Need advise for heavy duty garage floor

Schulmann · Mar 11, 2009

I am having a new house built with a larger garage. I love to work in my garage. I do all maintenance myself on my Viper including transmission change and welding. I also like my garage to look super clean after the "surgery" is performed on my Viper. Some jobs are really dirty, but after a couple of hours cleaning my floor always looks new.

So far I had "Race Deck floor" in my garage. However I will leave it on my old house. So it wont my to the new garage. It was a great isolation againts cold and humidity.
It was also easy to clean. However jacking was always a big issue since the title are very weak when high pressure is applied on a little surface. Also when the oil gets into the joints it is nearly impossible to clean everything.

I know that there are some new products available that resist very well againts oil stains and pressure (jacking). Anybody has exeprience in a "dirty" environment with this new products ?

mjorgensen Woodhouse · Mar 11, 2009

Thanks for the info on the Racedeck since I was just about to order 1100 sqft for my garage and the seam thing woould have really been a bummer. I found this site and will probably use the products they sell then even if it is more work. Downside is having to etch my glass smooth floor.

Coating Kits : Epoxy Coat, Epoxy Garage floor paints and coatings

Lot's of options and 10X as thick as regular ones.

ViperTony · Mar 11, 2009

mjorgensen said:
Thanks for the info on the Racedeck since I was just about to order 1100 sqft for my garage and the seam thing woould have really been a bummer. I found this site and will probably use the products they sell then even if it is more work. Downside is having to etch my glass smooth floor.

Coating Kits : Epoxy Coat, Epoxy Garage floor paints and coatings

Lot's of options and 10X as thick as regular ones.

Mark I did this project last year: http://forums.viperclub.org/general-viper-discussion/613811-my-garage-floor-project.html . The etching isn't bad...but its much easier to shot-blast the floor. I did both. I used an etching product sold at Lowe's for the etching. I was really surprised how well it worked...at full concentration it ate throguh the surface of the concrete. I hated giving up the shiney concrete but I'm much happier with the coating. The epoxy I used required troweling and then rolling it. No matter what you use it comes down to proper surface prep.

Red Snake · Mar 11, 2009

I did the UCoatIt epoxy finish on mine. It looks killer. Everyone who see's it in person loves it. It is very easy to clean too. I clean with soap and water and squeegee the water out the door. Air dry (fan optional) or run a towel over the floor with the squeegee if I don't want to wait for it to air dry.

It has a couple of drawbacks but it seems like ANY floor will some drawbacks. We get sudden weather and humidity changes here and when this happens, I get condensation on the floor. When the floor gets wet it can be a little slick.

Overall I'd do it again in a heartbeat though.

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mjorgensen Woodhouse · Mar 11, 2009

Sweet ^^^^ I was thinking of Black with red flakes for mine to match my car, I have all white walls also. How dark does this make it in yours?

Red Snake · Mar 11, 2009

mjorgensen said:
Sweet ^^^^ I was thinking of Black with red flakes for mine to match my car, I have all white walls also. How dark does this make it in yours?

It doesn't really affect the light/darkness inside the garage. It just looks a little bit like that because it was dark when the photos were taken and I just have 4 - 75 watt bare lightbulbs lighting the garage (over 1000 sq ft).

Here's another shot.

Schulmann · Mar 12, 2009

Yes all these epoxy floor are creazy beautifull but do they resist oil ?
Espetially if I drop brake oil on the paint, will it lift off ?

I am looking for that heavy duty army floor that shines like sun and resists abuse during years.

My real problem is the type of work that I do 3-4 times in my garage. Some time my floor gets really messy. So far the Race Deck floor performed very well especially with brake oil on it ... Unfortunately I messed it up forevery with a welding job on my frame last year.

ViperTony · Mar 12, 2009

Schulmann said:
Yes all these epoxy floor are creazy beautifull but do they resist oil ?
Espetially if I drop brake oil on the paint, will it lift off ?

Yes, resists oil...no paint does not lift off...brake oil, engine oil, diffy/tranny oil...even fry oil. I haven't tried battery acid yet but soon.

Schulmann · Mar 12, 2009

Sounds really good !
Tony, what is the name of the product that you installed ?

Anybody knows this product: UCoat It&reg Do-it Yourself Commercial Grade Epoxy Floor Coating Systems for Garages, Basements, Industrial, Commercial, Automotive and more.

