Garage floor epoxy/sealer?

[TodFitch]

I'll be moving into a new (to me) house in a bit over a month and would like to do something with the garage floor so the inevitable old car fluid spills will be easy to clean up even if they are left unattended for a long while.

 

So, two questions:

1. What is the current recommendation for painting/sealing/coating a old concrete garage floor?

 

2. Does anyone have a recommendation for a company that can do the same located in southern Orange County (California)?

 

Thanks!

 

[Brent B3B]

Although kind of spendy, I alway liked the rubber floor tiles. When I worked at a fast lube place they were always installed on the upper bays. When wet they had traction, you could spill anything and not damage them and they cleaned up very nice.

Just my two pennies.......

[Jeff Balazs]

Tod;

I just painted my garage floor this summer. I used the water base concrete paint sold at Home Depot. It is fine. Easy ....cheap .....dries quickly......no odor.....and looks nice. It might not be as good as the real expensive stuff......but it is clean and easy to touch up.

 

Jeff

Where are you moving to? I am in the Lake Forest / Irvine area.

[pflaming]

Jeff, picture?  One color, black and white squares, psychedelic, USC Trojan in the middle?  

[linus6948]

Here is a useful link on the subject.

 

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/sealing-your-garage-floor

[Jeff Balazs]

Jeff, picture?  One color, black and white squares, psychedelic, USC Trojan in the middle?  

Light gray.......no foo-foo stuff Paul. You don't want to know what I think of the "art" of garage or shop decoration.

Functional is what it should be about. Makes it easy to see stuff that get's dropped. Single light color wins hands down.

 

Jeff

[deathbound]

Another subject that has been cussed and discussed thousands of times on The Garage Journal. May be worth looking into.

[TodFitch]

On a cellphone and don't see how to quote.

Jeff: Moving to San Clemente.

Like the idea of a solid uniform color, not too dark, for ease of finding dropped small parts.

Have looked at the garage journal website listed for ideas and information.

Thanks!

[pflaming]

San Clemente, did you purchase tricky dick's digs? LOL

[wayfarer]

L&M chemicals has a product called SealHard. http://www.lmcc.com/products/seal_hard.asp

IDK if it is useful on old concrete but it worked extremely well on

a new concrete floor I placed a few years back.  I bought the stuff through a United Rental store

but haven't looked lately for a supplier.

[Plymouthy Adams]

we had just a good epoxy paint on the floors of the electronics shops..all five stories...held up to pallet jacks, fork lift, all sorts of us moving things on pallets and rollers not to mention all the foot traffic...the last section that was refinished got the Rustoleum brand of expoxy finish that was multistage...base, shake and flake for speckled look and then a sealer...that was very nice...tokes a bit of time for the VOC's to cook out completely though..

 

the last complex I worked at was finished with Excelon tiles...that is some very heavy duty stuff..if abraded a bit..the pattern runs through the entire tile..

[TodFitch]

San Clemente, did you purchase tricky dick's digs? LOL

Nope. Just a house originally built in 1953 and remodeled and added to a number of times. Most recent full remodel was two years ago and it looks like everything on the last remodel was permitted so I have hopes that I don't have to spend a lot of effort fixing previous owners’ attempts at improvements.

 

L&M chemicals has a product called SealHard. http://www.lmcc.com/products/seal_hard.asp

IDK if it is useful on old concrete but it worked extremely well on

a new concrete floor I placed a few years back.  I bought the stuff through a United Rental store

but haven't looked lately for a supplier.

 

Interesting read on that product. If the concrete was new I'd seriously consider it.

[Dennis_MN]

I had a contractor apply Rustoleum on my ten year old cement floor. First they ground the surface with a diamond abrasive to roughen the surface. Next they applied epoxy body filler to all of the pits and cracks. Then the first coat of clear. A day later they came back and applied a second coat of clear, then they spread 5 gallons of chips over the fresh epoxy. The next day they came back and vacuumed up the loose chips and they got about a gallon. Then they applied a finish coat. Seven years later I applied another top coat.

I found these guys through Home Depot. I cleaned up 60 years of grime of of my old Dodge on that floor and no one could believe how well it cleaned up. My profile picture shows off this floor after 8 years.

Dennis

[deathbound]

On a cellphone and don't see how to quote.

Jeff: Moving to San Clemente.

Like the idea of a solid uniform color, not too dark, for ease of finding dropped small parts.

Have looked at the garage journal website listed for ideas and information.

Thanks!

 

There are 2 versions on a cell phone, the "full version" and another version (not sure what the designation is). I'm usually on the other version and while reading a thread, tap on the post you want to quote & a "quote" tab should appear near the bottom right of that post, then do as you normally would when quoting a post. Not sure how to multi-quote though. This works for me.

[TodFitch]

There are 2 versions on a cell phone, the "full version" and another version (not sure what the designation is). I'm usually on the other version and while reading a thread, tap on the post you want to quote & a "quote" tab should appear near the bottom right of that post, then do as you normally would when quoting a post. Not sure how to multi-quote though. This works for me.

My “solution” is to wait until I can get back to my laptop.

[Jeff Balazs]

Tod;

Best weather in the state.....or so they say. Hope you enjoy it.

 

Jeff

[wayfarer]

Coating old concrete can be problematic if the surface is not sound, full of contaminates or has a lot of cracks. The biggest issue

will be the amount of moisture under the slab that migrates through the slab/cracks and causes topical coatings to separate and lift.

As mentioned, you may need to cut the top off to get to something usable.

[TodFitch]

Tod;

Best weather in the state.....or so they say. Hope you enjoy it.

 

Jeff

 

Don't know if it is the best in the state, but it seems pretty good from the climate data I've seen. Typical summer high of 76°F, typical winter low of 43°F with 300+ days of sunshine/year.

 

Coating old concrete can be problematic if the surface is not sound, full of contaminates or has a lot of cracks. The biggest issue

will be the amount of moisture under the slab that migrates through the slab/cracks and causes topical coatings to separate and lift.

As mentioned, you may need to cut the top off to get to something usable.

 

 

From what I am reading, preparation is key and good prep needs a lot more than a little diluted muriatic acid to etch the surface. So I will definitely be contracting it out rather than doing it myself as I don't want to deal with the learning curve for a one time thing.

 

The company I am considering going with notes that there can be issues with older concrete floors poured before vapor barriers were required. From the information I now have, it seems likely they will have to both grind and treat the concrete to prepare the surface and then apply a sealer to block moisture before doing the actual coating. I haven't yet gotten a firm estimate though.

[Brent B3B]

 

 I haven't yet gotten a firm estimate though.

new territory for me but can we guess on the bid?  

Grinding, sealing, coating, California  and a warranty (1yr workmanship with 10yr product)?............ 2k

please don't be offended if you would rather i not guess  

 

 

Edit= guess is based on a single car garage

Edited November 9, 2015 by Brent B3B

[TodFitch]

new territory for me but can we guess on the bid?  

Grinding, sealing, coating, California  and a warranty (1yr workmanship with 10yr product)?............ 2k

please don't be offended if you would rather i not guess  

 

 

Edit= guess is based on a single car garage

I am expecting at least that. FWIW, the company has a 15 year warranty.