Epoxy garage floor prep can I have a bit of help please?
Discussion
Great thread OP - Thanks.
Really useful as I'm about to start on ours (40 sqm).
Current debate is between Duramat Tiles, Porcelain or Epoxy.
Exactly the same concerns as you about durability - race cars on axle stands etc.
Really like the finish you've achieved there - I will call Resincoat and get a cost.
The costs I've had for installed Epoxy are laughable - £3,000+ for the job - even going 'thick' on the materials I can't see it being more than £800-900 in materials.
As a note:
Screwfix do a BRILLIANT (and cheap) concrete grinding disk that goes on a standard 4 inch grinder. It is really effective, lasts ages and gives a decent finish for repairing high spots. The new slab we have was not brilliantly finished, we hand floated it but I lost the light in the day, waited until early morning by which time I'd missed the window - annoying but you live and learn. I hired a proper large floor grinder from our tool hire place which was by comparison useless. Having spoken to some of the professional grinding companies effective grinders need a combination of weight and diamond disks, some use 'blocks' like the one we hired, which was frankly useless. Using the small grinder was actually much more effective. https://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/grinding-discs/ca...
Porcelain tiles are the right product for a garage if you want to go for tiles, not ceramic. Ceramic will crack and aren't strong enough in their compressive strength. Porcelain (PEI 5 rating ideally - all floor tiles should be PEI 4 or 5, 5 is the commercial rating, 4 is for domestic use, I'd recommend the harder the better) is super hard, but as mentioned the tiles must be 'back buttered' when fitted which means a skim of adhesive on the floor and on the back of the tile and the adhesive should not be ridged like you would do internally it should be skimmed flat so there is NO air pockets under the tile. This makes them a pain to level but super strong.
Really useful as I'm about to start on ours (40 sqm).
Current debate is between Duramat Tiles, Porcelain or Epoxy.
Exactly the same concerns as you about durability - race cars on axle stands etc.
Really like the finish you've achieved there - I will call Resincoat and get a cost.
The costs I've had for installed Epoxy are laughable - £3,000+ for the job - even going 'thick' on the materials I can't see it being more than £800-900 in materials.
As a note:
Screwfix do a BRILLIANT (and cheap) concrete grinding disk that goes on a standard 4 inch grinder. It is really effective, lasts ages and gives a decent finish for repairing high spots. The new slab we have was not brilliantly finished, we hand floated it but I lost the light in the day, waited until early morning by which time I'd missed the window - annoying but you live and learn. I hired a proper large floor grinder from our tool hire place which was by comparison useless. Having spoken to some of the professional grinding companies effective grinders need a combination of weight and diamond disks, some use 'blocks' like the one we hired, which was frankly useless. Using the small grinder was actually much more effective. https://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/grinding-discs/ca...
Porcelain tiles are the right product for a garage if you want to go for tiles, not ceramic. Ceramic will crack and aren't strong enough in their compressive strength. Porcelain (PEI 5 rating ideally - all floor tiles should be PEI 4 or 5, 5 is the commercial rating, 4 is for domestic use, I'd recommend the harder the better) is super hard, but as mentioned the tiles must be 'back buttered' when fitted which means a skim of adhesive on the floor and on the back of the tile and the adhesive should not be ridged like you would do internally it should be skimmed flat so there is NO air pockets under the tile. This makes them a pain to level but super strong.
You’re right about that I think yes. We worked out that for 1mm thickness we would have used 20 cans. Worries about bubbles etc meant that we went for 15 cans so we will be under a mm. It’s wierd because it “feels” much thicker than that, both when you’re laying it and when you’re looking at the finished product.
About the cost - I think the reason that they want so much commercially is the sheer number of visits that are needed because of the drying time and then the fact that you really need two guys. Compound this with my thinking that there are not that many “local” experts thus meaning that there is lots of travelling and it’s easier to see how the costs rack up.
