[gtobird]

I've been studying the different types of garage floor coatings that are available. My intention is to do my garage floor sometime next summer when it's warm and dry. It will be my showroom. I'm just finishing rolling on the last of my 10 gallons of paint on the walls...... Yikes!

Anyway, I'm pretty well signed up for going all out on the floor, but will do it myself with probably a Polyurea Floor or Polyaspartic Floor Coating, with a metallic coloring. I already know that I'll be grinding the concrete and doing lots of prep work. If you have a positive experience with this sort of thing, I'd like to know which products you used and where to get them. I already went through the many youtube videos and have seen the many failures that occur when people don't do a great job of prep. Amazon reviews are also chocked full of people who had coatings peel right off, but there are also many folks that had success.

I've been doing my own bodywork for 45 years. so I figure if I can conquer that, I shoud be able to tackle this project. I'm also going to subscribe to an online training video by a professional who does floors.

Thanks in advance for your comments and guidance.

Old Joe

[rwfisher]

Note that since you are in the snow belt be aware of one thing. Any epoxy type coating can become extremely slippery in the winter months. Obviously this is only an issue if you have any humidity in the garage but if you plan to open the door for a daily driver it can be a problem. If you have in floor heating, won’t be a concern.

[TAKerry]

Have you been on the Garage Journal? All kinds of info there and the last time I checked (4 or 5 years ago) there were even dealers with products on there. Prep is the key to a good finished project. Grinding concrete is a tedious, dirty job. Check your area and see if you can find a pro to do that part for you. Also, think outside box, a porcelain tile is very durable and you can find good deals every now and then at HD or Lowes. Price per foot is probably not that much of a difference.

[TAKerry]

I did a job at a church rec centre a couple of years ago. They had a contractor put down several thousand feet of floor coating. It looks like the typical epoxy floor but is not epoxy. Can be used indoors or out. Finished product was beautiful, I am still contemplating using it myself. The product is 'Penntek industrial coatings'. Not sure if its diy, but it supposedly is much better than epoxy. May be worth the expense of having someone do it for you if the garage means that much.

[gtobird]

My garage floor is roughly 1100 square feet. I've talked with several pros. Prices start at $5 per square foot and go up quickly. I could easily spend $5500 to $8000 on it. It will cost about about $3500 for materials to do it myself and I have access to a floor grinder. As for it being slippery, that is something I'm going to mitigate with an additive in the top coat, though it will still be somewhat slippery.

Porcelain tile is something I'm still considering.

[TAKerry]

I hear ya! Im about in the same boat. My car garage is 30 x 40. A couple of years ago I painted, put in wainscoting and crown moulding and heat. My wife still gets after me for the crown mldg! I stopped when it got to the floor for cost reasons. I too will diy when the time comes. Still not sure on what to use though. I have even considered just doing the bay where my TA parks.
If I were you I would still check into a grinding service. We did a rest. a few years ago with an acid wash, clear coat and subbed the grinding part. 3 guys came in and had it done in a day with the 'proper' equipment. Saved a bunch of time. For my time if it cost 5-600 it would still be worth it.

[Singleton]

Place I formerly worked at used this stuff. Held up great to high traffic and forklifts
https://stonhard-me.com/

[mmarx]

Originally Posted by Singleton

Place I formerly worked at used this stuff. Held up great to high traffic and forklifts
https://stonhard-me.com/

We use Stonhard flooring in large fruit/vegetable processing rooms, still looks good after 15 years of use. Good stuff but expensive.

[FirebirdHank]

Porcelain tile. It is DIYable. Materials can be as low as $2/ft. Main drawback is water drainage if you have cars coming in and out,. Also under certain conditions the floor can sweat and that can be a PITA. Other than that it is very durable and individual tiles can be replaced if damaged. It also allows custom patterns. I installed it in the back portion of my 4 stall (double deep) garage about 15 years ago and I'm very pleased with the results.

My avitar is the center inlaid medallion. It is approx. 36"x36".

[Stuart]

'Best' depends on your requirements and budget. I would also recommend checking out the flooring forum over on the Garage Journal. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forums/flooring.20/

[Cardo]

Subscribing - I'll need to do something with mine in the future too.

[Formulabruce]

If you have never run a cement floor grinder, its Not what I would consider DYI if your not in ideal shape with exhaust fans / filters and a respirator. 1100 ft is a LOT or grinding.
Just an FYI. Get help and sweat towels.

[Gary H]

I used Sherwin Willaims 2-part epoxy paint, then cleared it. It's looks outstanding after 10 years od hard use.

[bdk1976]

Garage journal has a lot of info, but also a fair number of fly by night salesmen and their shills mixed in as well, so keep that in mind. I also learned that a lot of the 'reviews' posted on there are sponsored/subsidized and are rarely up front about it.

I got a weird vibe doing research on this subject on that site after a while that made it hard to decipher at times.

I went through this a couple of years back and eventually went with with a one part POR-15ish type coating with glass beads for traction. Worked out great in my situation, but I would probably do it different if doing a smaller and/or conditioned space, or wanted it to look nicer.

[Skip Fix]

Of Garage Journal I found a paint like POR- bad ass sticks to everything since no water to prep concrete first. They said 2 coats did not need any sand added for traction but it gets real slippery. I wish I had. One day the shop floor had sweated so much moisture I had to get a running start at the trailer as the slicks were spinning!

[carcrazy]

Proper preparation of the slab is the key to a good job! Certainly not the best but I used Rust-Oleum 60009 Rocksolid Polycuramine Garage Floor Coating several years ago and then followed with a clear coat. Still looks like new after significant use.

[burd]

I covered my peeling painted floor with Race Deck flooring. Bam.

[Redpiston]

I did an optical lab where we put down an epoxy type floor. They put a texture finish on it to make it slip resistant. Place had lots of fluid and polish spills. It mopped up clean quite easily. The key to the floor prep was that they shot blasted the concrete. This got rid of any contanaments on the concrete and made an excellent surface for the product to adhere to.

[TAKerry]

I used to specialize in building firehouses. They all had fancy floors of one type or another. One thing I can say for sure, a coated concrete surface under tires will fail sooner or later. Put runners down for the tires when you are finished. Prep is the key for paint type applications. I still vote for porcelain for a high end looking finish, and you can get tile that is minimal slip. Race deck type floor is nice too. I did one job that was throwing a bunch of it away so me being the packrat kept it. It was just enough to do a spot under my TA. Not crazy about the colour (blue and silver) but its nice.
We went to the mall the other night, first time I have done such in at least 7 or 8 years. Lo and behold the finish of choice at a lot of the stores was bare concrete!

[redbird68]

I have had good results with Ucoat It. My daughter and I installed in my new garage on fresh concrete, the garage I had before that I installed it on an old concrete floor. Very pleased with results. Scratches up some and loses high shine in areas of high use but overall holds up well. It is a working garage, not a showroom. Epoxy grout for cracks and chipped areas, scrub with stiff pushbroom and muriatic acid, rinse, prime, apply, spread chips and sand, then clear coat. done in a busy weekend.
I did not use sand in first garage and it was scary. With sand in second garage it is much better.