What type of Garage floor coating is best and why?

[Entrepreneurs In Cars]

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.

[Seattle S65B40]

Thanks for posting this. I'm interested in updating my garage floor as well.

[SenorFunkyPants]

If you really want a great finish you should look at interlocking tiles such as:
http://www.eco-tile.net/garage-flooring.php
Not cheap but long lasting and you can take them with you to the next house.
Floor paints tend not to be durable.

[mazing]

Just had this epoxy finish put on my floor. Not sure if they do work in canada or if they have installers there. Excellent product, 30 yr warranty, no slip lots of colors and real easy to clean/maintain. Highly recommend this type of product.

http://premiergarage.com/

[warp10]

My Dad just put these down in his garage, great quality.

http://www.racedeck.com/

[duk]

hmmmi got some home depot kind that you brush on, kinda like paint. it's pretty good and cheap, 6 months so far np.

[1098WI]

Originally Posted by mazing

Just had this epoxy finish put on my floor. Not sure if they do work in canada or if they have installers there. Excellent product, 30 yr warranty, no slip lots of colors and real easy to clean/maintain. Highly recommend this type of product.

http://premiergarage.com/

That stuff looks great. Mind if I ask approximately how much it cost installed?

[DevJ]

Originally Posted by mazing

Just had this epoxy finish put on my floor. Not sure if they do work in canada or if they have installers there. Excellent product, 30 yr warranty, no slip lots of colors and real easy to clean/maintain. Highly recommend this type of product.

http://premiergarage.com/

have this at my house too. its held up great for about 6 yrs so far.

[swamp2]

I just laid down Armor II Epoxy in medium gray color from here: http://www.armorgarage.com/qatestsection.html for my complete garage remodel. This is an aerospace grade floor epoxy. I've already spilled on it, wood glue, paint and soda. Stuff wipes off like it is not even there, wet or dry. I'm sure a few automotive fluids will also be no problem at all. Having worked with a lot of adhesives and epoxies in the past in my job I'm pretty convinced they are an ideal for a garage floor surface. Some key comments:

1. You get what you pay for. The big box stores sell epoxy kits - beware.
2. Prep is everything for any paint or adhesive. The better your prep the better your epoxy floor will adhere, wear and last.
3. If you use the anti-skid additive you really have to mix like crazy, mix right before each time you dump some epoxy on the floor. Also roller out the big pool very quickly. If you don't do these things you will get a bit of an uneven distribution of the sand like material.

[disapr]

In my opinion polished/stained/sealed concrete is the way to go. Something like this.

http://www.kansascityconcrete.net/po...-concrete.html

[blublur]

We have premier garage too, outstanding! We have a 4 car tandem garage, and moved in, it'll be 4 years early October, and it looks outstanding. The best! They did our cabinets too. Premier is not an epoxy. Go to the web site and do some reading. It's different.

[Legion5]

Expoxy or ceramic tile is the way to go. It's indestructible.

[mazing]

Originally Posted by 1098WI

That stuff looks great. Mind if I ask approximately how much it cost installed?

$1,750 for a standard 2 car garage. A lot will depend on your surface if it is too pitted, cracked etc. The price is reasonable in my opinion and I am completely satisfied with it.

[mazing]

Originally Posted by grayM

We have premier garage too, outstanding! We have a 4 car tandem garage, and moved in, it'll be 4 years early October, and it looks outstanding. The best! They did our cabinets too. Premier is not an epoxy. Go to the web site and do some reading. It's different.

+1 they did some cabinets for us and also some slat boards and grids to get the garage in order. Coming from an oversized garage in NY to this house in VA (which is all house minimal garage) and it has made a huge difference.

[swamp2]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with those suggesting tile or treated concrete (polished/stained/sealed). Tile must have grout and unless you use the somewhat difficult to work with epoxy grout your grout will have nowhere near the stain and chemical resistance of a full epoxy floor. A similar comment goes for treated concrete. Concrete, not matter what the treatment is very porous and stain prone. Not sure why you folks are promoting these when the OP spoke to the importance of durability...

Good qualiy epoxy is totally resistant to all common automotive fluids.

[BKMK5]

I've got RaceDeck FreeFlow and its great!

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by BKMK5

I've got RaceDeck FreeFlow and its great!

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?

[dmw16]

I did the rustoleum one from home depot and it looks great a year later. The tricks are 1) surface prep and 2) mix in anti skid powder.

The racedeck is nice but is pretty pricey and puts a little step at the start of your garage. It also doesn't keep fluids from staining the concrete.

I think the epoxy coats offer easy cleanup and great protection and are way cheaper.

[amglol]

Originally Posted by dmw16

I did the rustoleum one from home depot and it looks great a year later. The tricks are 1) surface prep and 2) mix in anti skid powder.

The racedeck is nice but is pretty pricey and puts a little step at the start of your garage. It also doesn't keep fluids from staining the concrete.

I think the epoxy coats offer easy cleanup and great protection and are way cheaper.

i agree with this.

the epoxy rustoleum at home depot cost ~150 for my 3 car garage and a weekend of work on and off... looks great over a year later and everything simply wipes up.

[Singletrack]

Based on a lot of online research, I'll be going with premier once I have my garage in order.

[Reznick]

I've had experience with both epoxy and snap together kits. I'd go with a good epoxy. BUT, I do a lot of my own service and work on my cars & cycles. So if any oil or fluids get on the floor, with epoxy it wipes right up. With the tiles it can seep down in between the seems where they snap together. If you want to do your own design ,and you dont work on your own stuff, go for the snap together. But If I were you I'd go epoxy ,the whole way.Just make sure its a good commercial grade.There are are so many options for color and flake now.I'll probably still go with a light grey. (you can find lost nuts and bolts a lot easier.lol).If you use the cheaper stuff , it will peel up with warm tires( i've seen it happen with the Home Depot stuff) I just put up a 40' X 60' garage. The concrete will go down next month. Ill post some pics when the epoxy is applied.

[Reznick]

Originally Posted by disapr

In my opinion polished/stained/sealed concrete is the way to go. Something like this.

http://www.kansascityconcrete.net/po...-concrete.html

I absolutley LOVE the look of stained and polished concrete, but I was under the impression that it needs quite a bit of upkeep ( polished a couple times a year) Am I correct? Whats the upkeep like? Beautiful looking