What type of Garage floor coating is best and why?

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by Wall$treet

No offense but what is "aerospace" and garage floor epoxy got to do with one another? Seems a bit marketing gimicky to me and you fell for it.

Its fine if the product works but to quote it saying its aerospace grade..what does that even mean in regards to a garage floor coating

I guess I can understand your skepticism. Aerospace grade can be a formal or informal term. In many applications it has direct and concrete meanings. In short it simply means the product is approved for use in flying craft. This can have a plethora of ramifications as to how the product is designed, tested and how its raw materials are screened and processed. For a floor coating this means that the product is suitable for aerospace facilities (since a floor obviously doesn't fly itself...). Thus the main requirements are both a broader spectrum of chemical resistance and a greater load/adhesion capability. Increased wear capability given a heavier duty cycle (than say a basic residential garage) is a distinguishing factor as well.

As I stated earlier I've done quite a bit of work with epoxies, sealants and adhesives as a Mechanical Engineer. I'm not too shabby at separating marketing vs. real benefits. For garage floor epoxies preparation is probably more important than your choice of an epoxy brand. However, the use of a top coat is equally as important as your prep work. Beyond that you will basically get what you pay for.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by TheStigsCanadianCousin

I really want a nice clean finish to the garage floor for my M, but there are so many option on the market.

Concrete stains, Epoxies, and Polyaspartic coatings etc...

So far this one looks to be the most durable: http://flexmarpolyaspartics.com/

Just wondering what you have all done with your garage floors and if you are happy (or not) with the product installed. If you have pics of your garage floor, pls post.

My garage floor (like many others) was smooth concrete and right down dangerous when wet. I almost broke my neck once. When that happened I went out and got a few rolls of this stuff and it works just fine for me.

Click on the link and then the brief video ----> Here you go

[LarThaL]

Originally Posted by TheStigsCanadianCousin

I really want a nice clean finish to the garage floor for my M, but there are so many option on the market.

Concrete stains, Epoxies, and Polyaspartic coatings etc...

So far this one looks to be the most durable: http://flexmarpolyaspartics.com/

Just wondering what you have all done with your garage floors and if you are happy (or not) with the product installed. If you have pics of your garage floor, pls post.

Try racedeck tile. This is the garage in our vacation home which I am in the midst of renovating. www.racedeck.com

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Enjoy !!!!

[ksoze]

Very nice. How did you handle the center support pole and do you mind sharing how much that sized garage cost you and the time it took to do it.

[rye m3]

I did our garage with epoxy finish from Griot's garage. It has held up very well for 6 years. These finishes are not a simple install because you need to acid etch the floor first for a long lasting finish. It is a long weekend's work.

Also, as someone mentioned, it looks great, but is like walking on glass if it gets wet. That also counts for water running off your car after driving in the rain or tracking in snow. What you should do is throw some sand on the surface as you do it - at least in traffic areas around the perimeter. I live with it- when I built my house I simply had to have it!

[LarThaL]

Originally Posted by ksoze

Very nice. How did you handle the center support pole and do you mind sharing how much that sized garage cost you and the time it took to do it.

Center support pole was a bit tricky, but not too bad. You just have to take some measurements as you get close to the pole to see where the pole is going to be relative to the tile that would be in that location. You then split the tile longitudinally at the appropriate point and cut out two semicircles that would make up the hole for the pole. Hope this makes sense.

The project took me two days to complete. Cost of tile was $1700 for a 23x22 ft garage. I did not have an exact fit. There is about 2" on either side of the tiled area and about 5" at the front of the house near the garage door that is not covered with tile. I could have gotten extra tile and cut it to get an exact fit, but it wasn't that big a deal to me. The edge spaces also keeps some of the dirt from getting up onto the tiled area.

I also have Race Deck in our primary home. Extremely durable and everything just wipes off. Only thing you can't do it to jack your car up directly on the tile. I tired this once, and it started to crack under one of the jack wheels so I backed off. Now I just use a 1/2" thick piece of oak plywood on the floor when I jack and there are no issues.

Race deck also has a nice program on their website where you can plan out your floor design and it automatically counts up the tiles for you.

[mazing]

I still recommend Premier Garage and the surface is always applied with anti-skid coating so you dont break yor next in a residential application. Its a professional grade application with a 30 yr wear warranty. I thought of tiles (and all the stuff getting stuck underneath) and went for the clean finish that can be cleaned with amonia (diluted) and squeegee dry. No hassels, no dust, no fuss.

[avalon652]

This topic can honestly go on forever ...If you really want to do some research check out the garage journal forum: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/f...splay.php?f=20. You will find more than you ever wanted to know about floor coatings here . There are a TON of knowledgeable people including DIYers, reps, even CEOs and owners of many of the major manufacturers including RaceDeck.

Personally I've had experience with some of the acid stain products and Polyaspartic (HC Spartacote to be specific)...right now I've had the Poly-A down for 4 months and it looks awesome. Cleans up easily and has been very durable. I'll post some pictures later if I get a chance. Good luck and like a few people have said if you're going to coat your floor yourself it is ALL about prep; take your time and do it right and you should be happy!

