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Rob Will
01-04-2008, 8:08 PM
I recently saw a new shop with a clear Urethane floor coating. I think this particular coating came from the local Sherwin Williams store. It seems to very tough and oil-resistant.

What has been your experience with floor coatings.....
What have you used....... and in hindsight, what should you have used?

Rob

Thomas Knighton
01-04-2008, 8:10 PM
Nothing on it right now, but it's not usable as a shop.

I'd like to use the tanned skins of my enemies, but I'll probably just use some kind of concrete sealer or something like that ;)

Tom

Lee Koepke
01-04-2008, 8:10 PM
i recently put a semitransparent concrete stain with a sealcoat. granted i am not a heavy user and its only been there for a few weeks, but I like it.

The color isnt the nice part, it the 'sealed' part. Makes sweeping up easier, and frankly, the finished color on the floor makes me WANT to keep it clean.

Alan Tolchinsky
01-04-2008, 8:24 PM
I have a painted floor which looks nice and sweeps nice. But oh is it slippery when a little sawdust gets on it. I had no choice in the finish but I'd put something in the paint to make it nonslip. I'm getting some rubber mats so I don't break my head open.

Daryl Upole
01-04-2008, 8:28 PM
Hi,

My shop floor was poured about 4 years ago. It has a fiber product in it that's supposed to make it stronger. I had it finished smooth rather than textured or broomed or anything. After that, they just sprayed on the typical concrete sealant from the concrete supply place and it's been fine since. Easy to sweep & clean up.

Paul Kinneberg
01-04-2008, 8:40 PM
Rob I have used epoxyshield on my current and last shop floor and I would not be without it. Is easy to put down does not become as slippery as paint when wet and it takes a beating. I have not experienced any chipping either. The one downside is it is considered expensive by some. FYI I purchased mine at Home Depot.

http://www.epoxyshield.com/CBGBrand.asp?bid=8

Andy Howard
01-04-2008, 9:29 PM
I painted my garage/shop floor with Behr 1-Part Epoxy Acrylic Concrete & Garage Floor Paint that I got from Home Depot. I would not recommend it. It flakes off pretty easily, and is not resistant to solvents. I followed the directions of cleaning, etching, priming, and painting the floor, and it looked good for a while, but it quickly started showing a lot of wear. I would either use a very high quality product, or nothing at all.

Andy

Mike Marcade
01-04-2008, 9:34 PM
I painted my garage/shop floor with Behr 1-Part Epoxy Acrylic Concrete & Garage Floor Paint that I got from Home Depot. I would not recommend it. It flakes off pretty easily, and is not resistant to solvents. I followed the directions of cleaning, etching, priming, and painting the floor, and it looked good for a while, but it quickly started showing a lot of wear. I would either use a very high quality product, or nothing at all.

Andy

I haven't heard anything good about those 1-part coatings. I have the Epoxyshield 2-part epoxy and it works great.

Joe Chritz
01-04-2008, 9:47 PM
Rob I have used epoxyshield on my current and last shop floor and I would not be without it. Is easy to put down does not become as slippery as paint when wet and it takes a beating. I have not experienced any chipping either. The one downside is it is considered expensive by some. FYI I purchased mine at Home Depot.

http://www.epoxyshield.com/CBGBrand.asp?bid=8

Thats the stuff. Big +1 from me, it is slippery with dust on it but if you put the chips in it isn't so bad.

I have it and a friend has it in his garage. It is in a different league than regular paints and 1 part epoxy. The only time I have chipped it is when I took a chunk of the concrete with it.

Joe

John Marshall
01-04-2008, 11:17 PM
I used the Epoxyshield stuff on my floor. I really like it. Just be sure to add the sand stuff to it. My experience has been it does get slippery even with the sand texture in it.

Joe Chritz
01-05-2008, 1:40 AM
One other thing about slippery floors.

I used fiber fill concrete and didn't smooth it very much with the frog. It has helped with the slippery feeling of the floor.

Polished or very smooth concrete is slippery with or without a coating so don't let that scare you to much.

Joe

Mike Goetzke
01-05-2008, 10:55 AM
My garage is my shop. So at times when my wifes Suburban gets parked with a little snow on it I need to contain the water.

Recently at work they tiled a kitchen area with 3'x3' rubbery button tiles. I talked to the installer and they also make ones with shallow ribs to trap fluids. Wonder if this would work well in a shop - especially when moving 500# tools across it?