AZTVR · Mar 13, 2009

Another place to research about garage floor products is here: Flooring - The Garage Journal Board

Lots of good words about the Wolverine Coatings, apparently a industrial/commercial supplier starting to service the do-it-yourselfer.

There are also positive posts about EpoxyCoat.

Lots of others with mixed reviews, saying a product is great and others say that the same product is bad. Like posted above, the major importance is surface prep, and insuring that you don't have moisture coming up from your slab due to it being still in the curing stage, or if your garage is in a basement/hillside situation, with poor drainage.

FastZilla · Mar 13, 2009

I went with VCT - it's pretty bulletproof and can be resurfaced many times. No cracks/seams once waxed and sealed. No problem with jacking a car up - steel wheels with lots of weight on them. only costs about $1.15/sq ft installed!

Once I got my tire sticking solved (needs like 12 initial coats of wax and a good initial pass with a high speed buffer) it's been great!

Red Snake · Mar 13, 2009

Schulmann said:
Sounds really good !
Tony, what is the name of the product that you installed ?

Anybody knows this product: UCoat It&reg Do-it Yourself Commercial Grade Epoxy Floor Coating Systems for Garages, Basements, Industrial, Commercial, Automotive and more.

See my posts and photos above. Mine is UCoatIt. :2tu:

bmw2nv2000 · Mar 13, 2009

I have done this a couple of times, in fact I am currently building a new home and all the garages will be this flooring. It is Fabcrete.com acid stain then I use gymnasium sealer(very tough stuff) I drove in and out of one house daily for 1 year and never showed wear period, plus you could dump a full quart of oil on it leave it 3 days then mop it right up with a mop(tried it just for the heck of it) the floor will not soak up anything. I wish I had some pics of the one garage I actually diamond cut 8'x8' tile pattern then stained bright blue and bright green checkers and it looked amazing. Oh it looks just as good without grout lines cut in. :2tu:

Oh and what I like is you can do this for less than $0.75 per ft :headbang:

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CarDude · Mar 13, 2009

Red Snake said:
It doesn't really affect the light/darkness inside the garage. It just looks a little bit like that because it was dark when the photos were taken and I just have 4 - 75 watt bare lightbulbs lighting the garage (over 1000 sq ft).

Here's another shot.

Looks great, but had to share a trick for increasing the light in your garage. Try to find a light bulb socket that doubles your socket...then add (2) 150 watt fluorescent bulbs and you have 300 watts of lighting for the cost of around 65 watts of power. Works great.

Simms · Mar 13, 2009

Red Snake, the Ucoat It looks awesome! Did you have a clear coat application as well?

I used an epoxy floor product from Lowe's. I have had it three years, and it has done pretty well. I have a few spots were it broke up, mainly from dropping jack stands etc. where I may have spread it too thin. I've been thinking of doing the garage in my future house using UCoat It, I have a feeling it is stronger than the stuff I used.

Only one product has stained or affected my floor. Believe it or not, washer fluid dried and left a blue stain on my gray floor.

ViperTony · Mar 13, 2009

Schulmann said:
Sounds really good !
Tony, what is the name of the product that you installed ?

Anybody knows this product: UCoat It&reg Do-it Yourself Commercial Grade Epoxy Floor Coating Systems for Garages, Basements, Industrial, Commercial, Automotive and more.

I used an industrial coating from Sigmacoatings.com - Paint | Coating | Decorative | Protective |Industrial | Marine | Sigma | coatings My neighbor is a coatings guru and he happened to have a few gallons of the stuff leftover from a nuclear engine room project for one of the local submarine manufacturers. I sent you a detailed PM. It's all about the prep.

N2 Vipers · Mar 13, 2009

If you go with Racedeck, DON'T go with the white! It is almost impossible to keep clean.

Red Snake · Mar 13, 2009

Simms said:
Red Snake, the Ucoat It looks awesome! Did you have a clear coat application as well?

I used an epoxy floor product from Lowe's. I have had it three years, and it has done pretty well. I have a few spots were it broke up, mainly from dropping jack stands etc. where I may have spread it too thin. I've been thinking of doing the garage in my future house using UCoat It, I have a feeling it is stronger than the stuff I used.

Only one product has stained or affected my floor. Believe it or not, washer fluid dried and left a blue stain on my gray floor.

