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Thread: A few questions about epoxy coating garage floor

  1. #1
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    A few questions about epoxy coating garage floor

    Hi all,

    i have been doing alot of reading and searching and found alot of great info, also decided to go with epoxy-coat for my garage floor.

    few questions though.

    1. They advertise 500 sq. ft. coverage is that 1 coat of 500 or 2 coats of 500 per kit?
    2. My garage is 560 square feet should i worry about stretching it the extra 60 square feet?
    3. Have any of you had issues with yellowing of clear coat, i have no windows in the garage but we leave the 2 garage doors open alot during the summer when my wife and kids are playing in the driveway so it does get sun on the front part of both bays quite often.
    4. would you heavily recommend the clear-coat for any reason?
    5. Would you recomment clear-coat of just stick with the epoxy and skip the clear (save some money as well)?
    6. I have read that it works well to lay a bonding primer down first before the epoxy to get even better coverage...have any of your done this if so which primer would be best or should i skip this?
    7. should i just plan to do 2 full coats on the garage right off the bat?

    going to skip the acid etching and just rent a diamond grinder and use the shop vac to collect the dust.

    thanks in advance!

    Brian

  2. #2
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    Whose kit are you going with? I'd highly recommend ucoatit.com for your garage floor although many people are quite happy with the Rustoleum product.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  3. #3
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    epoxy-coat is a brand, 100% solids not water base. i guess i should have said a product like epoxy-coat...the actual company i'm probably going to order through is legacy industrial (they have they own branded products).

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla View Post
    Whose kit are you going with? I'd highly recommend ucoatit.com for your garage floor although many people are quite happy with the Rustoleum product.

  4. #4
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    I did mine with the Rustoleum product 8 years ago and it didn't last. Floor was 30 years old and even though I pressure washed it, itched and primed it, I guess it was just too old. Diamond grinding ought to be the ultimate prep though. I ended up tearing out the old and laying down colored concrete at the same time I did my drive and walks, but the boobs coated it with a sealer that was not solvent resistant, so now it looks like poo. I did get a drain beneath each space though, that I nice.
    NOW you tell me...

  5. #5
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    Yeah I'm staying away from water born and using 100% solids epoxy.

    Coats a bit more, about 1.5-2x more but it is much stronger and longer lasting.

    Thanks.

    Plan is to grind, primer, base, flake, clear with anti skid.

  6. #6
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    Brian, check out the garage journal flooring forum. There is a ton of info in there including some good 100% solids epoxy manufacture recommendations. I did a bunch of reading over there and was close to pulling the trigger but at the last minute decided to go with race deck instead. With my bad back race deck just feels a lot better on it than hard concrete. Good luck with what ever way you go.

  7. #7
    +1 on the Garage Journal forum. I did most of my research on that forum when I did my floor last year.
    Last edited by Chris Padilla; 10-02-2014 at 11:21 AM. Reason: Link to forum prohibited by T.O.S.
    Earl

  8. #8
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    Be sure to use grit with the epoxy; sawdust on a plain epoxied floor is very slippery.

  9. #9
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    So I have heard ha! I'm definitely putting some grip down.

    If I don't do clear do I need grip or do the flakes act as grip?

    Thanks.

  10. #10
    Brian,

    Was in the exact same place as you about two years ago, and ended up going about the same route as you with some variation...

    Pressure washed to get the oil/dirt out of the floor, and realized I needed to do more to get a good surface. Floor was mostly clean, but looked almost glazed.

    Rented a floor buffer with diamond grit wheel from Home Depot (don't get a worn disk like I did - go to a couple home depots until you find one that feels grittier than the rest). This resulted in a floor that looked brand new (it was 50 years old), but was amazingly smooth. Too smooth for the epoxy to stick.

    Then etched surface with acid - used HD pool acid with a good respirator mask. Floor was put down in 1960, so I had to do this twice (acid wasn't strong enough to get the surface rough with first attempt - that old concrete was tough!). You want the floor like 80-100 grit sandpaper or so. If not good after first try, do another round with the acid at double the concentration. Older concrete is vastly tougher to etch. I think they made it better (higher psi rating) in the old days.

