finishing garage floor

[dacheedah]

I am finally insulating and drywalling my garage, all hung and all I have is a little mud and taping to do. The wife wants to finish the garage floor, I stopped by a friends yesterday and he said don't do it. I do work on things in my garage and use a jack. . . He tells me the painted and epoxy floor surfaces won't hold up to jacks and turning tires.

 

The question is has anyone put some finish on their garage floors, what type and how does it hold up to moving jacks, shop tools on rollers or wheels . . .

[twigg]

I am finally insulating and drywalling my garage, all hung and all I have is a little mud and taping to do. The wife wants to finish the garage floor, I stopped by a friends yesterday and he said don't do it. I do work on things in my garage and use a jack. . . He tells me the painted and epoxy floor surfaces won't hold up to jacks and turning tires.

 

The question is has anyone put some finish on their garage floors, what type and how does it hold up to moving jacks, shop tools on rollers or wheels . . .

 

Most commercial shop floors are finished with epoxy paint. They seem to hold up pretty well to car jacks, etc.

 

It will eventually wear in high traffic areas ... nothing a fresh coat from time to time won't fix.

 

Tiling shop floors looks good too and with a motorcycle lift you won't be using a jack all that often.

[XV1100SE]

I did the epoxy paint several years ago and it has stood up with no chipping using the bike jacks/lift. Spills clean up easily, non slip....

[Miles]

The question is has anyone put some finish on their garage floors, what type and how does it hold up to moving jacks, shop tools on rollers or wheels . . .

 

Here is an alternate idea: Having been around shops most of my life, and dealing with epoxyed floors...versus painted floors...I decided to use a concrete STAIN on my motorcycle garage. This is not my shop, as my shop has a normal, only sealed, concrete floor. But in a separate building, my motorcycle garage has a stained floor. I used the Behr concrete stain, in battleship grey of course, and it came out very nice. The advantage of using a concrwete stain is that it penetrates the concrete moreso than a paint or epoxy will, and it is easy to go back and do spot touch up, which blends in with the rest of the floor, rather than having to repaint or re-epoxy the entire floor a second or third time.

 

I have not had to re-stain my concrete floor at all, and this was first done 3 years ago. But...everyone one of my bike has its' own carpet/floor mat under the bike, so that side stands or center stands are punishing the carpet, and not the stained floor.

 

It is easier to apply than paint, and I believe it is less cost than a concrete paint or epoxy. If you realy want a showroom quality look, then epoxy is the way to go, but it did not sound like that was what you wanted. Look into the Behr brand concrete stain. You can get it in many different colors, or...colours (for our northern neighbors).

 

Miles

[XV1100SE]

..... You can get it in many different colors, or...colours (for our northern neighbors).

 

Miles

 

Sounds like you've been spending a lot of time in the Great White North ! Soon you'll be saying "eh" like the rest of us !

[bongobobny]

My floor is painted as well and I don't find the jack or tires doing any more damage than every day wear and tear...

[MiCarl]

I've got an epoxy floor in the shop. Lifts going up and down all day every day, never noticed a wear problem.

 

If you go with epoxy, make sure you have enough grit in it. They're slippery without.

[SilvrT]

What have you guys been using to clean the floor with before applying either the Epoxy paint or the Stain ??

[motorcycle_1300]

[quote=

Tiling shop floors looks good too and with a motorcycle lift you won't be using a jack all that often.

 

 

I reccomend against tiling a garage floor, mine is/was well is sort of still tiled. My garage is tiled using asphault tile, when it gets cold the tiles get brittle and crack easily Your side stand will do a number on tiles they will eventually pop up. fuel spills also do a number on tile floors. I plan to scrape up all the tiles in my garage, I am not sure where to go from there.

 

Al

[painterman67]

What have you guys been using to clean the floor with before applying either the Epoxy paint or the Stain ??

 

 

acid etch it........muratic acid reduced with water will open the pours in concrete and let the epoxy bite much better. As memory serves me ( check side of acid bottle) its 5 parts water to one part muratic acid. Pour it on with a common plastic plant waterer and then sweep around with a push broom. Dont freak when you see a little smoke come up. Was with fresh water after your done let dry and paint.

