). The cheapest way to dress up the garage floor is with an industrial floor paint, generally an epoxy or urethane system. Benjamin Moore sells a line of industrial paints which should hold up fine for most light duty traffic and exposure. However, for heavy mechanical and chemical abuse, these systems (which are only 4-15 mils thick) can start deteriorating within 2 years. Oil, brake fluid and water can leach under the surface and accelerate the floors destruction. Other options include rubber tiles (Pirelli and Armstrong are popular) which come in 12x12" squares and are easy to install. They also come in a variety of colors. The problem here is that they don't make a very good shop floor. Rolling a jack or a tool box is difficult and the tiles tend to discolor with chemical exposure. I've also seen quarry tile installations on commercial jobs (BMW uses them at their educational facilities here in NJ). The problem with quarry tiles is keeping the grout joints from staining. If you decide to use ceramic or quarry tile, stick with a small size (6"x6") as these are less likely to crack. The tile solutions, rubber and quarry tiles, are on the expensive size, $5-12 per square foot installed."