Garage floor epoxy - anyone done it themselves?

[Julian]

OK...I'm sure someone on here has done this and I'm curious as to the results.

When we moved in, the sellers had just "painted" the garage floor with a brown epoxy paint. They did a shit/quick job, and it was already peeling when we looked at the house. Its a garage...so its no big deal, but now that I'm retired and have time on my hands it is one of those projects that I keep pondering about and not doing.

Professionals want $3-5k to do this. I see that home depot sells kits for this:

Search Results for garage floor epoxy kit at The Home Depot

Search Results for garage floor epoxy kit at The Home Depot

www.homedepot.com

Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield 240 oz. Gray Epoxy 1 Car Garage Floor Kit 365187 - The Home Depot

Safely protect the floors of your garage by choosing this highly durable Rust-Oleum EpoxyShield Gray High-Gloss 2.5 Car Garage Floor Kit. Easy to maintain.

www.homedepot.com

One is more expensive than the other and list polycuramine vs water based epoxy.

What I really want to know is if their "no peel promise" is worth the packaging its printed on (notice they don't say guarantee!)? Anyone done this? Looks like the prep is the key.

Someone has to have tried this.....thoughts?

 

[kjr6306]

Prep is the key. If the brown is peeling then it all needs to be removed as your coating is only as good as what's underneath it. I did the Rustoleum kit about 15 years ago on bare concrete and it served me well but it's time for it to be redone. A note if you cover it with a poly clear coat the clear will turn yellow after a few years wherever it is exposed to direct sunlight. I'm considering renting a concrete sander to remove the old coating and then purchasing a commercial 2-part epoxy that's used for factories and aircraft hangars. The commercial products are about twice as much but are probably much more durable.

 

[granpachuck]

Prep is the key. If the brown is peeling then it all needs to be removed as your coating is only as good as what's underneath it. I did the Rustoleum kit about 15 years ago on bare concrete and it served me well but it's time for it to be redone. A note if you cover it with a poly clear coat the clear will turn yellow after a few years wherever it is exposed to direct sunlight. I'm considering renting a concrete sander to remove the old coating and then purchasing a commercial 2-part epoxy that's used for factories and aircraft hangars. The commercial products are about twice as much but are probably much more durable.

Agree on prep being key. My son went down this rabbit hole a few years ago. You will have to sand off the old stuff, and I would do 2 coats of epoxy and also a sealer. I also did a quick and dirty job 10 years ago or more, and wished I had done a more thorough job. The chips ad some grip so its not too slippery. The garage my son did is now a rental, and I quite sure the floor will last longer than I will.

 

[jeffrt]

I did the Rustoleum kit about 16 years ago, and I was surprised how thin the consistency was. Almost like water, so it didn't fill any holes or marks at all. The floor I did was old and beat up, so that may be the issue, but mine has peeled off in all my traffic areas. I did all the recommended cleaning prep too. Better than nothing, but I'd go with something better if I did mine again. The kit in your pic looks like they may have improved it too, so you never know.

 

[Ronnie]

I Went with the Home Depot kits at my previous home over 15 years ago. It took two gallons for a two car garage and held up every well, no peeling when I moved out 13 years later. I bought extra chips as well. The salesman said use a concrete etcher to prep the surface, a nearby contractor pulled me aside and told me to burn it off with a torch instead. did what the contractor suggested (now I have a torch laying around here somewhere that I’ve only used once), well worth the $75 or so I paid for it and for some reason fun to use.

I’ve gone a different route in my current home, exercise pads. About $300 at Costco, much more comfortable on bare feet, reversible when the time comes and returnable / refundable as well.

 

[CastawayRK]

I own a painting company and have had to eat warranty expense on lots of garage floors and we don’t do them any more. The ONLY way to ensure a lasting finish is to use a grinder and remove all the previous finish and get out grease, tire rubber and contaminants that have soaked into the porous concrete. On virgin never driven on concrete you might get away with etching and a store bought kit. you still might suffer from hot tire pickup.
It’s not rocket science but you would need to rent a grinder (and buy a diamond bit set), and have some sort of sander to do corners. The polyaspartic product has highest build and is very durable if the floor is clean. Not sure your budget but $10/sq ft with a reputable company with actual warranty is worth it IMO.

