Garage Floor Coating
 

I thought this was an excellent article that compares Pros vs DIY. And, there are numerous opinions and suggestions after it from readers.

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vid...Thursday_May_9

I'd love to have my garage floor done, didn't realize it was $2k though. I may have to consider the DIY approach on this one.

I bought a house which had a coated garage. It definitely was professionally done by the previous owner. It is suprisingly durable, even with me dropping car parts (rotors, alternators, etc..) has held up quite well.

Overall I like it, although once after parking and leaving a car in one spot for longer than usual (think I was traveling) it pulled up a small chunk when i moved the car. Very surprised when that happened given on durable it has been otherwise but guess that article explains it.

A friend of mine, a contractor, told me about the removal of nice commercial carpeting from a real estate office he was rebuilding. I snagged it all and carpeted my garage and shop. 20 years ago. It has help up very well and really keeps the dirt out of the house. Yes, I vacuum the garage. It also is nice to work on cars with a “soft” floor.

I had hard vinyl tile in my last garage. It is bullet proof and offers some support as the tiles have a open honeycomb pattern underneath. My new garage in my new home is larger and I am going to to install the new soft vinyl tiles in it. They offer more support and insulation yet are just as durable as the hard vinyl. Cost is about 1K with a 28% discount.

I went with DIY since I had the time and the professional pricing was far more than I wanted to spend. I stripped the old paint off of my garage floor and used the Rustoleum Professional Floor Kit. Thankfully, some of the prep work had been done previously (mechanically prepped which made the paint removal more of a pain) and I only did some acid etching for peace of mind since the devil is in the prep work. After the acid etch, I filled in cracks and concrete damage with epoxy repair putty, and used concrete slicone sealant to fill in the relief cuts in the slab. I applied two coats of base and a coat of clear to finish and used their anti-skid additive to prevent any slips if there is liquid spills.

I plan to redo the walls and baseboards later this year, so I didn't concern myself with keeping that nice looking during the paint removal process.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...1c5b085000.jpg

I painted mine and then put in hallway runners for the drive in wet days. It worked pretty good. Seems I don't have any pictures of that but I certainly qualify for the DIY on the cheap. Mine was painted with $65 gal paint safety red used for warehouses. Yes it lifts off just like the article says. So I put in hallways runners rather than sit outside. Even so, I do a little soak through but just where I park. I'd take a picture but I roll up the runners in the winter and at the moment I'm doing to much maintenance on it to put them back. Rolling the jack around, jack stands, etec. don't do as well with cheap hallway runners; so I take them up when working.

Before hallway runners.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...2c9b3dea9c.jpg

Hey ol :corner: Hockey thread member :hello:

zdave linked me to this thread as I have been considering the Floor Tiles vs the Epoxy Coat :shrug:

WOW :heart: your Garage :bow: :cool: & that MG :bow: :thumbup:

:hello: to a Voice from the Past! Thanks for comments. The man-cave has come a long ways from its early beginning. :)
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...a747b4c369.jpg

Sure has :thumbup: I hope to do the Floor Tiles since its 6 years full of stuff and clearing it for the Epoxy & the Price will probably steer me the way of the Tiles.

I had an MGB in the late 70's Love the :vintage: ones though :cool:

Enjoy that Man Cave Garage :hello:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...069b71383a.jpg
Here was the start of the tile installation in my garage three years ago. Hate to admit I haven't cleaned them since and they look pretty dirty now, but I still enjoy them every day. Cost about $1200.

You will really appreciate a nice colorful floor. I still enjoy my MG garage every time I go in it. During the winter I move things around to make room for my daily driver 23 year old truck, so I don't have to scrap and clear snow off it. Are you still a big hockey fan? I love it even when the team's in the cellar.

Morris those tiles look great!!

After researching the crap out of this subject, I hired the pros who have the grinding equipment and who use the nasty two part epoxy. I'll probably do the same for my home garage.

All it takes is $$$.

Well yeah you should enjoy that MG & the garage :LOL:
Yep still love my SHARKS home town :heart: :shrug: WSB & I have slacked on the thread this year :o
think I'll go :bump: it :) I think I recall your Grandson played :scratch: if so hope his teams doing well!

