Garage Flooring help needed

[oberah]

Hi, I just purchased a new house, finally have a garage to park in!
The house is 15 years old, garage has a coated floor. I initially thought it was epoxy however it is thin/stretchy and torn in a few areas. Reading up online, I am suspecting it may be a polyurethane coating.
My questions are:
How do I confirm epoxy vs polyurethane?
I would like to recoat a few of the areas. The color is tan so colormatching would be ideal however if unable, I would like to apply a layer of clear over it so that it does not keep peeling/degrading. can this be done and if so, what should I use?

Thank you!
Roy

 

[billt460]

If it is, "thin / "stretchy" / torn / peeling / and degrading" now, it sounds like the floor wasn't cleaned, degreased, or prepared properly before the initial application.

Going over it will not prevent what you're experiencing. The base surface must be in proper condition to accept the first coat...... Whatever it may be.

 

[97K15004WD]

Epoxy paint in my experience does not stretch. It hardens and that's it. No stretch, no breaking down chemically, it just chips off.

 

[Kira]

It's likely a thoughtless coating of common, latex (stretchy) paint. Even polys take on a hardness when dry.
You may very well be looking at a wire wheel removal job.
Forego any notion of using a magic (meaning effortless) acid wash.
I'd bet with b460 on amateurish (lazy/knowledgeless) prep.
How big a garage is it?

 

[doitmyself]

Agree with Kira about the possibility of latex floor paint. Denatured alcohol will soften most latex paints, so maybe give it a test.

A superb source of garage floor finishing information is the Garage Journal forum. It is to garages what BITOG is to oil (bunch of lunatic OCDer's).

 

[joekingcorvette]

My son bought a new house a couple years ago and we did the epoxy on his floor. We rented a sander type machine and sanded the complete floor. Then you clean the floor with water and let it dry. He purchased some high quality paint and you throw speckles on it. After it dries for a couple days you put a few layers of clear epoxy on it. The clear epoxy is what gives it pizzaz and makes it beautiful and shiny. I was very happy with the results however he spend around $2000.00 on the products. I really enjoyed doing it and it looked like a professional job when finished. The main thing is just take your time. His garage is a very large 3 car garage and I would recommend anyone doing it if you have the time and money. The Menard's rustoleum kits are not too bad either and provide nice results.

 

[billt460]

My son bought a new house a couple years ago and we did the epoxy on his floor. We rented a sander type machine and sanded the complete floor. Then you clean the floor with water and let it dry. He purchased some high quality paint and you throw speckles on it. After it dries for a couple days you put a few layers of clear epoxy on it. The clear epoxy is what gives it pizzaz and makes it beautiful and shiny. I was very happy with the results however he spend around $2000.00 on the products. I really enjoyed doing it and it looked like a professional job when finished. The main thing is just take your time. His garage is a very large 3 car garage and I would recommend anyone doing it if you have the time and money. The Menard's rustoleum kits are not too bad either and provide nice results.

How did you apply the "speckles" so they look nice and even? From what I understand you can't just "throw them", like you were feeding chickens.

 

[demarpaint]

Rubbery stretching failing paint is typically latex. Denatured alcohol on a rag applied to the coating will typically soften it if it is a latex product, wear gloves testing it. Odds are the surface wasn't properly prepped and anything applied over it will fail in short order. Unfortunately the coating would have to be completely removed cleaned and properly prepared for anything to adhere.

 

[JohnnyG]

One of those big floor sanders would make short work of the coating. Then you can start over with epoxy.

 

[walterjay]

How did you apply the "speckles" so they look nice and even? From what I understand you can't just "throw them", like you were feeding chickens.

I applied speckles to my floor coating. You have to take your time and slowly let them shake out of a loose fist. You quickly get the hang of it. I applied the epox and wife did the speckles. Looks good.

 

[joekingcorvette]

How did you apply the "speckles" so they look nice and even? From what I understand you can't just "throw them", like you were feeding chickens.