    Primed with a water based epoxy

    Put a 100% solids coat down. Put flakes in this layer. Surface is too slick at this point (even with flakes) for woodworking with sawdust on floor. On the other hand, as long as you never put sawdust on it, it will look like the magazine ads. I could read in the reflection off the surface at this stage (without the flakes on it).

    Last, I put a urethane UV protected top with aluminum oxide grit as top coat. Contrary to what they say over in the garage forum, this does not "wear out your broom out due to roughness". It adds just enough for safety.

    Still looks fantastic with no bonding issues after two years.

    I got all my materials after doing all the research like you are doing from http://www.epoxysuperstore.com/. I called their order line, and after talking to them a couple of times, I wish I had just talked to them and blown off all the extra research. On the other hand, the research made me an educated consumer when talking to them. They gave me specific recommendations on whether I could stretch a coat or not (I recall yes to primer, no to solids), plus answered the mail on surface roughness after each coat. Also gave excellent advice when I had questions on how to apply it - more and better advice than I thought should be expected. No association with the company other than being a very satisfied customer.

    After the solids (and with good surface prep), expect a surface as shiny as a museum floor. If you use the stuff you can buy from the big box stores, you'll have a floor that looks like it was painted, and it won't be as durable (Big box is water based stuff, not 100% solids). No need for a gritty top coat with that approach, though.

    Buddy did big box, and he regrets it every time he stops by to borrow a tool. His was a lot cheaper to do though, but is already flaking and doesn't have the "wow" factor I ended up with.

    Feel free to ask more advice when you get closer to pulling the trigger. there are some special tools you want to have when putting the epoxy down to lower the stress level. Pot time is pretty limited.

    Andy

  11. #11
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    Andy,

    I really appreciate the tips and advice. Thanks for the offer on additional advice too, I will most likely take you up on that.

    Exactly what I was hoping to hear.

    Brian

  12. #12
    Well this link isn't to another forum, so I don't know if it will get edited or not. Brian, contact Scotty at Legacy Industrial http://www.legacyindustrial.net/cart/ about your floor. Scotty is great to deal with and can answer all your questions. One thig I recommend is don't go through all the work to put down an Epoxy floor and then use cheap Big Box story epoxy. Do it right, grind the floor with a Diamana surface tool that you can rent from Home Depot. Then put down a good primer, main coat of 100% solids with whatever level of flakes you desire. Then top coat it with some clear poly urethane. You can put the anti skid in the clear coat if you want. I used this procedure, except with a different company's products, and I couldn't be happier with my floor. I did the full flakes to rejection, as they call it, on mine and think it came out very well.






    Last edited by Earl Rumans; 10-03-2014 at 3:05 PM.
    Earl

  13. #13
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    How does the epoxy/polyurethane coating hold up to automotive liquids like brake fluid, gas, oil, anti-freeze, etc? The kind of stuff that gets spilled if you work on your car in the garage. I lent my garage out to a friend of a friend while I was out of town and he spilled brake fluid on the floor and promptly mixed that with brake dust and ruined my brand new "sealed" colored concrete floor.
    NOW you tell me...

  14. #14
    I have a 3 bay garage and one bay is for my woodworking, the bay at the other end of the garage is for my Mustang. I have dragged floor jacks around, dropped a drill with the bit down, bent the bit but didn't damage the floor, and spilled about every auto chemical you can name on the floor and it still looks as good as the day I finished it. All spills just wipe up with no damage to the floor. The Poly Urethane is actually harder then the epoxy and also resists yellowing from the sun. All my woodworking machines are on mobile bases and I move them around when I use them. My Baileigh JP-1250 weighs over 700 lbs and I move it all over the place, without an damage to the floor. Now I did do 2 coats of Poly when I did my floor because I wanted it to last.

    Here are a couple pics of my shop, which I have to share with my lawn mowers. I move the mowers outside when I am working. In these pics I am standing in the center bay where the wives SUV parks. I move it out when working also.








    Just for grins, here is a shot of my Mustang.


    Earl

  15. #15
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    Earl and Andy,

    Where did you guys stop the epoxy at the garage door? Before the door, under it or past it?

    Btw nice mustang!

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