I have done alot of research into this subject because the manufacturing facility where I work is re-doing all of the floors.
There are MANY coatings available with a wide variety of characteristics... Wear resistance, gloss, colors, texture, traction... Etc.
As a rule, most of them represent themselves pretty accurately... that is to say they do what they say they do.
When they do not perform well, it is usually because the directions for surface preparation and/or application are not followed correctly.
BEWARE of coatings that recommend "washing" the surface in preparation for coating! Also BEWARE of products that are water based!
Moisture is the ENEMY when it comes to concrete coating. It will eventually work its way to the surface and cause the coating to delaminate (peel).
Coatings need a textured surface to adhere to. Smoothe concrete will not hold a coating very well. The recommended way to prepare the surface (in most cases) is to Shot Blast it. This method removes any surface laitance and gives the surface a coarse texture for the coating to adhere to. However, due to its nature, you tend to end up with a striped pattern in your finished floor. High end coaters will grind the surface after shot blasting to even it out, thereby eliminating the striping.
Shot blasting equipment is EXPENSIVE and requires a good deal of maintenance. Because of this, many equipment rental places don't carry such equipment (although some do).
I would recommend that you hire this job out to a professional... Get several quotes... I have found vast differences in price per square foot for the same product. Also, price goes down as area goes up. I would guess that you could expect to pay in the neighborhood of $6.00 to $9.00 per square foot for a good coating job on a 1000 Sq. Ft. floor.
As for what product to get... I highly recommend "Tennant" brand products. We use their ECO-MPE as a primer and surfacer. It can be applied anywhere from .010" to .125" thick. We then topcoat it with their ECO-HTS high traffic urethane. Both products are clear, but they have a variety of colorants available that could go in either product.