 

[granpachuck]

I own a painting company and have had to eat warranty expense on lots of garage floors and we don’t do them any more. The ONLY way to ensure a lasting finish is to use a grinder and remove all the previous finish and get out grease, tire rubber and contaminants that have soaked into the porous concrete. On virgin never driven on concrete you might get away with etching and a store bought kit. you still might suffer from hot tire pickup.
It’s not rocket science but you would need to rent a grinder (and buy a diamond bit set), and have some sort of sander to do corners. The polyaspartic product has highest build and is very durable if the floor is clean. Not sure your budget but $10/sq ft with a reputable company with actual warranty is worth it IMO.

Great points. I thought about re doing mine, but at my age, renting a sander or grinder isn't practical. I considered paying a painting company to come in and just prep the floor with their professional equipment. BTW, I have some extra chips around here somewhere you have have if you decide to this this job.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

I like to weld sometimes, no floor coatings for me.

 

[Joatmon]

Interesting. I have been thinking about redoing my garage floor for a year now because of all the cracks. It was coated with paint and flaked when the house was built and I have had no issues with the paint adhering. I just don't want to see all the small cracks. I looked at the home kit from Rust Oleum but read it peels if the floor is not prepared properly. How would anyone know if their floor was prepared properly before applying paint? I painted my garage floor in my first house three times with garage floor paint and it never stuck. Each time I thought I had the concrete properly prepared.

I looked at installing recycled tire or PVC diamond patten mats but I was concerned about car tires turning when car not moving and buckling the mat. I also considered vinyl tile squares and strips that seem robust when I test the samples, but I'm not sure how faux wood floor would look in the garage or how they would withstand jack stands, jack, welder slag and oil in between the joints.

If I rough sand my existing painted floor I believe an industrial two part epoxy paint will stick and do the job for less money than a kit. I could apply in sections so I won't have to clear the entire garage. All back to proper prep. I won't know if I did it right until months after I apply the new paint.

As Julian said it will be interesting to hear what others are doing.

 

[Julian]

Interesting. I have been thinking about redoing my garage floor for a year now because of all the cracks. It was coated with paint and flaked when the house was built and I have had no issues with the paint adhering. I just don't want to see all the small cracks. I looked at the home kit from Rust Oleum but read it peels if the floor is not prepared properly. How would anyone know if their floor was prepared properly before applying paint? I painted my garage floor in my first house three times with garage floor paint and it never stuck. Each time I thought I had the concrete properly prepared.

I looked at installing recycled tire or PVC diamond patten mats but I was concerned about car tires turning when car not moving and buckling the mat. I also considered vinyl tile squares and strips that seem robust when I test the samples, but I'm not sure how faux wood floor would look in the garage or how they would withstand jack stands, jack, welder slag and oil in between the joints.

If I rough sand my existing painted floor I believe an industrial two part epoxy paint will stick and do the job for less money than a kit. I could apply in sections so I won't have to clear the entire garage. All back to proper prep. I won't know if I did it right until months after I apply the new paint.

As Julian said it will be interesting to hear what others are doing.

Pretty certain from looking at the kit videos that it is a two part epoxy kit, so not sure what the difference would be for an "industrial" two part kit (other than the fancy word)....is the good, better and best epoxy? If so...can someone name the "best"?

My garage floor looks crappy enough that even if it doesn't work perfectly....it can't look much worse (I'll get a photo later- tending to a post surgery dog right now)

 

[Joatmon]

I was just thinking about my time when I was involved with painting municipal water storage tanks. There were epoxy paints available for general public use and there were epoxy paints for industrial use only. There was a difference in performance and cost. Maybe it was the same paint but I know there was a difference in how it performed over time once applied.

Well wishes for your dog’s speedy recovery.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I have not seen a big box store brand stand up over time...maybe its prep, I dont know. I went with the Norklad 2 part kits followed by the top coat of clear. Do a 100% flake cover for the best look and long lasting protection. As others have said already --- you'll need to rent the floor grinder/vacuum and smaller grinders for the edges.

Norklad 200 | Norklad Epoxy Paint for Sale Online (originalcolorchips.com)

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Sherwin WIlliams has some epoxy floor paints that are in their commercial line up that are worthy of their cost. These are not on their display in the front of the store -- you have to inquire.

