Concrete Floor Coatings for the Wood Shop

[Rob Will]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

http://www.sikaconstruction.com/con/...tegory-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]

Hi Guys,

have a look at

www.uvsuperclear.com

any questions?

email me. sales@uvsuperclear.com

cheers

Crocodile Pete

[Jeff Duncan]

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