Finished painting my garage & ordered a :cool: wall mural now that the big wall is all white :) I will try to get a :photo: when all done.
Still undecided on the Floor Tiles as they seem to have many options & not cheap either :shrug:

We have a hockey thread in vintage but it doesn't get much traffic. https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-vi...eason-1196819/
I see the Sharks are still in the thick of things!! As for my grandson, my goodness you have a scary good memory. 2008 was his last year due to the costs of playing in the travel league. He switched high schools to be on a team and then lost out because they couldn't field enough players. Here's a couple shots from those days, the latter one he played goalie at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Gosh, we really missed going to his games. After sitting out a year he lost interest in sports - - he found girls.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...7014d118d6.jpg


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...523f8786a2.jpg
Those days seem soooooooooo long ago. He's at a college town up north; 23 and we hope sometime soon he will get his $hit together and find out there's more to life than just partying.

Yeah I need to pay more attention to my team :hidebc:

What cute :photo: 's & well at least you have those fun memories :thumbup:

:LOL: hopeful he does as well, thanks for the :photo: 's :hello:

PS Morris's floor looks nice too!

Go Habs,Go...:thumbup:

Thought I would bump this thread. We just contracted to have this floor coating installed in our garage. I'll post some before and after pictures when the job is completed. Oh, it ain't cheap, but comes with a lifetime warranty against chipping, peeling and fading, plus it looks great. :)

Sweet. Look'n forward to the before and after pictures. What color did you select?

Pecan:
https://dealerplatformnet.blob.core....81a33f49f8.jpg

Very nice!

Good luck! I hope it comes out great.

Gene, I really like that!

Gene what is ballpark $/sq ft ?

I guess “affordable” is in the eye of the beholder. We had some extras included, like coating the two block high block walls around the perimeter of the garage and the 2 foot concrete apron that extends to the brick driveway at the entrance. For our 2 car garage all in it was a little over $10 per sq. ft.

Instinctively, my first thought was " oh that's not bad,
then I remembered my garage has 3 bays and is 24x33.

So, 8 or 9 large to get a first class looking garage. Worth it! Wonder what Patty paid for her 2 garages in Colorado?

I would love to but New England winters would kill it.
literally pounds of sand get dropped on the floor when the car gets parked.
That gets ground in as the cars move in and out.
My fantasy garage would have nice big drains and I could just wash it out as I wash the car off in the winter.

A local company called Boston Garage charges around the same. For that price they grind off about 1/8 inch of the floor surface and repair the cracks before applying about 500 pounds of coating product. Is your company doing something similar?

I had my 33x41 shop floor machine sanded (no major removal of material) and two coats of two part Sherwin Williams epoxy was applied. The cost of that was around $7k.

I have to say that the two part Sher-Win epoxy will stain and scratch. But that is under some sever usage. Like a nut or piece of rust gets caught in a teepee wheel as you slide out from under the vehicle.

Bill, the surface prep you described appears to be the same. Our installation will not take place until mid-April, though, due to their workload.

It may be hard to find dropped screws on that. Unrelated to that, I like the lighter garage floor I had put in my Trabuco Canyon, CA house more than the darker floor in my Loveland, Colorado garages.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...01192d4403.jpg
^California.





https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...34b7f0f87.jpeg
^Colorado garage.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...dac260e2c.jpeg



https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...a30ed8548.jpeg^
^Ignore the snake. Noticed the flakes.

The snake is too lazy to catch mice so he raids the trap?!?!?

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...19374d462.jpeg


I have not been as happy with this garage floor as I have with the one I put in in California. The California one has some scraps from dragging my motorcycle kickstand across it but the Colorado floor has already been repaired. It just doesn't seem as thick a coating as the CA one. I don't have the paperwork here in CO about the CA floors.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...ef8df2aa4f.jpg
^Repair in Feb. 2020 on the floor in the detached garage. This one is rarely used.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...470c463f92.jpg
^The attached garage floor hasn't had any problems on the inside but the edge outside one door was repaired.



https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...d16c9ab223.jpg

:LOL: I think I might have chased it into the corner before I put it outside. Pretty coral snake! I'd never seen one before.

Sales tax = 3.55%!!!! OMG is that cheap!

^Yes, it is! That's a benefit of living outside of the Loveland city limits. It saved on my car sales tax, too. If I go 10 miles to the east the tax rate is about 9% with the added on BS for the new area.

Try sales tax of 0.00%. Now that's cheap!

But, your cost works out to about $4.00 per sq. ft. About 40% of what I will be paying. Hmmm.

I'm not thrilled with it, though. I am very happy with the California job. I'll see what I paid in CA when I get back there next week.