That's exactly what we did. We put the flakes on super heavy and you can barely see the color of the floor because it's basically solid speckles. We actually put it on so thick we moved the flakes around with a broom. We let whatever would stick to the paint stay there and brushed the rest out of the way. My son actually bought way too many flakes and he has about 10 pounds leftover. I wish I had a picture to show everyone. We put lots of coats of clear on the floor. The clear is what makes it pop.

 

[oberah]

Thank you all for the input! I thought it seemed like a latex paint however I could not imagine that latex would be a good option for a garage floor. The house is 15 years old, I have no idea when it was applied.
I would love to epoxy it however it is a fairly large 3 car garage so the amount of work involved may be too much for me. I can only imagine what paying a pro would run if supplies could run into the $2K+ range.

 

[skyactiv]

I had a custom home built last year and the builder went over the options of garage floors. I didn’t opt for anything. I don’t live in my garage. However, polyaspartic is the way to go if you can afford it.

 

[paulswagelock]

I had a custom home built last year and the builder went over the options of garage floors. I didn’t opt for anything. I don’t live in my garage. However, polyaspartic is the way to go if you can afford it.

Yes, epoxy base with polyaspartic clear is a good combo. Just had it done on my new construction. 2.5 car garage runs about $3200 professionally installed in western Pa.

 

[doitmyself]

Yes, epoxy base with polyaspartic clear is a good combo. Just had it done on my new construction. 2.5 car garage runs about $3200 professionally installed in western Pa.

Polyaspartic is a type of polyurea. This article link claims there are new one-part polyurea systems that are DIY friendly with commercial results. Interpret the review with proper skepticism: https://allgaragefloors.com/polyurea-best-garage-floor-coating-kits/

There are so many options beyond the big box store Rustoleum system. Clear penetrants/densifiers, clear sealer/topcoat systems, epoxy, polyaspartic, polyurea, and a few more. Mind boggling. Like most things, prep is ultimately important.

Note: I'm shopping for a floor coating for my workplace. No personal experience......yet. Ripe project for analysis paralysis.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Thank you all for the input! I thought it seemed like a latex paint however I could not imagine that latex would be a good option for a garage floor. The house is 15 years old, I have no idea when it was applied.
I would love to epoxy it however it is a fairly large 3 car garage so the amount of work involved may be too much for me. I can only imagine what paying a pro would run if supplies could run into the $2K+ range.

I would go with the Rustoleum floor system with clear coat. My buddy did it to his garage and I did it to a previous home I owned 19 years ago. They both looked great. All painted floors will show some wear after years of driving with sand and grit on your tires. It is very easy to touch it up yourself. Just get the roller out, throw some paint on, then the flakes. Follow up with the clear and it blends in nicely. A pro job for a 3 car garage is around $7000.00 depending on your area and other variable. You can do it yourself with Rustoleum paint for probably a lot less than $1000.00 and it should look great.

 

[someonesomewhere]

Have a Sherwin Williams store near you? That's where we sourced our epoxy and poly products when I was installing floors professionally. Good products, but not sure on the pricing as we just picked stuff up (as installers) and never saw the paperwork. They can also mix custom colors.

Ideal prep for old concrete is diamond grinding, which usually ensures a solid, clean surface. You can get diamond cup wheels at HD or Lowe's in 7" and 4". We had gigantic floor grinder/polishers for large areas (doing warehouse/factory spaces) but would sometimes just use the 7" grinders for smaller garages when we did residential work. We just vacuumed floors after sweeping up the excess dust using shop vacs with a wide nozzle. Never introduce moisture to a floor you're coating, it will cause issues. Denatured alcohol or xylene if you feel the need to mop after prep. Also good for tool/person cleanup while working. Just don't let anything cure where you don't want it to be.

Diamond cup wheel example:

7 in. Diamond Segmented Turbo Cup Wheel

Amazing deals on this 7In Diamond Segmented Cup Wheel at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

And yes, the best way to apply flake/sand/grit/steel shot is to overcast it to where you can't see the wet anymore, then sweep up the extra after the floor cures. Then clear over it, or not, depending on exactly what you're going for.

I did this stuff for several years, feel free to @ me with any other questions you may have. We did a lot of Coca Cola plants around the country. You should see the bottling lines running flat out in person, it's just a blur. Lol