Garage Floor - Can it be Saved

[Dr_Rick]

Afternoon all,

I have a single garage with a concrete floor, much like many people, but it's always been a little on the 'friable' side.

The whole thing is fairly rough, and not exactly neat where it meets the walls at the sides. Where the wheels typically sit, the concrete is a little more worn away and I can sweep the garage at any point and bring clouds of concrete dust and minor aggregate away. There are no real cracks or failures, which is a plus I presume.

So, to get a 'proper' surface to park on, what are my options?

Obviously at one end is dig the whole lot out and start again, but that's not on my bingo card (or in my bank balance at present). Can this existing material take a top layer of some sort to stabilise it? I'd contemplate putting plastic / rubber tiles on the surface, but I'd rather have a stable surface beneath.

[ziggy328]

I'd have thought the quickest and cheapest way is to seal it.

https://floorseal.co.uk/product/concrete-penetrati...

[TriumphStag3.0V8]

If you just want to stop dust, you can put a concrete sealer on it (a thin liquid that you brush in with a broom) - depends if the surface is actually breaking up or not.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Can you not use some sort of self levelling epoxy that will fill the gaps?

[AJLintern]

How about something like this?

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Setcrete-Exterior-Floor-L...

Shows it as suitable for a garage floor:

[Panamax]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Can you not use some sort of self levelling epoxy that will fill the gaps?

Yes, I did mine with epoxy. Not so much for levelling as for sealing.
Blackfriar Epoxy - it ain't cheap but it's effective.
https://tools-paint.com/blackfriar-epoxy-floor-pai...

Be sure to use a proper stirring attachment in your drill to stir it thoroughly.

[Condi]

A good garage floor paint will look nice and stop the dust.

The Leyland trade stuff is good value and hard wearing

https://www.screwfix.com/p/leyland-trade-5ltr-frig...

Edit - if you're single or can get it past the wife then hoover the floor first to remove as much dust as possible, then paint.

Edited by Condi on Monday 9th March 14:55

[John D.]

I'd give it a couple of coats of Everbuild Concrete Hardener and Dustproofer.

https://amzn.eu/d/05huPMue

[bmwmike]

My garage floor was similar - clouds of dust off the concrete. I considered epoxy, but it was full of crap and i didn't fancy clearing it out. So i installed pvc tiles. Very pleased with them.

[Panamax]

Condi said:

Edit - if you're single or can get it past the wife then hoover the floor first to remove as much dust as possible, then paint.

Yes, definitely this. Sweep - hoover - paint.

[Dr_Rick]

This approach I have covered as we have a jet engine sounding DIY Hoover (think Henry on steroids) that I'll use in the garage first. I'm quite comfortable with emptying the garage first as the racks haven't been in there long and everything is in trunks.

My plan was hoover, seal, and probably self level with a hardened epoxy finish. I just wasn't sure whether I was on a hiding to nothing. I know it may still all crumble away, but I'll give it a go when the weather warms up a bit (still early doors with basic daylight here in Edinburgh).

Time to build a shopping list.

[TA14]

Dr_Rick said:

This approach I have covered as we have a jet engine sounding DIY Hoover (think Henry on steroids) that I'll use in the garage first. I'm quite comfortable with emptying the garage first as the racks haven't been in there long and everything is in trunks.

My plan was hoover, seal, and probably self level with a hardened epoxy finish. I just wasn't sure whether I was on a hiding to nothing. I know it may still all crumble away, but I'll give it a go when the weather warms up a bit (still early doors with basic daylight here in Edinburgh).

Time to build a shopping list.

Just clean it the best that you can and go with the epoxy - perhaps a brush and bucket of water then leave to dry. Whilst the slab may be be the best, there are a lot worse and unlesss you want to install a car lift you should be OK. When you put the shelving back lay front to rear (in the direction of the shelves) floorboarding to spread the load.

[Condi]

I would be very careful using any kind of self levelling compound or epoxy on that. If it's only a thin layer then it won't be that strong and might crack if you put a lot of weight on a single point (eg lifting jack etc). Maybe others might know more, but for me you either want a good depth of material going down together, or you want to seal/paint the existing slab. Putting a few mm of self levelling down is only going to bite you in the arse, unless you're putting some tiles on top of the self levelling compound to spread any point loads.

[SV_WDC]

Dr_Rick said:

So, to get a 'proper' surface to park on, what are my options?

OP - similar myself. I ordered a palette from Duramat and put the floor tiles down. They interlock so don't need sticking or anything.

So long as there are no craters, they cope with an uneven floor fine, and also keep the dust away.

Did quite a lot of research on this. They even made up some floor tiles with the marque logo for me. Bit of a vanity project that but they look very cool.

Sorry I don't have a pic but take my word for it, and check out the gallery on their website

[Dr_Rick]

SV_WDC said:

OP - similar myself. I ordered a palette from Duramat and put the floor tiles down. They interlock so don't need sticking or anything.

So long as there are no craters, they cope with an uneven floor fine, and also keep the dust away.

Did quite a lot of research on this. They even made up some floor tiles with the marque logo for me. Bit of a vanity project that but they look very cool.

Sorry I don't have a pic but take my word for it, and check out the gallery on their website

Depending on the definition of "crater".....I have "depressions" roughly where the wheels are.

Positive spin in that this will help reduce tyre flats spots from standing, but would you fill them then do mats?

[shedweller]

AJLintern said:

How about something like this?

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Setcrete-Exterior-Floor-L...

Shows it as suitable for a garage floor:

I used this exact product about 10yrs ago and topped it with the paint in the post below.
My floor was properly powdery and breaking up, I brushed it and primed it with the recommend acrylic primer.
It has lasted very well and is solid, smooth and easy to keep swept clean and has suffered no damage. It is a pleasure to wheel a jack about on.

I do have a couple of slight smooth surface deviations and in hindsight I would of had a mate to pour and push it about while I mixed, I would also have had all the water pre measured to ensure that it all was mixed and went down within 20 minutes or so.....and that it wasn't a hot day.

Although it's a bit bigger than a standard double garage so yours could be a nice one man job if properly prepared.