A few shots before the floor coating:



After the coating:



"Organized":



"Real Life":




Matthew

Comment away!

I like the floor which brand is it? and hows it holding up?

Coating is a basic kit we bought at Menard's (like Home Depot) - it's the Rustoleum Epoxy Shield Garage Floor Coating Kit. Took two kits to do the floor. I bought some extra acid wash to do the floor because the garage was 5 years old and had a lot of oil and stuff already on the conrete from the previous owner.

Floor is durable as far as spilling solvents and whatnot on it. Oil just sits on the top of the surface forever. I leaked a bunch of brake fluid on it from my brother's truck I was fixing and once soaked up with a rag it was discolored for a day then back to normal. It will scratch off from sharp objects, so when I use jack stands I put cardboard under them. In-laws did the same floor before us. Theirs started scraping off a little because they didn't prep it right and scratch it up with junk, so they just put another coat right over it and that worked well.

Overall I'm happy - took a full day, but much easier to clean and looks nicer.

Matthew

check here:
http://www.acehardware.com/sm-rustole ... y-sheild--pi-2804197.html

Thanks! I also like the work area thats out of the way giving you more floor space

looks nice

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Thanks.

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Thanks. Original owner (house is about 6 yrs old) had it built that way. I thought it was pretty neat, too. There is a cut in on both sides of the door. One side is tools, the other side is junk like pool supplies, extra parts, snowblower, etc.

Matthew

I've been trying to decide what to do with the floor and I have pretty much decided that epoxy is the way to go. I really like the Race Deck type floor system but I don't care for the price and I don't want to lose any more height in my garage (I know 3/8 to 1/2" isn't much, but I don't even want to lose that).

What was the total procedure that you took when prepping your floor for the epoxy. As I understand, prep is everything to end up with a durable floor with the epoxy.

Nice job on the Floor.

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Well, I don't remember the exact steps, but from memory:
First cleared out all of the garage. Used a broom and a leaf blower to blow out all of the dust and crap. I had some old paint and other gunk on the concrete that I used a razor scraper to clean off because it was raised. I then wet the areas that needed extra cleaning from old stains (oil) and used acid wash and a stiff bristled brush. After that was done, you work in sections by wetting the floor and then applying the "etch" that is included in the kit that you mix up in a bucket. Use the brush (I had it on a long handle) to work it into the concrete. After it sits for a few minutes, use the hose to wash it all out. Let it dry and wash it again. I didn't want any extra acid etch to be left on before I painted. Make sure the garage floor is totally dry before painting. Then paint in sections and sprinkle the anti-slip chips over the top. This is a must, because otherwise when the floor is wet it's slippery.

I think it took all day now that I think about it. But I'm happy with the results. My neighbor called a company to do his and they wanted to come bead blast the floor first with a big machine and then paint with industrial grade epoxy or paint - they wanted like over $2,000. I think he ended up doing it himself.

Like you said, prep is the most important step. Hope it turns out well for you.

Matthew

Whatever you do with epoxy stay away from U Coat IT

Thanks for the tip!

Matthew

That's almost exactly like my garage, right down to the room in back.

I put the same Rustoleum on the floor, about two/three years ago. I'll be doing a second coat this year since I have extra paint.

I have the extra room in the back like that too. I put a sink in it and heat off the heating system for my first floor.

That little cubbyhole is the best thing in the world. There is one on each side. I have each filled with crap....lol.

My sink is through the door in the picture, the mud/laundry room.

The garage also has it's own separate ceiling mounted gas furnace.

Matthew

Quick update to this thread. Will had sent me a pm and asked me how the floor was holding up. For the most part it's good, but although the floor coating seems impervious to every single chemical I've gotten on it, the Achilles's heel is hot tires. They seem to pull the coating right off. Also, I saw a friend's garage who used the little silica/sand additive to make it more slip resistant and I would definitely use that in the future. I will probably end up repainting the one side of the garage where I park next year.

Overall I am still very happy with the cost/work benefit vs professional floor cost and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Matthew

Oh yeah, since this is my garage thread, here are the sweet shelves we built, too:

On the floor coating, the silica sand, sounds like a good idea, but the problem comes when you want to sweep the floor, everything drags on it like sand paper.. atleast that's what has happened here in my garage. Our was probably done 6+ years ago with some professional product my cousin was selling at the time. looked great at first, but it takes a beating, with all the chemicals I spill and all the other stuff I do working in there..
-=Rick

+ 1 on the no silica.

The private race shop I worked in had the floor done by a pro company, Premier Garage. Whatever they put down is bullitproof. At 8 years, it still looks new.

I tried to find out what they used but couldn't

Nice work Matt! Way to clean and orderly for me though.

[IMG]http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad155/Ultraman59/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG00058-20100915-1410.jpg[/IMG]


I posted this awhile back but the truth is that's my garage and that's really me and my Vette is in there somewhere.

Matthew thanks for posting an update on how the floor is holding up over time.

There are so many products out there to choose from for doing this stuff, it's hard to pick...

Now if I could just get the darn painters to paint the walls, then the floor guys could put down the new carpet/wood floors in the house and I could get on with fixing up the garage.
Will

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Looking good, Matt. Safe for baby, too.

Looks like a Jeep to me.