About the cost - I think the reason that they want so much commercially is the sheer number of visits that are needed because of the drying time and then the fact that you really need two guys. Compound this with my thinking that there are not that many “local” experts thus meaning that there is lots of travelling and it’s easier to see how the costs rack up.
I understand the costing from them in some ways, but when we had costs to 'polish' the concrete floor, a 3000 grit finish with a laser level (so I could use it as a flat patch for the race cars) it was similar to the professionally installed epoxy and wouldn't have had the same wear concerns so it felt like the professional epoxy guys were doing themselves out of work. Yes, I know the polished finish would have need sealing but this could then have been a DIY job. Difficult call.
Costs for DIY on ours seem to look like:
Duramat - c.£600 + Floor sealer if desired to stop dusting (which we would do so another £200-300)
Porcelain Tiles - c. £1,000
Epoxy - c.£800
So all fairly close, just trying to decide on the best and most appropriate finish - looking at your photos is great inspiration!
Costs for DIY on ours seem to look like:
Duramat - c.£600 + Floor sealer if desired to stop dusting (which we would do so another £200-300)
Porcelain Tiles - c. £1,000
Epoxy - c.£800
So all fairly close, just trying to decide on the best and most appropriate finish - looking at your photos is great inspiration!
Andehh said:
That finish is incredible! Very very impressive.
Julian - is the below the sort of machine you used to remove the failed first attempt?
http://www.brandontoolhire.co.uk/en/surface-prepar...
Hi Andehh - no - that’s the grinder machine I SHOULD have hired prior to the sander I did hire!!! Hahaha.Julian - is the below the sort of machine you used to remove the failed first attempt?
http://www.brandontoolhire.co.uk/en/surface-prepar...
We had to use a bloody hand wire brush to shift that lot - the machine we got from Brandon was just a sander.
So my new best procedure based on everything would be:
1) use a spade to bash off the really bad snot
2) grind with that or similar as mentioned above by the other chap to remove the really bad stuff.
3) sand with the sander I got from Brandon to smooth the remaining bad bits.
4) brush up
5) hoover up, using a compressor to clean the hoover every time it fails!
6) prime with epoxy primer
7) fill the depressions with filler and knock off any bits in the filler with a scraper on a stick
8) use the hose to wash the room out, allow to dry. Note that this is because of you hose it before you prime it the drying time is ages and ages. (But if you have a greasy floor or old floor then I guess you should also be pressure washing and degreasing as step 1a!)
9) hoover
10) re prime, denib again and any final filler for any remaining bits
11) final run over the whole floor with a piece of sandpaper on your knees to make sure all is well close up
12) final hoover
13) pour new floor @ around 1mm thick. Try my best to do it without spiked shoes. Squeegee and cross roller.
You could add a final thin coat... heheh... andy will kill me if I say that 😬😬😬😬
TimCrighton said:
I understand the costing from them in some ways, but when we had costs to 'polish' the concrete floor, a 3000 grit finish with a laser level (so I could use it as a flat patch for the race cars) it was similar to the professionally installed epoxy and wouldn't have had the same wear concerns so it felt like the professional epoxy guys were doing themselves out of work. Yes, I know the polished finish would have need sealing but this could then have been a DIY job. Difficult call.
Costs for DIY on ours seem to look like:
Duramat - c.£600 + Floor sealer if desired to stop dusting (which we would do so another £200-300)
Porcelain Tiles - c. £1,000
Epoxy - c.£800
So all fairly close, just trying to decide on the best and most appropriate finish - looking at your photos is great inspiration!
Interesting about the laser concrete Tim - that sounds phenomenal. Imagine that with one thin rolled coat of epoxy! Awesome.Costs for DIY on ours seem to look like:
Duramat - c.£600 + Floor sealer if desired to stop dusting (which we would do so another £200-300)
Porcelain Tiles - c. £1,000
Epoxy - c.£800
So all fairly close, just trying to decide on the best and most appropriate finish - looking at your photos is great inspiration!