Mike

Jack Porter
01-05-2008, 2:30 PM
http://www.sikaconstruction.com/con/con-if/con-resinousflooring_in_con-prod-category-ect.htm

you shoul chekc out sika products, we specify them often for manufacturing plant floor. All are easy to apply, fast-floor CR may be good for your application, whatever product you use make sure to add sand or equivalent for slip resistance. I've also seen the product below in residential applications , if your moving large equipment there is potential (small potential) to damaging the finish.
http://www.floorchips.com/

Peter Vasic
04-12-2009, 6:46 AM
Hi Guys,

have a look at

www.uvsuperclear.com

any questions?

email me. sales@uvsuperclear.com

cheers

Crocodile Pete

Jeff Duncan
04-14-2009, 10:05 AM
I used the Behr 1 part floor paint and found it to be much better than I expected.
My current shop was a machine shop for many years. I first had to rent a floor buffing machine and use simple green with stiff bristle pads to remove as much of the grease and oil as possible. Then a couple rinses with clean water to get as clean as possible without wasting a lot of time. We put down the primer and topcoat and after 4 years it's held up much better than I though it would. It's not indestructable by any means and one of it's weakpoints is if you get any standing water (had a leaky garage door for a little while) it will lift the paint right up. But for an inexpensive easy to apply floor paint it's done well for me.
good luck,
JeffD

Robert Reece
04-14-2009, 11:50 AM
I've considered installing snap together engineered flooring - you can get it for $0.99 at various places. I'm sure it would be very slippery with sawdust on it so good dust collection would be required. However, sweeping it would not kick up fine dust like sweeping concrete. The question is whether it could handle some tools being rolled around on it. I'd like to do the 2 part epoxy but you have to clean out the whole shop and clean the floor and all that stuff. And it probably smells too.

Another thing I have thought about is covering the floor with 1/2" painted mdf. Obviously you can't have a moist floor to do this. Also need a way to make the joints line up correctly (maybe a small half lap) and keep the sheets in place (maybe just a few dabs of construction adhesive on each sheet).

Has anybody ever looked into just grinding and buffing the concrete floor? How much is that per sq ft? I see some commercial floors which are very smooth.

Craig Moulton
04-14-2009, 12:06 PM
+1 for epoxyshield

I used hot water and TSP (trisodium phosphate) with a stiff push broom to prep the floor, worked well, doesn't chip if you drop a tool. Next time I do a shop / garage floor I'm going to add nonskid to the mix.

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/supplies/additives/non-skid/index.htm

is a good example. No affiliations.

phil harold
04-14-2009, 7:22 PM
Four years ago I put down two coats of h&c concrete silicone sealer (http://www.hcconcrete.com/products/solid-color-stains/solvent-based-sealer/)
No complaints it soaks in so no chipping not slippy either

I picked a blue color, my german sheppard is scared to walk on it now...

travis howe
04-14-2009, 8:11 PM
Anyone have a shop w/ the full blown internlocking plastic/rubber tiles?

Chris Damm
04-15-2009, 7:45 AM
I bought some interlocking rubber tiles to put in front of my tools. I liked them so much that I covered the floor. It is great! My feet love it and dropped tools don't break. The tiles are 2x2 and 1/2" thick. I have had them down for a few years now and they hold up very well.

Sean Nagle
04-15-2009, 12:50 PM
I'm in the middle of "finishing" up my basement shop with framing, insulation and drywall. I was planning on installing VCT tiles on the floor. They are very inexpensive and easy to install yet they don't seem to be very popular for workshops. Is there a downside to the tiles that I'm missing?

Bryan Burns
04-18-2009, 9:34 AM
I used Benjamin Moore Floor and Patio Paint and I would do it again. It's "epoxy reinforced" and because it's latex, it's easy to use. Weird smell though. I've dragged table saw, bandsaw and jointer across the floor without a scratch.

I bought it from a real paint store. If you're going to go through the labor of painting a floor, pay a little more and buy the paint from a pro.

Here's a link: http://tiny.cc/NY5KI

Don Bullock
04-18-2009, 9:44 AM
I just applied epoxy to my shop/garage floor. Here's the thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=110045.

John Coloccia
04-18-2009, 10:39 AM
I did my foundation wall with this stuff. http://www.sanitred.com/

Fantastic. I plan to to do the floor with it at some point as well. It's not cheap, but it works as advertised. I'm very satisfied.