Would like to put down an epoxy floor and was wandering if any of you guys have this in your garage. There are several brands out there and I was hoping to get first hand experiences with the systems you used. Likes, dislikes, etc. One possibility is "U Coat It" . Has anyone used this system? I have an area of 30ft x 30ft.

 

we did our 5000 sq ft shop with the quickrete epoxy and its holding up against constant walking driving and dropping stuff. they have several colors to chose from. you just put down this acid stuff and wash the floors let it dry and paint. then stay off for a while. we let cars sit over night before it was completely hard and the peeled it a bit.

still a good product for sure!

 

www.garagejournal.com/forum

Hang out there and research the flooring forum. There's a ton of info there on coating. It's all in the prep.

 

I did mine a little under two months ago. I highly recommend doing it. Took me two days but I'm sure you could knock it out in one if you have a few fans to dry the floor real quick and a mildly hot day.
I forgot what brand I got but I bought it from Home depot for $80 each.(Bought two of them and they took care of my two car garage plus work area). My garage before was always dusty from cement dust no matter how often I washed it down and cleaned it. Stained with oil stains, and just ugly. Now I walk around barefoot and wipe up any oil, grease with a paper towel and blow any dirt off with my shop vac. I couldn't be happier with the results either. The brand I got came with a 5min DVD that went through the steps which I found really useful.

Here is what my garage looked like before...





And here's what it looked like afterwards...




Only thing I would suggest is to make sure you take your time in the acid wash/etching process and do it again if your unsure. I also filled all the cracks and joints with Hydraulic cement and it made for a smoother finished surface. Let it dry the recommended time and even when it's full dry don't put jack stands or heavy objects on it that have little/sharp contact patch. I made that mistake already!
I'd suggest putting jack stands on top of some 2x4.
There's a guy on here who does that for a living too...let me go find him, I just noticed he posted up today that he did this for a living.

 

His name is SIMPLEMANLANCE. PM him for any info or suggestions.

 

Thanks for the info. Your floor looks good by the way. I also signed up on Garage Journal and there is tons of info there as well.

 

Is that stuff slippery when it's wet? I love the looks of it but it might be a b*tch here in Canada when it's snowing, eh? So like 7 months of the year.

 

Are you thinking of doing this outside?? I think there is concrete staining that you can do outside but I'm not sure it's a good idea to epoxy outside. And No it's not all that slippery, the water beads up, sorta like on a highly polished and waxed car or a teflon pan. But if the water stays on it too long it starts to leave marks.

 

No, wasn't thinking of doing it outside. I was thinking if I parked a vehicle in my garage when it was covered in snow (or rain) which dripped off it'd make it slippery. Don't want that. But if it's not slippery, cool. Thanks dude.

 

i made it!!!


KA41 the garage journal is full of great info. im a member on there. when i first signed up i was addicted to talking epoxy. then i realized i needed a life so i stoped visiting. but there is a lot of usefull info on there.

i would look for a 100% solid epoxy. thats what i install. great stuff that holds up for a life time. but remember the epoxy coating is only as strong as the concrete. if your concrete is soft ( drop a wrench and it chips) then your epoxy will chip too.

make sure you do good prep. when i do garage floors i usually hand grind it with a dustless hand grinder. then i go back and vacumn up all the dust. make sure you clean the filter often ( wear a resperator or a dust mask).


see how thick the coatings are.

ill post up more pics from my other computer in a minute