I think it depends on the look you want really. Reading above where someone describes how the porcelain tiles should be buttered makes total sense now as to why my previous garage was so rubbish. That one was ceramic and the guy who did it just did the normal way of doing lines of adhesive. Hence they sounded a bit hollow and broke for fun. But now I’ve read that it’s all making sense - just like there is epoxy jobs and there are epoxy jobs there are tiles and tiles! And very different.
It will be interesting to see how mine stacks up to use. Still got lots to do like board and plaster the walls and ceiling, wiring etc so it will be a while before I’ll be able to show how it looks but I think good so far.
TimCrighton said:
As a note:
Screwfix do a BRILLIANT (and cheap) concrete grinding disk that goes on a standard 4 inch grinder. It is really effective, lasts ages and gives a decent finish for repairing high spots. https://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/grinding-discs/ca...
Do you have the exact details of what disk you used? That page link appears to be for disks in general not a specific one.Screwfix do a BRILLIANT (and cheap) concrete grinding disk that goes on a standard 4 inch grinder. It is really effective, lasts ages and gives a decent finish for repairing high spots. https://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/grinding-discs/ca...
ChocolateFrog said:
Unless my maths is wrong, which it could well be. 1.4m2 per litre is less than 1mm deep?
Wouldn't surprise me. A thickness of 1mm is nothing I terms of measuring it with a ruler, but momentarily think for a layer of paint.
Daniel
Flibble said:
Is it worth priming before filling? I'd have thought you'd be better off just skimming over with filler / screed and getting that nice and level then going for a single coat of primer on top.
Not sure - I was worried that the filler wouldn't stick so well to bare concrete. It sticks incredibly well to the primed surface. I do think that its good to get the concrete sealed as soon as you possibly can because I suspect that the amount of dust that you'd get trying to flat back filler against an unprimed concrete surface would be a total pain.But, direct to concrete would work for certain as long as you had certainty of adhesion concrete>filler. If you used screed then a million percent yes. My pal Andy does that for a living and he said we would have been better screeding the whole floor from the word go. He does concede that a full screed layer would probably be less durable than concrete>resin, however, under maximum impact conditions. (But I hasten to add that neither of us know that - guess only.)
In respect of the grip levels on the floor - it's early days but I've had a little walk about in my wet trainers and it seems good. It makes a squeaking sound as you move around and seems to be good. I don't think it would be the last word in grip I'd say no worse than nice tiles from what I can see right now.
I think screed is avoided for durability and because you shouldn't need it with a well laid floor, however it might well be fine for a lower traffic area like a domestic garage. I have not experience other than seeing various floor repairs at previous work and a new floor at the current place.
Why would you want to put the filler down first? Grind, seal, lunch, first coat, cure over night. Scrape high spots/bubbles,fill second coat, overnight cure. Come back a week later and do the walkways and fire exit lines. That was happened at work anyway.
Daniel
Why would you want to put the filler down first? Grind, seal, lunch, first coat, cure over night. Scrape high spots/bubbles,fill second coat, overnight cure. Come back a week later and do the walkways and fire exit lines. That was happened at work anyway.
Daniel
The floor is now ready to use - so that’s five days for it to fully cure - ambient is between 5 and 10 degrees in there over the night and day cycle, for reference.
Tomorrow I’m going to fetch my cars and put them in there - quite excited. Might post back a quick pic of how it looks then it will be lights out on this thread it guess!
Tomorrow I’m going to fetch my cars and put them in there - quite excited. Might post back a quick pic of how it looks then it will be lights out on this thread it guess!
Julian Thompson said:
The floor is now ready to use - so that’s five days for it to fully cure - ambient is between 5 and 10 degrees in there over the night and day cycle, for reference.
Tomorrow I’m going to fetch my cars and put them in there - quite excited. Might post back a quick pic of how it looks then it will be lights out on this thread it guess!
Glad to hear it has all finally worked out well for you. Any pics of the final result doing its job with the cars in?Tomorrow I’m going to fetch my cars and put them in there - quite excited. Might post back a quick pic of how it looks then it will be lights out on this thread it guess!
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