Epoxy Coating Garage Floors (Preparation?)

[StreetDragster]

Hi All,

I know theres alot of past posts about this, and i think i've read them all but i'm still short of a few answers so i thought i'd start a new thread.

I have a garage 5.5m X 2.8m, i'm not looking for tiles, i'm hoping for a ~£50 solution.
Previously, the bare concrete has been painted with garage floor paint from B+Q, ('International' i think) this was directly onto the bare concrete, as hasn't stood the test of time and came off quite quickly in high traffic areas.

So this time i'm looking to put down something more hardcore, such as these 2 part epoxy floor mixes. I do maintenance, jacking up and axle standing etc, wheels turning on the garage floor.

The garage floor is fairly level, but isn't super smooth, i believe the term is that it has a 'brushed' finish.
The surface has been jetwashed top remove the loose existing paint, but some paint remains in the areas that it appears to have bonded well. I'm thinking after the event that this may not have been such a good idea as the concrete will now have some water content, not sure how much of a big deal that is.

So, my question is, prior to applicating the epoxy floor covering, how would you prepare the floor?
Watered down 50/50 PVA/water mix? Acid etch the surface? No prep? Concrete hardener/dustproofer? etc etc?

This is the stuff i'm thinking of putting down, price and coverage seems good, 2 coats on my garage for £50
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Thanks for all advice

Matt

Edited by StreetDragster on Saturday 3rd January 17:54

[The Joker.]

Have a look here not sure if you'll find what you need i only found it yesterday http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/

[fatboy18]

Have you spoken with the company advertising the stuff? Looks good Does anybody else out there have this floor treatment?

Edited by fatboy18 on Saturday 3rd January 17:55

[StreetDragster]

I've emailed them a very similar set of questions, but no reply as yet

It does look good, we have a very hard wearing stuff at work, i'm hoping it will be a similar product to that as i don't want to have to do this job a third time

Thanks

Matt

[LocoBlade]

I used Jotun Jotafloor 2 part epoxy on my garage floor, if I remember correctly I used some self levelling screed to fill in some rough spots / hole and just pressure washed the rest down then let it dry for a week or so. After 5 years I've got one patch breaking up but its actually the concrete/screed breaking up underneath rather than paint lifting so obviously a bit I missed cleaning/repairing, the rest looks as good as the day it went down.

[StreetDragster]

Thats good to hear, it would suggest that i don't need to get to anal about the prep of the area.

Thanks

Matt

[LocoBlade]

Just make sure you clean up every bit of grease / oil etc, and if necessary chip/grind the top surface of concrete away and skim it over with screed if it's seeped in, otherwise its unlikely to stick very well in that area.

I guess though you can only really go on what the manufacturers suggest for the product you're buying, although having said that I recall Jotun recommending an undercoat/primer application before the topcoat for best prep which is probably overkill unless you have forklifts etc trundling over it day in day out.

Edited by LocoBlade on Monday 5th January 13:17

[StreetDragster]

Perfect, thanks!

And to add to that, here's the reply from the seller-

"Hi, This particular type of Epoxy Resin paint is best applied straight onto bare concrete so no sealer/PVA. Regards, Maureen"

Even better, less work to do! Although i think i'll try and wire brush of as much paint as possible to expose the bare concrete.

Thanks

Matt

[StreetDragster]

Just to add a few more details to this thread.....

I bought the stuff on ebay, seems like really good stuff, has gone down well and has set rock hard, but i haven't given it any real use yet to see how hard wearing it is.

I put it down using emulsion brushes, the first coat is a ballache and you need more helpers than you would expect to get it down in time before the paint goes off. You need to use a brush in a circular motion to work the paint into the uneven surface of the concrete, and i very mearly ran out of paint on the first coat.
The second coat was much easier, even laying it much thicker i still had about 1/4 of a litre remaining when finished.

I went with the light grey
Mixed it with a corded drill powered stirrer
To prep the floor, i jet washed it with a Karcher K3 to loosen/remove the old paint, then used concrete cleaning acid to wash the surface, and then jet washed again. I then let it dry out for a few weeks, and put the paint down in temperatures of around 10 degrees.

Hope that helps someone out

Matt

[anonymous-user]

Good man! I'm thinking of doing something similar myself. I went down the tiled floor route about 18 months ago and they aren't wearing well. The weight of the car on axle stands has cracked a few of the tiles and the grout is starting to come out. I'm seriously tempted to rip them all out and go down the epoxy floor route, it sounds like the best way.