 

 

We just did an office floor and I was quite impressed with the epoxies that come with the multispec particles that you sprinkle in by hand. Just make sure you dont go too far before you put the specs on or youll be walking on fresh paint .

 

David

 

 

ps .just thought about this but Id do a moisture test before you paint/epoxy/or stain. If it gets water under any of the for mentioned products they will not stay down. Seen this happen a few times and had to scrape paint off . There are kits out there to test for moisture. Water can come up from underneath and no matter how small amount it will pop the paint

Edited October 3, 2012 by painterman67

[twigg]

I reccomend against tiling a garage floor, mine is/was well is sort of still tiled. My garage is tiled using asphault tile, when it gets cold the tiles get brittle and crack easily Your side stand will do a number on tiles they will eventually pop up. fuel spills also do a number on tile floors. I plan to scrape up all the tiles in my garage, I am not sure where to go from there.

 

Al

 

Who put asphalt tiles on a garage floor? That wasn't smart.

 

There are tiles available that are impervious to oils and gasoline, and sidestands will not hurt them.

 

I would still use epoxy, but tiles are an attractive option for those who have the $$

[Kirby]

acid etch it........muratic acid reduced with water will open the pours in concrete and let the epoxy bite much better. As memory serves me ( check side of acid bottle) its 5 parts water to one part muratic acid. Pour it on with a common plastic plant waterer and then sweep around with a push broom. Dont freak when you see a little smoke come up. Was with fresh water after your done let dry and paint.

 

 

We just did an office floor and I was quite impressed with the epoxies that come with the multispec particles that you sprinkle in by hand. Just make sure you dont go too far before you put the specs on or youll be walking on fresh paint .

 

David

 

 

Does the stain go on the same way?

[painterman67]

stain goes on in many ways depending on your desired look. most of the time we just roll it on

 

David

[eds]

I have done mine with the Rust Olem Garage floor kit from Home Depot. Easy to apply and has held up great.

[Wrench]

I built a 24' x 24' pole-barn style garage a couple of years ago. I had it insulated as that is now where the bike resides during the winter, well, pretty much all the time now, and where I tinker with some woodworking stuff too. The guy that did my concrete finished it to almost a "gloss" finish. He advised me, for the uses I told him, was to clean it with a pressure washer and concrete floor cleaner, then use a clear waterproofing sealer. I think I finally stopped at 6 coats of sealer, allowing each to dry between coats. It does at times get a little slick if I get sawdust on it. The epoxy holds up well also, I had experience using that on a "clean-room" in the shop where I worked. We moved a lot of industrial pumps and equipment across it, as well as parking forklifts and small cranes on it regularly with no problems. I think if it were me I'd stay away from concrete paint, as most all of my experience with it is that it just isn't nearly as durable as epoxy. It kinda depends on what your going for but the epoxy should get you both looks and durability. Let us know what you decide and take some pics for us.

[motorcycle_1300]

Who put asphalt tiles on a garage floor? That wasn't smart.

 

There are tiles available that are impervious to oils and gasoline, and sidestands will not hurt them.

 

I would still use epoxy, but tiles are an attractive option for those who have the $$

 

 

the DPO did it looked nice at first but didn't hold up. Same guy who hacked off a piece of three wire extension cord and used it for wiring the movement sensor lights on my driveway. Everytime I stumble across his handy work I just scratch my head and fix it right.

[eazyduzzit]

An older friend of mine has a green stain on is garage floor and it has a polished finish. His garage is cleaner than my house. It is a smooth finish, and if a drop of oil gets on it, he just wipes it up with a rag.

[pmelah]

when i plan on building my garage im going to stain and polish it i did a maint. building for NASA we polished the main hall that connects all the shops and has very high traffic on it forklifts crains trucks and stuff that was 7 years ago and the floor looks like we did it yesterday i am still proud of the job we did on it to this day thats what im doing on my garage floor when i build it but now i have to find as many if not more 1st gens to buy than yamerdan before i can build :rotf:

[dacheedah]

what did you use to polish it??