Hi all,

I've been busily building a new attached garage for the last few months. I'm getting closer to being done, and I'd like to paint the floor for a nice finishing touch. I picked up the paint for the floor over the weekend. I bought the 'professional' grade of solvent based epoxy.

Does anyone care to share any experiences, good or bad with the solvent-base epoxy? Also, I'm considereing using the Ultimate finish clear epoxy over the paint. I know this stuff adds gloss, but how durable is it? Ease of application? Is it worth the extra hassle and expense?

TIA,
Joe Michel

 

I've not used any of the rustoleum floor coating. Overall [imo] paint isn't a good choice for garage floors. I always recomend using a concrete stain. With enough traffic stain will wear away but can be recoated with only cleaning for prep. Paints often peel which makes for a lot more prep work prior to painting.

 

I put the Rustoleum on my garage floor 3 years ago. It gets pretty heavy traffic. So far so good. I've spilled just about every auto fluid on the floor and it still looks like new. No chipping or peeling.

I bought the Rustoleum with reservation. A friend recommended a different epoxy product (name escapes me), but it would have cost around $300. I used two kits of the Rustoleum.

Applying the Rustoleum was a bit harder than I thought it would be. Most of the effort is in the prep, getting the floor really clean before rolling on the paint. If you have a large slab, it's a little tough keeping a wet edge as you roll on the paint. If I had to do it over, I would paint with two people for that reason.

 

Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned, my garage is 780 Sqft, and the floor is divided by control joints in to 9 equal sections. My plan was to work it a section at a time. The two people idea sounds like a winner to me!

thx,

Joe Michel

 

I considered using the "real" glossy epoxy flooring like in hangars and factories but the $4 per square foot cost for the materials changed my mind. I ended up using the Rustoleum professional solvent based epoxy with the colored flakes to save money.

After a year the floor still looks like new. Hot car tires do not leave a mark, no peeling, no lifting, no bubling. I was fanatical about the prep. and spent three times as much time acid etching and cleaning the floor than actually coating it. I used a mixer paddle in the drill and a kitchen timer to make sure it was mixed properly. (Reading the threads you will find people asking: Why do I have areas that did not harden?... Make sure you follow the directions. When they say use a power mixer for 3 minutes. Don't think that hand mixing until you get bored is good enough.)

I did the floor during the summer when it was in the mid 80's and the roller marks did not lay out so you can still see them. The coating is also a matt finish which is not as sexy as a mirror gloss, but the colored flakes help conceal any imperfections.

 

Thanks, Pilot.
I want to use the clear coat system that goes with 'professional' paint to achive maximum gloss, but I wonder if It got lap marks or other imperfections in it if it would be really noticable?

Also, what condition was your concrete in? Really smooth? Do you remember what you ended up with for square foot coverage per kit? Just trying to get an idea of coverage. I've got 780sqft of floor, and I have 4 kits on hand. I was hoping to use 2 of them and take the other 2 back and swap them for clear coat.

What temperature for application would be best? It's hot out now, but I have A/C out in the garage.

thx,

Joe Michel

 

I tried the epoxy on my garage addition which was new construction and 360 square feet. The floor was baby bottom smooth before acid etching. After etching I had a 60 grit floor with visible sand grains.

I first tried the floor prep that is sold by Rustoleum and Quickrete. I am sure the floor was clean after using them but it still had a very smooth feel, probably 200 grit. I used muratic acid diluted 50% with water to etch it. Then I used the garden hose to give it several good rinses. Then I used the pressure washer (3'000 psi) for three passes. Basically I would clean the floor and let it completely dry then I would swipe my hand across it. If I had white on my fingers I would clean it again.

The kit says to mix and then let the resin rest for however long. I am wondering if letting it rest for the full recommended time with air temps in the mid 80's was too much. It was noticably thickening by the time I had the floor coated. The floor temp was probably somewhere in the low 70's.

I coated the floor with a helper. I kept my head down and did all the work and my father was there to keep an eye on how thick I was applying and how much was left in the bucket versus bare floor left to do. It doesn't sound like much but I was working so hard pouring out and rolling that it was a big help to have someone else looking at the big picture.

I did not like the instructions idea of spreading the chips in small sections as you go. After the final coat of epoxy was applied I used a leaf blower to spread the color chips. Have one person run the leaf blower while the other person slowly pours the chips into the airstream. While standing at the edge of the work area and aiming the blower about 30 degrees up I could easily hit the back corner 20+ ft. away. I actually had to back up 10-15 feet to spray the closer edges. The blower provides the ultimate even, random distribution of particles and it was easy to just blow some more chips wherever it looked ligt.

 

Thanks again, Pilot.

Your idea with the leaf blower is a good one!! I'll do that for sure. Hopefully, I'll get to the point where I can paint the floor in 2-3 weeks. I'm still finishing the inside of the garage. I'll post back after I have finished painting the floor.

thx,
Joe Michel

 

Let us know how it goes. My garage is nearly done as well, and I'm curious how the stuff works on a brand new floor.

Since there will be no grease/oil on the floor (I'm not putting a single thing in the garage before putting down the epoxy), is just a simple hosedown and squeegie out the dirty water all that's needed for floor prep? Or is the acid etching required, even on new concrete? It's very smooth right now..

 

I worked at a Veterans Affairs Hospital in Florida, we had this type of floor in the basement. It help up for 10 years. It had to be removed because the water table was on the rise and the concrete was damp therefore small blister appeared. They could not be resealed due to dampness.

Hope this helps

 

I would etch it regardless. Muratic Acid is cheap! You'll be sorry if you shortcut it.

Just to update this thread a bit, I intend to start prepping the floor for paint this coming week. I had to build a deck, which took a couple of weeks. Then I wanted to get my garage sink installed prior to paint - because I need the water source to clean the floor with. Now that that's all behind me, it's time to start with the floor. I'm looking forward to this about as much as getting a tooth pulled, but the end result will be worth it! I should be posting back in a week or two with my results and maybe even a pic or two.

Joe Michel

 

I just put down (today) the rustoleum floor coating for garages on my work shop floor. I used their kit which comes with a citric acid cleaner. Since it was a new floor, the cleaner appeared to work very well. It took my wife, son, and me 1 hour to mix and cover the floor with epoxy and chips (486 square feet).

There are different setting times and drying times depending on temp, which Rustoleum addresses in their instructions.

Their kit comes with a DVD or Video with installation instructions. The video I got was messed up, so I only relied on the written instructions.

I will be parking cars in there to work on from time to time , but for the most part it will be a work shop.

Good luck with yours.

DWC

 

ReefBlueCoupe: My garage floor was also brand new and clean with no grease or oil. I waited for it to cure for over three months and I etched the pudding out of it.

I think the key after you do the etch is to very thoroughly clean the floor. I went five rounds before I finally got the floor clean. After etching I hosed it down several times with the garden hose then I went over it with a 3'000 psi pressure washer twice and let it dry. After it dried I would run my clean hand over the floor. If my palm came up clean I would do the rinse process over again.

 

Well, I just finished applying the clear-coat finish. Looks good wet, well see what it looks like when it's hardened tomorrow.

Joe Michel

 

Just applyed rustoleum epoxy coat to my garage floor, very nice looking i hope it holds up well, i'll know in time. Just wanted to share with those of you who are going to do this process to your floor, to spread the paint chips onto the floor i used a hand held scotts fertilizer broadcaster, this worked so good, it evenly distributed the chips for a very uniform look. You can even adjust the amount of chips being dispersed just by adjusting the opening.