A couple of Q's - do you have any pictures of the finished article? Also how did you deal with the threshold between the garage floor and outside? Did you use a timber baton to mark outside/inside?

Cheers

Iain

[StreetDragster]

Mac. said:

Good man! I'm thinking of doing something similar myself. I went down the tiled floor route about 18 months ago and they aren't wearing well. The weight of the car on axle stands has cracked a few of the tiles and the grout is starting to come out. I'm seriously tempted to rip them all out and go down the epoxy floor route, it sounds like the best way.

A couple of Q's - do you have any pictures of the finished article? Also how did you deal with the threshold between the garage floor and outside? Did you use a timber baton to mark outside/inside?

Cheers

Iain

Hi Iain,

I don't have a picture at the moment, but i'll take one soon to show you the finished product.
The threshold between the garage floor and outside is a step in my house, so firstly i just painted up to the step. However on the second coat, i had some paint left over at the end of the garage, so i painted about a further foot onto the [plain concrete] driveway as this is a place i commenly twist the wheels when finally lining up into the garage.
I didn't treat or prepare the driveway section though, so it'll be interesting to see how it fairs compared to the garage floor.

I'm going to put down a weatherstop door seal, about £35, to keep the weather out the garage, its a moulded rubber bulge that seals the door to the floor, and has a yellow strip in it to prevent you missing it and tripping over it. My friend has one and its better than the rubber seal that attaches to his [up and over] garage door, just like mine.

http://www.weatherstop.co.uk/

Any more questions just give me a shout

Thanks

Matt

[BigBen]

Reopening this thread to ask if anyone could point me at the ebay seller in question, the item in the OP has expired and there are various epoxy paints on ebay and want to make sure I get good stuff

Ben

[s3fella]

Costco sell garage floor epoxy. The stuff I saw there had the metalflakes you drop in it!!

[StreetDragster]

I'd forgot about this thread!

I'll get you some pictures still Iain

The seller was called 'moreen55' i think, heres a current listing

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10KGS-GARAGE-INDUSTRIAL-EPOX...

Thanks

Matt

[BigBen]

StreetDragster said:

I'd forgot about this thread!

I'll get you some pictures still Iain

The seller was called 'moreen55' i think, heres a current listing

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10KGS-GARAGE-INDUSTRIAL-EPOX...

Thanks

Matt

Great that was the one I had seen and wanted to hear a 1st hand experience.

My garage floor is in relatively good nick and I have cleaned spilled oil off this evening. Will give it a good sweep / hoover (while the mrs is not looking) and try to get it painted this week.

Would also like to see some photos of your finished article if you get a chance.

Cheers

Ben

[northwest monkey]

BigBen said:

Will give it a good sweep / hoover (while the mrs is not looking)

She will notice mate - normally when the hoover packs up & she opens it to find the best part of a bag of plaster all over the inside of it.



Seen the price of a new Miele these days

[StreetDragster]

As requested, a photo of my garage floor.

Apologies for the delay, its a working garage so it took quite a while to get it cleared enough for a photo to be any use.

Any questions give me a shout

Cheers

Matt

[BigBen]

northwest monkey said:

BigBen said:

Will give it a good sweep / hoover (while the mrs is not looking)

She will notice mate - normally when the hoover packs up & she opens it to find the best part of a bag of plaster all over the inside of it.



Seen the price of a new Miele these days

Found an old hoover I thought I had binned and used that, then it smelt funny and smoke came out of the air vent !

Floor is prepped, just waiting for a weather window to get the paint down.

Thank you for the photo looks good

Ben

[StreetDragster]

Just an update to this, both the coating thats in the garage, that had all the preparation done prior to applying, and the coating outside which had NO preparation at all, are holding up really well.

No noticable wear, lifting or patching.

Will report back after we have had some prolonged freezing winter conditions.

Thanks

Matt

[MikeyT]

Hi Matt

Have just had delivered today the same stuff you got - 10kg's worth ... in the light grey also.

Have a slightly larger garage than you - 3.2m x 6.8m ... do you reckon I've got enough for two coats? The ebay ad says 5kg will cover 35-40 sq metres - that sounds a lot from 5kg ...

How did the finish bear up over the winter?

Your finish in the pic doesn't look as *glossy* as theirs in the ad - any reason for that? Probably means yours has more grip though maybe.

How long does it take to do one coat? I take it from your posts in this thread it wasn't just YOU doing it - and also, did you use one of the fluffy rollers or a sponge one? The second coat won't seep into the concrete so much I suspect so you'll get more coverage from it.

Apologies for the all the questions ...

Edited by MikeyT on Wednesday 21st April 22:35