PS...if you join the garage journal and start posting be sure to call it floor coating not painting; they eat people alive for that one

[paradocs98]

I REALLY wanted epoxy when we redid our garage interior a few months ago because I love the clean/professional look, but ended up doing plastic tile decking because of our local water table. Here on Long Island our water table is pretty high, and I was warned that unless a garage is new construction with a moisture barrier underneath the concrete slab, moisture will find its way up to the surface and bubble the epoxy within a couple of years. You might keep this in mind depending on your geographic location.

[BKMK5]

Originally Posted by swamp2

I checked this out at their website. Seems like a very odd product. Liquid spills/leaks travel through the "slats" down to a lower layer and out of the garage? How does that work?

-What about the spill residue left sticking to the slats?
-Sticking to the area under the slats?
-What if your garage floor is not evenly graded for drainage?

Am I totally missing something here? What actually makes this a compelling product?

I don't do oil changes or any other liquid changes for that matter. However, the reason for this type of flooring was that in the winter when snow and sand get stuck in the wheel wells and then melts I want all of that to fall through the floor and lay on the cement floor like it has for the past 60 years in the house. The only difference is that sand will be on the cement, and not on the tile so my wife and I wont be tracking sand into our house.

To clean the subfloor you can snap the tiles right down the middle and pull it over one another and use a lawn blower to blow all the junk out.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by rye m3

Also, as someone mentioned, it looks great, but is like walking on glass if it gets wet. That also counts for water running off your car after driving in the rain or tracking in snow. What you should do is throw some sand on the surface as you do it - at least in traffic areas around the perimeter.

I would not go that route.

You will end up with something ugly and maybe even a disaster. The Armorgarage kits come with a special cleaned and graded silica (sand). It is to be mixed in with the epoxy, not thrown on the surface after rolling it out. If you want to do a DIY sand job go with a graded sand (size sorted), use a fairly fine grain and go with about 1/2 pint of sand per 400 square feet. As I mentioned in my prior post, any sand additive will settle REALLY quickly in the liquid epoxy or top coat. Mix well right before each pouring of a pool on to the floor and then roll it out roughly but quickly coming back for the final rolling passes.

[Lukasas75]

I can't remember how my type of floor is called, but it looks like this- Grindu betonavimas Vilniuje , and now I know, that if I will choose to have another garage I will make the same type floor as I have now. It was so inexpensive and qualitative! Just try to do the same!

[Koldun]

I cover my garage floors with the flayed skins of Audi drivers.

[BMWNTHZST]

I plan on using these guys in the Spring.

http://www.1stchoicegarage.com/epoxy_floor_coating.html

[Shosholoza]

RaceDeck worked fine for me. Only took 4 hours. I had epoxy before.

[BKMK5]

Originally Posted by BKMK5

I've got RaceDeck FreeFlow and its great!

With the garage completed and racedeck installed for 2 years, i love it!

Sadly I don't own the M any longer and the GL doesn't fit in my garage.

[BMWNTHZST]

I think the tile floor works well in a warm climate however how would you keep the floor clean under the tiles when the snow melts. Dirt and salt would collect under the tile. I can't imagine the garage floor standing up well over time without being able to wash it, not to mention the musty smell that would be present.

[radiantm3]

I did race deck + "epoxy" from Premiere Garage. One thing to keep in mind about flat epoxy is it gets extremely slippery during the rainy seasons. Mine is textured and I still almost slipped a few times with wet soles.

[Suave]

Seems like good overall feedback for the epoxy floor. Yes it's cheap but why pay more if I don't have to. If I only have to retouch every 6-8 years then it's easy decision

[BKMK5]

Originally Posted by BMWNTHZST

I think the tile floor works well in a warm climate however how would you keep the floor clean under the tiles when the snow melts. Dirt and salt would collect under the tile. I can't imagine the garage floor standing up well over time without being able to wash it, not to mention the musty smell that would be present.

I live on Long Island and the tile has not been completely removed since installation. I've taken sections out to clean gasoline that leaked from a snow blower but other than that I use a leaf blower to get the leaves and sand out of the tiles. The open tile works wonders though with not trekking sand and dirt into the house and minimizing water on the walking surface of the garage.

[Techjunkie666]

I had a professional flooring guy who applied Arizona polymers to my 3 car garage. Cleaning is a breeze too, just water. The epoxy flooring has a 25 year warranty.

Here are the steps he did:-
- Diamond grind the entire surface to open the pours.
- Pressure wash any remaining dust and blow dry
- Patch Cracks
- Apply Solid color base coat by Arizona Polymers. E550 100% solids 2-part epoxy.
- Broadcast chips into base coat.
- Allow to dry 6 hours or until the following morning.
- Shave off any loose chips.
- Apply a thick coat of P100 Polyurethane by Arizona Polymers. P100 2-part 100% solids.
- Allow to dry 24 hours to walk on, 48 hours to drive on.

[SYZ]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

I did race deck + "epoxy" from Premiere Garage. One thing to keep in mind about flat epoxy is it gets extremely slippery during the rainy seasons. Mine is textured and I still almost slipped a few times with wet soles.

Nice setup.


Personally, I prefer bare concrete with oil stains and sawdust scattered throughout. Seems more manly.