After many weather delays, the crew came today and completed the garage floor coating. I am beyond pleased! For those not on Facebook, here are the highlights;
Before:
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...6e&oe=5EEA15E7

After surface grinding the floor:
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...7e&oe=5EE86F7D

The color chips to be added later:
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...02&oe=5EEABCCB

The surface after grinding but before crack repair:

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...79&oe=5EE915CE

Filling in the cracks:
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...2d&oe=5EEBD21C

After crack repair and before surface finish application:
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...66&oe=5EE8ABBE

After applying base-coat and color chips:
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...dd&oe=5EE81AFC

The final results after top-coat application. I am extremely pleased with the results!
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...20&oe=5EE9F63C

The crew of 4 guys arrived promptly at 8:30 this morning and were finished around 4:30 this afternoon. Great job!

That's awesome Gene.

That looks real nice Gene!

Thanks. Unlike epoxy, this coating has a guaranteed life of 15 years. I was impressed with the professionalism of the crew and the quality of the materials.

Just 15. Hope we are all still around. :)

Very nice Gene,congrats,:thumbup: As for still being there in 15 years...???

That looks really good. You aren't going to put a car on top of that now, are you?

:) It does look great.

Beautiful, Gene. Love it.

Gene-
Question for you, and not just related to the flooring

Do you regret not having more shelves, cabinets, work benches or wall racks that you can hang your tools on? Not the pegboard stuff but more heavy duty stuff?
What about lighting and heat/AC?
Did you install any drainage?

We plan to add quite a bit more storage, including shelving, cabinets and wall racks. What we had was installed piece-meal and looked like crap! Just finished moving a lot of stuff back in and we realized that we first need to have the walls repaired and repainted. Then plan and execute the storage.

When we built the house, the electrician installed 4 commercial 4-tube fluorescent fixtures, so we have plenty of light. The garage is insulated, but not heated. We do not have drainage, unfortunately.

Looks great, Gene. How soon can we move in?

Edit -- Gene, I may have missed it -- is there any special upkeep required? Clean-up is just sweeping?

Thanks for your answers. We are getting seriously interested...we are already envious.

Nice flooring! I'm getting garage envy seeing some of these photos, I have lots of space but it's filthy and shambolic at the moment. I'm desperate to get stuck into sorting it all out but we have to focus on outside work before Winter sets in. A rainy long weekend this weekend (Queen's Birthday) would be good...

Len,
There is no special upkeep involved, just sweeping and the wiping up of any spills. They applied a polyurethane type top coat that pretty much is indestructable, as far as I can tell. Here is a link to their website which explains the process.

I have not had an indestructible experience with my floor coating. Get a piece of rusty metal or a bolt or screw caught in a creeper wheel as you slide under the car if you want to put the stuff to the test. I hope your floor holds up better than mine.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/searc...b&action=click

I would love to do that Gene, but I know how long it would last, which is maybe one winter.
The sand piles that build up from the tires etc. would just eat it alive.
As it is frequently during the winter I shovel the sand up.

Final results after painting, revised shelving and storage rearrangement;
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...f5ac4b22a.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...22e2ae44e.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...423e73659.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...22959952b.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...be34219ee.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...3cc792b4f.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...c3b5e1c99.jpeg

Oh, yes. Got the S back today after 7 months getting it repainted!

Way to go Gene. Did you leave any room in there for a bed? Looks great, nice peaceful place for a couple lovely cars. :wine:

7 months??? were they doing it with a detailing brush?

It looks terrific, Gene! Everything. So neat and clean. I like your magnet collection.

Well, it's one guy who has a rather large shop in his back yard. Besides being a perfectionist, he had a few helpers quit, the virus hit, and when I left it with him I told him to take his time, so apparently he gave other jobs higher priority. Also, he discovered some rust and had to make repairs to the front lip. That's his story. I finally had had enough and texted him last week that my patience was wearing thin, so, surprisingly, it was finished!. He has done some other work for me on my NSX and my wife's Crosstour, which were done in a timely manner. His father-in-law lives next door and I also let him know that I thought it was taking too long, and he agreed.

Thanks, Patty! Having the floor done was a great incentive for making the garage presentable, and forcing me to keep it so. Unfortunately, several of the magnets that I got at various S2000 meets were missing. Guess I lost them somehow.

Mine are scattered in many drawers.

Thank you for the link. I think I would lean towards Pro's rather than DYI.

^^ :thumbup:

Apparently the pictures I posted from Facebook have been deleted. If anyone wants to see them, let me know and I'll repost. Let me state that if you want a long-lasting, bullet-proof floor, let the pros do it! The whole key is proper surface prep, and using a diamond coated grinder is essential to preparing the concrete, plus as Scoots said, it needs to cure at least 6 months.

In case you missed it, this is the process I had done: https://www.penntekcoatings.com/garage-floor-coating/