The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk garage floor coatings

Well the concrete is getting poured this Friday for my new shop. Any recommandations for any particular brand of floor coating. I have seen some slabs painted but the paint always seems to lift. Home Depot carries a floor coating. Any input is welcome, even it means leaving the floor bare

Thanks
John Gott

I do a lot of welding, grinding and torching, so I opted not to coat my floor. Besides, the way my wife paints, some of my floor is already "coated",
Scott

Painted concrete is an invitation to a fall (just my opinion).

Ours were deliberately left bare.

Jon.

I epoxied mine and I love it. Spills wipe right up. I also used a grit in it so it wasnt so slippery.

If you decide to do it use a two part epoxy product and not a paint. If you dont have to mix part A with part B shy away from it.

Also, its also recommended you wait 30 days before coating new concrete and u will also need to etch the surfce.

I used the Rustoleum brand from lowes. It has held up pretty well and was easy to put down.
The only bad part was how long you had to let it dry before you could put anything down,16 hours.

I used the Home Depot product and it worked well. I left the garage after 2 years so I can't say how long it lasted. The POR15 product is advertised as a good concrete coating. I know their coatings are very durable. I heard that you need to wait some time before etching new concrete. I think it is explained in the directions of the Home Depot product.

I would'nt paint it,you'll have to paint,then repaint,repaint.I did'nt do anything to mine,it's been 8 years.Have'nt had any problems.If it was a driveway,seal it with concrete sealer(mostly mineral spirits,i believe).

I used the 2 part epoxy kit from Sears, i think it' made by Rust-oleum. It was about $10 cheaper, not counting my discount. Cleans up nicely, if you get spills as soon as they happen, there isn't much chance of slippage. I haven't had any problems with rain water either.

Everything I spill pulls off any paint/sealer-brake fluind, paint thinner, carb cleaner. I left mine alone, going on 7 yrs. I figger it is rock, why cover it, its pretty durable. look at the freeways, brian

Rock on 64fleetside, you da man !!!

If you should have a oil spill of some sort.Just use some kitty litter and grind it in with your shoes or boots and use some jogo hand cleaner or karosene,cleans up nice.

I'd forget any kind of paint unless there is a vapor barrier (plastic sheet) under the concrete. I do maintanence at a mini storage. I tried sealing a storage area I turned into a shop. At the first rain I had the same white fuzz on the floor as the mother units.

When I first got out of high school I worked at a Shell gas station. The shop floor was red and I believe it was mixed in the concrete or a powder spread on top and burnished in. A burnished concrete finish is surprisingly resistant to oil. I don't remember there being any oil spots what so ever. *** Carb King is RIGHT it will be an "invitation to a fall". Any spot of oil, water gas and you will be on your butt. We cleaned the shop floor by mopping it down with Kerosene, hosing it off with water, and then squeegeeing it off. Didn't matter what kind of soles were on your shoes, some are better than others, you are going to fall on your butt. I would still go with a burnished finish and be DA*N carefull to get any liquid off the floor immediately. Another thought would be a burnished finish and self stick tile again it would be slick two ways.

Bare is probably the answer and maybe seal it (if you have the vapor arrier). Ask the concrete contractor or check with a good janitorial supplier.

Larry

Fellas, for additional flooring options, take a minute to browse over at: The Garage Journal .
Lots of good info in the 'Flooring' section.

Some of the entries in the 'Gallery' section will leave you in shock!

42 Chevy,

I put down the rust-o-leum product in gray on my new floor last August. The water was not turned on to the outside faucets at the time so I could not hose the acid off with a hose. Because I did not apply enough water, the acid bled through and ruined the finish on a couple of sections of the floor. I doubt you have much if any snow in MD, but the coating on the floor combined with snow is DANGEROUS....the floor is too slippery for my tastes in winter.

Same problem with the shop at work. One guy broke open his head while exiting a dump truck with snow on his boots.

I do like the floor for clean up tho.

If it's used to work on Your trucks, I would not want anything on it. I don't know of anything that will hold up to dragging jack stands,parts welding,grinding etc. around on it. Even Jay Leno's shop looks like bare concrete.

42 Chevy, it all depends on what YOU WANT. If you like to keep your area nice and clean then paint it. In the past couple years I have built my nephews shop (38x52) and mine 30x40, and we painted both BUT used different paint. On his we used the two part apoxy from Lowes and it has held up to his abuse extremely well after two years. For mine I used the one step paint "with apoxy" in it and it has held up FAIRLY well. The key to any job is preparation. We did find out that the better you etch it the better it will be so don't be shy pouring on the muriatic acid. Properly etched it will look/feel like about 22 grit sand paper. While my floor has not held up as good it was less costly and I do like to be able to wipe up spills etc pretty easy. It definitely helps when sweeping the floor and will clean up nice. I have some spare paint left and when I do get some rough spots I will paint them which the spots would look no worst than oil spots!! They can be a little slippery but I try to clean up spills ASAP and also after using it some the floor isn't quite as slick. I vote to paint it but its your shop!!!

John,
I used the paint/epoxy mixture from Home Depot, the light brown color and didtnt use the black specs it came with. Looks really nice. Cleans up easily. I live on a dirt road and when rains/snows it's real easy to clean up.
I also purchased some inexpensive 12"x12" black and white floor tiles and laid them down checkerboard style where my bench, tool box and motorcycles would be parked. Looked really cool...race shop looking.
Good luck,
-anthony

42-
Whatever you put on, be sure to let the concrete cure for about month. The hydration process continues releasing water for this long, and if you cover it too early the water vapor will have no where to go--it will cause the coating to peel up.

Eastern shore! How are the crabs?

You must use a epoxy 2 part paint. Also the concrete must be Dry. 30 days or more. I was just down on the eatern shore last week. You guys got 14 inches of rain (Hurlock MD). So the water is still under that slab. Check out eastwood products they have a great garage floor paint.

Hey guys;
thanks fore all the replys

I cover mine with project oil , dirt, slag, brake fluid, atf, blood, sweat, tears, and clean it with oil dry.

You can order color in the concrete mix, that way it's the same color all the way thru the slab. A good smooth trowelled finish will make it slick and easy for cleanup. Cost will probably not be more than if you bought epoxy paint for it.