 

[CastawayRK]

I have 2 garages - the race car shop had 2-part solvent epoxy put on with 2 part clear poly on top. The concrete was virgin and it is still great 20years later. The existing garage already had paint on it and I put a Home depot kit on top and it is now 3 different colors and a flaky mess.
Here is what would use if/when I re-do the old after grinding it. You can buy the coating separate without all the tools to save a few bucks.

Polyaspartic Floor Coating Kit | Indoors & Outdoors | Fast Drying (armorpoxy.com)

 

[NeoBrew]

I own a painting company and have had to eat warranty expense on lots of garage floors and we don’t do them any more. The ONLY way to ensure a lasting finish is to use a grinder and remove all the previous finish and get out grease, tire rubber and contaminants that have soaked into the porous concrete. On virgin never driven on concrete you might get away with etching and a store bought kit. you still might suffer from hot tire pickup.
It’s not rocket science but you would need to rent a grinder (and buy a diamond bit set), and have some sort of sander to do corners. The polyaspartic product has highest build and is very durable if the floor is clean. Not sure your budget but $10/sq ft with a reputable company with actual warranty is worth it IMO.

AlpharettaRK has it right. I am an architect. We specify a lot of epoxy floors. Prep is 90% of your success, particularly if it is an old floor that has had oil, grease, waxes, etc on it. In addition to all of Alpha’s advice, we often specify bead blasting to prep the surface. This strips off some of the contaminants and abrades the surface to provide for better adhesion.

Our base spec for commercial settings is:
Crack filler: Sherwin Williams Armorseal Crack Filler or PPG Megaseal CF Epoxy Crack Filler

Primer: Sherwin Williams Armoreseal 8100 B70 series or PPG Megaseal WBPC

Coating: Sherwin Williams Armorseal 8100 B70 series or PPG Megaseal SL Self-leveling

It appears the S-W product doesn’t have a primer. It is two coats of the same stuff. The PPG product has a specific primer.

 

[BlkGS]

I've looked into this many times before. The prep is a HUGE pain in the ass for a garage that gets used. I wish we had done it when we moved in to this house. Given that we have cabinets and cars and all kinds of stuff in the garage now, i would be far more likely to do either a tile or race deck type flooring.

One of the nicest "working" garages I've seen was done with porcelain tiles. They're apparently very strong, and won't chip if you drop tools on them, cleans up easily, and makes it easy to see stuff. Safe for jacks and Jack stands too supposedly. And honestly, it's not that expensive vs any of the other options.

 

[Joatmon]

Good input. Porcelain tiles look great and I have them in our house. But they do break and chip because they cannot handle a heavy load even with a good solid cement underneath or impact from falling objects. I have replaced too many and know this for fact. The grout in between definitely stains. When I considered porcelain tiles I was concerned they would be slippery when wet. I don’t want to fall and break my arm.

 

[Scuba_ref]

I recently bought a pinball machine from a guy. We walked through his "Garage-mahal" to his game room to get the unit. Looks like he had marble tile flooring - have you considered that?

 

[CastawayRK]

I would be leery of any sort of hard (Ceramic, porcelain, marble) tile if you're working on cars. A dropped wrench, or rotor , or hammer and you might have ugly crack. The Racedeck type stuff like Ronnie has is great too.

Now that you mention slippery - if you are painting and are not adding color chips, I would recommend adding Shark-Grip or something similar to the paint. It's just more or less like a little bit of sand mixed in but it gives enough texture to help when wet. I added it to the color layer on mine and with the clear top coat you hardly see it but you can feel it.

 

[BlkGS]

Good input. Porcelain tiles look great and I have them in our house. But they do break and chip because they cannot handle a heavy load even with a good solid cement underneath or impact from falling objects. I have replaced too many and know this for fact. The grout in between definitely stains. When I considered porcelain tiles I was concerned they would be slippery when wet. I don’t want to fall on break an arm.

That's a good point I hadnt considered. They would be super slippery when wet (common here in FL).

I think the big risk with epoxy floors is hot tore transfer. You pull in your garage on a hot day, it lifts the epoxy off. Supposedly it's all in the prep. I dunno.

Re marble floors. That was probably epoxy. They have some pretty convincing looking (least from what you can tell on a YouTube) kits out there now. They're supposed to be a really.high end epoxy flooring, thicker than the usual off the shelf stuff or even basic commercial grade stuff.