Best coating for garage floor?

[Jerry Olexa]

When we built in 2002, our paint contractor used Sherwin Williams 2-part Epoxy on our 3-car garage, and the shop. It is the only garage floor paint he would use even though he was a confirmed Kelly Moore user.

It still looks good after nearly 10 years. Tuff stuff.

Good tip, Ken...I like the 10 year part...Thanks

[Jeff Monson]

Jerry, I purchased online directly through U-coat.

I'll also put in a good word for the Sherwin Williams epoxy, I have a friend with a garage done with this product. His has held up very well.

[Ian Parish]

I went with the two part rust-o epoxy professional stuff. I had a new floor and the concrete was 3 months old or so. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and prepped. The stuff went do great and looked blotchy. I had another thread here about it. It was slick and shinny and nice in places and dull and soaked in in other places. I ended up doing a rust-o clear coat epoxy coating over the top and the results are fantastic. After 1 year it is looking great. I have dinged it with big heavy bits of metal but otherwise the coating is looking great under all the mud and construction stuff.

Ian

[David Hostetler]

I have a couple of neighbors, big car guys, and a coworker as well that have used Ucoatit, and a couple that have done the DIY stuff from Home Depot. I think it's the Rustoleum 2 part epoxy system. All of them are holding up well, but the Ucoatit stuff seems to hold up better to vehicle traffic. So if you are going to stuff a car in there go with the Ucoatit...

[Jonathan Spool]

I did the same as Mike H for my basement floor (epoxy over properly prepped concrete). Great stuff. Wish I had used it for my shop as it is tougher than nails.
I went with the pro company to put it down rather than a do it yourself option because of the filling of imperfecions and grinding they do.

[Bill Petersen]

I did my last garage with the Rustoleum 2 part epoxy and it did well for over 7 years. I used it as a wood shop and also for repairing the cars and motorcycle. Rolling the saws, jointer, planer, etc. had no effect at all. Actually, I used floor jacks and jack stands and it held up under that.

Bill

[John M Wilson]

I also used the Rustoleum 2 part several years ago and have had great results.

However, there are now a couple of places where hot car tires have begun to wear through. Anyone know if it is OK for me to put another coat on top of the old one? Should I use the acid etch again? The Rustoleum site has no info on recoating an epoxy floor.

[Brett Robson]

I've used both Rustoleum and the Sherwin Williams epoxy.

In my experience the SW is a much better product. I had a hard time with the Rustoleum lifting when a hot tire sat on it during the summer. I spent several days scrubbing and etching the floor prior to rolling it out over virgin concrete in my 2 car garage. It never did adhere well. Eventually I scuff sanded the whole darn floor and recoated it with another layer which ultimately did help, but what a pain!

At my next house, I used the SW stuff. It goes on thick and dries rock hard. I never once had a chip or tire lift. It withstood my engine hoist and engine stand rolling engines around on it with metal castors and never showed any sign of wear. The only complaint I had was it begins to set up pretty fast after you mix it. I found in doing the cutting in and rolling out by myself, the paint had set up before I was finished rolling and began to pull the nap out of the roller in the final section of floor. If you use it, I'd suggest having a helper to cut in while you roll, or vice-versa, to give you enough time to finish before it sets.

[Mike Henderson]

The guys who did my garage told me that the acid etch is not the best way to prepare the floor. They said that grinding it, getting the top layer off, is the best way to prepare the floor and that the epoxy adheres best to the concrete when prepared that way.

They had a grinder with a vacuum attachment - essentially no dust.

Mike

[Jim Foster]

We did a new garage floor with one of the home depot two part epoxies, lasted several years, not very good. just my wife bringing her car in and out of the garage brought up the finish in less than a year. It was a new floor and we followed the directions. If possible, I'd suggest look at some of the more commercial or professional use products.

[Daniel Berlin]

The guys who did my garage told me that the acid etch is not the best way to prepare the floor. They said that grinding it, getting the top layer off, is the best way to prepare the floor and that the epoxy adheres best to the concrete when prepared that way.

They had a grinder with a vacuum attachment - essentially no dust.

Mike

This is completely true.
Acid etching is a shortcut to get a good profile, and depending on what is sitting in the concrete (oil, etc), how sealed the pores are, etc, it may not do a good job of it the first time.
Grinding is preferred if possible, but the amount of dust it generates is something that will boggle your mind.

The DIY'ers I know who have done their own garages (and are serious garage folks) swear by epoxy-coat. u-coat is a competitor to them.

If you want something simple, rustoleum's professional version gets good reviews from most folks too.

I had a backyard shop, and did not feel like dragging the grinder/etc down to it, so i had mine done professionally with an aliphatic polyurea. Compared to straight epoxies, they are much more abrasion resistant, dry *much* quicker than epoxies, uv stable, and can withstand elongation (due to movement of concrete) much better, but have short pot lifes and are nowhere near as tolerant in application (IE due to bad prep, whatever) as epoxies are.

If you get quotes on commercial installs, find out the mil thickness (besides being relevant to final floor impact strength, this tells you how much material they are using, and thus, whether the price is sane), and who makes their epoxies for them, and what they are willing to warranty.

[Jerry Olexa]

Good info, guys....VERY helpful....Some other projects have gotten in the way but I'm saving your info, links, recos etc...Thank you all...Keep em coming....Your personal experience means a lot to me..This is a type of project where the wrong product/application will haunt you and cause more work later!!

[Anthony Scott]

I can't recommend the Rustoleum stuff. I did two garages with it, followed the directions to a T and both are peeling. Further, Rustoleum makes it difficult to get support.

[Jerry Olexa]

I can't recommend the Rustoleum stuff. I did two garages with it, followed the directions to a T and both are peeling. Further, Rustoleum makes it difficult to get support.

Anthony,Thanks...I have 2 friends/neighbors that have used it with later peeling and needing to re paint...I will go a different direction...Thanks for tip!

[Bob Cooper]

Is the grinding a DIY project?