Yes it has clear over the top. The stuff comes in a kit with everything you need. I would recommend ordering extra clear. This spring I plan to put another 2 or 3 coats of clear down on mine. Nothing has stained mine. I was concerned about road salt this winter (from driving the Yukon in when the weather is bad) but it didn't hurt anything. :2tu:

Schulmann · Mar 14, 2009

I have done an extensive ressearch on the paints.
Basically the epoxy is the best bond to the concret however it doesn't resist to oil. So what most company do is to apply one or two layer of Polyurethane paint over the epoxy. Polyurethane resists much better to oil than epoxy. However it will peal off with brake oil too

I think I will give a try to the UCoatIt. It costs $1 ft/sq. During the winter and durty work I will put a plastic blanket on my floor. Costco sells some of these cheap plastic covers.

Chuck 98 RT/10 · Mar 14, 2009

Dark floors look great but with my eyes I'd hate to go looking for a bolt after dropping it. When I do my floor it's gonna be as white as snow.

xlrashn · Mar 14, 2009

Chuck 98 RT/10 said:
Dark floors look great but with my eyes I'd hate to go looking for a bolt after dropping it. When I do my floor it's gonna be as white as snow.

You make an excellent point about finding dropped items (screws, nuts, clips, etc.). On the do-it-yourself coating products, I would skip the "speckles" that are added at the end. A friend of mine has those speckles in his, and it is almost impossible to see small items when accidentally dropped on the floor. Just my $.02

SuperSaiks · Mar 19, 2009

I'm thinking putting in G-Floor. Its basically a roll out rubber floor. Comes in different sizes and patterens and colours. You can trim it to fit your garage and roll it back up when you want to.

Basically its a floating floor, no adehsives, paints or mess to worry about during or years later.

Red Snake · Mar 19, 2009

Chuck 98 RT/10 said:
Dark floors look great but with my eyes I'd hate to go looking for a bolt after dropping it. When I do my floor it's gonna be as white as snow.

xlrashn said:
You make an excellent point about finding dropped items (screws, nuts, clips, etc.). On the do-it-yourself coating products, I would skip the "speckles" that are added at the end. A friend of mine has those speckles in his, and it is almost impossible to see small items when accidentally dropped on the floor. Just my $.02

I have the flakes on my black floor, but I also have good layer of clear. I have no trouble finding things on the floor. All you have to do is put your head down near the floor and you can see anything, anywhere on the floor. Objects really stand out on the clear finish. :2tu:

GTS Bruce · Mar 24, 2009

White vinyl tile here with blue speckles. I have it stripped and polished about every 2 years and have an extra case of same in case some get realy screwed up. Replaced one so far. GTS BRuce

RaceDeck · Apr 27, 2009

Hi
Remember that all VCA members get a great discount when they buy RaceDeck.

Thanks

2snakes4us · Apr 27, 2009

FastZilla said:
I went with VCT - it's pretty bulletproof and can be resurfaced many times. No cracks/seams once waxed and sealed. No problem with jacking a car up - steel wheels with lots of weight on them. only costs about $1.15/sq ft installed!

Once I got my tire sticking solved (needs like 12 initial coats of wax and a good initial pass with a high speed buffer) it's been great!

Same here. I went with Black and White...I love the VCT. :2tu:

Janni · Apr 27, 2009

We did both our upper and lower garages last winter with a commercial floor company coming in and doing the work. the rented a generator and bead blasted both floors. Then applied the products....

the upper garage is quartz aggregate and the nice thing here is that it is monolithic and can be "troweled" up the walls. So far - it's indestructible. It's slightly grippy, too.

The lower garage / workshop is epoxy chip. They custom mix the chips and spread it on an epoxy base so that the multiple colored ships completely cover the floor about 6 times over. Then - they clear over it - we did 2 coats. It's a terrazzo look. So far it too has been indestructible - floor jacks, etc.

$7 or so a square foot - but it's easy to maintain, sheds all sorts of chemicals and looks great.

Wayne Finch · Apr 27, 2009

Might be pricey, but this stuff is used commercially in many high traffic areas including factory floors using skids, towmotors, etc. Stonhard Seamless Flooring, Resinous Flooring, Epoxy Flooring, Polymer Flooring, Industrial Flooring by Stonhard Floors

Need advise for heavy duty garage floor

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