Garage floor epoxy, your experience.

[KrisZ]

Hi,
Please share your experience if you painted your garage floor with epoxy paint. How is it holding up? Issues, etc.

In my previous house I wanted to paint the garage floor, but never got around to it. In my current house I decided to do it. I used the DIY kit from Rust-Oleum. It turned out great and I had my car on the floor jack on it twice and I dragged something heavy on my floor jack as well and so far it didn't affect it.
I mainly wanted it for servicing my car, as I have a concrete driveway and I don't want to stain it. The oil does wipe off easily off of it.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Careful of hot tracks. I was a rep at Sherwin Williams and customer used epoxy and looked fantastic. Etched floor,proper prep work,etc. Even cured it out and did moisture test to make sure it would hold. Got a few too many beers and he decided to take his hotrod out and smoke the tires. Parked car and next time he left the coating cottage cheesed on him lol.

 

[WhizkidTN]

Built a new house and had the painting contractor do this on a 30 day old concrete floor (~600 sqft) using a two-part industrial epoxy floor paint from a local paint supplier. Have had no issues with floor jacks, etc. Love it! I think it is some pro version of the Rust-Oleum product line. Has held up very well over the last 14 months with two cars on it daily.

Edit: It was the Rust-Oleum 9100 System (DTM Epoxy Mastic and activator).

 

[HangFire]

Had bad luck with Seal-Krete Epoxy Seal, single based epoxy. Followed instructions to a T, etched floor, let dry, applied as directed, came right up on the tires 3 days later when I drove it. Sanded all of it off.

Called Seal-Krete, their online instructions left out an essential step that was printed on the side of the 5 gallon bucket, unreadable from Lowe's handling of said bucket. Floor was supposed to be damp. I have my doubts that step was so essential. Two years later that step was still missing from their on-line site instructions. Obviously they really care about their customer's experiences! Ha!

Had very good luck with UCoat-It. https://ucoatit.com/
After 12 years, it has been physically abraded away from where the front tires get turned in place (not from hot tire pickup), and that's it. The rest of the garage floor is still perfect.

That reminds me, I need to re-do those spots.

 

[SZR48207]

I plan on doing this when I built my next home.

There's a famous kit that you can buy via Sam's club.. can't remember the brand name but it isn't Rustoleum. Supposed to be very durable.


Although I remember that GarageJournal was in a craze over using actual porcelain tile in garages because it's very dense and strong.

 

[Saul]

Used epoxy-coat.com kit that I got on clearance at lowes as special order return. Put some Valspar clear coat over top, has worked great been down about 1.5 years now.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted by Reddy45
.....Although I remember that Garage Journal was in a craze over using actual porcelain tile in garages because it's very dense and strong.

I like it, and I would do it. My problem is cost. It's not a project that I would want to do myself. And my garage floor is 22 years old. (It doesn't have any big oil stains). But the prep work is very time consuming and labor intensive if it's done correctly. So the cost per sq. ft. can get really expensive. I heard of one guy, who after getting a quote, found out he could lay ceramic tile cheaper by purchasing the tile at a closeout at a flooring discount center, and doing the work himself. (He laid the classic black and white checkerboard pattern).

How much can one expect to pay per sq. ft. to have this type of coating professionally done?

 

[LoneRanger]

Used the rustoleum water based kit on my former house and it looked as good ... initially. But, after approx 5 yrs began to experience hot tire pickup. No stopping it, and today it's flaking off in other areas that aren't rolled on by tires. I followed the instructions to the letter. The kit included citric acid to etch with. I don't think it works as well as muriatic acid.

I think if OP used the solvent based kit it will be okay and more durable, but I personally would never use the water based epoxy kit again.

 

[honeeagle]

Used Behr single pot 'epoxy' , garbage - followed instructions to the letter, took 3 days - within 2 years hot tire pick up started, went downhill from there.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted by LoneRanger
Used the rustoleum water based kit on my former house and it looked as good ... initially. But, after approx 5 yrs began to experience hot tire pickup. No stopping it, and today it's flaking off in other areas that aren't rolled on by tires. I followed the instructions to the letter. The kit included citric acid to etch with. I don't think it works as well as muriatic acid.

I think if OP used the solvent based kit it will be okay and more durable, but I personally would never use the water based epoxy kit again.



Well, that's a bummer because I used exactly what you used, water based kit. Oh well, there is nothing that can be done now lol.

 

[qjohn]

I also used the Rustoleum water based paint. It looked good for a long time. No hot tire pickup, but eventually it came up around all of the expansion joints. I am thinking I did not apply (with roller) it well right next to where I first trimmed it in -or- there is moisture that got in from cracks in the joints.

In any case, after 14 years I ground the old epoxy off as best as I could with a rental floor grinder and then re-applied the same stuff. One of the keys things to do is buy a really good roller. If you use a cheap roller it may not look good and you might end up having to put on a second coat.

Menards has really good pricing (after rebate) from time to time.

 

[Audios]

Lasted about 2 years in the high traffic areas of my shop, its mostly gone by now. I also started with a 60 year old floor but we did acid etch and heavy duty cleansers a few times. We still had some oil coated areas, so it wasnt the epoxys fault. Dont turn your wheels while parked on the floor.

 

[JTK]

Hopefully demarpaint will have a recommendation.,

I did the basement floor in our previous home with a 2-part epoxy finish from a company called Muralo. I'm not sure it's around anymore given this was a good 15yrs ago. I got the product from my local Benjamin Moore store. It wore like iron in a busy basement environment.

 

[Blaze]

Is there a better sealant than these epoxy's listed here to prevent moisture from seeping up through the concrete...especially basement concrete floors. thanks

 

[Touring5]

I used the solvent based Rustoleum epoxy. Spent quite a bit of time doing the etch, making sure it was pretty rough. I applied it with a 20" roller and wore a respirator. You don't have to work 'fast', but you can't go slow either. It's been on for about 5 years and is doing pretty well. I used the sand additive and paint chips for slip resistance and appearance and while they are effective for their intended purpose it does make it more difficult to clean up. My biggest issue is with a brownish discoloration where the tires sit while parked. I don't know if it's just something from the rubber, or what but it's pretty hard to scrub off.

 

[Warstud]

KrisZ....Your floor looks nice I hope it holds up.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted by Warstud
KrisZ....Your floor looks nice I hope it holds up.

Thanks

I hope it stays good looking for a while. I will have to watch for hot tire pickup from the looks of it.

 

[Mr Nice]

Great job. Was thinking about doing the same for my garage.

 

[WhizkidTN]

Ok, if we are into "Garage Floor Porn", here's mine from when I built my house prior to move-in day (12/2017):

The garage is insulated, is a two car tandem bay (~23' wide w/18' wide insulated door and 10.2' tall ceilings) so three cars can fit (I use the "third bay" as my workshop area with storage, etc.). It is heated/cooled by a mini-split system and has extra heavy duty wiring including for a 230V/40A welder or electric car charger station (under the mini-split). It has extra recessed LED lighting pods and a hot/cold running water utility sink (yah, I [censored] in it too - don't tell the wife).

 

[Malo83]

Nice setup.