Concrete floor sealing/colouring/polishing - Any experience?

[Le Gavroche]

Next job is my garage floor, which is currently dusty bare concrete, exactly as it was poured, about 3 years ago.

I would like it turned into a finished floor, in some sort of durable uniform colour, probably grey. But I'm very wary of how to achieve this, as I have had absolutely terrible experiences in the past with garage floor paints, and the 2-pack epoxy/resin type stuff. They always seem to peel or flake after time and use, and I can't deal with that all over again. I've even had a 'professional' apply an epoxy floor coating to a previous concrete floor and left it 3-4 times as long as the suggested drying period (in warm weather) before parking any cars in there, and guess what.... I left a car parked for a few months and when it moved, it tore off 4 patches of epoxy where the tyres were in contact and had stuck to the floor

I want some ultra durable finish that won't lift off under any domestic use, and cars parked on it workout moving for months at a time.

I was just going to apply some of the clear concrete sealant that soaks in and stops the dust, and leaves a slight sheen to the floor, but the issue is that the floor has various patches of different colours from use over the past 3+ years (dirt, stains, paint spots from painting the walls, etc) and it would be good if I could hide these to a certain extent.

I have read about some companies offering concrete staining and polishing, where they spray a light coat of colouring stain onto the concrete which soaks in and lightly colours it to freshen it up, and then they grind/polish the floor. This seems like a durable option as it isn't actually a layer of paint or coating.

Anyone have any experiences or suggestions of garage floor coatings that last for years without issue?

[Chumley.mouse]

Floor tiles , mate did his in a quarry tile and still looked like new 15 years later when he moved.

[OutInTheShed]

Problem is, tyres are quite good at bonding with stuff.
It's part of their grippy nature.
Left for months under pressure against another polymer compound like paint or epoxy, it's no surprised they've stuck.

I park my motorbike on a piece of old carpet.

[Le Gavroche]

Chumley.mouse said:

Floor tiles , mate did his in a quarry tile and still looked like new 15 years later when he moved.

Tiles are the one thing I was hoping to avoid.

There’s a risk of either slipping on them when wet or dropping something heavy (like a hammer) and ending up with a cracked/chipped one right in the middle of your floor.

Those could be unlikely, but I just see it as something I would like to avoid.

[Le Gavroche]

OutInTheShed said:

Problem is, tyres are quite good at bonding with stuff.
It's part of their grippy nature.
Left for months under pressure against another polymer compound like paint or epoxy, it's no surprised they've stuck.

I park my motorbike on a piece of old carpet.

All of which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid. I want a bombproof, no fuss, concrete floor that looks uniform and clean.

Hence why my interest in this concrete grinding, staining, and sealing has been piqued. It isn’t a coating, it’s a very thin liquid that soaks into the concrete floor (apparently).

It irks me somewhat that the Americans seem to be absolute experts in concrete flooring in domestic garages (grinding and polishing them to look like marble and be 100% durable), but we just flounder around over painting epoxy or garage floor paint onto them, which obviously just falls off over time.

Anyone had their garage floor ground or polished?

[Chumley.mouse]

Le Gavroche said:

Tiles are the one thing I was hoping to avoid.

There s a risk of either slipping on them when wet or dropping something heavy (like a hammer) and ending up with a cracked/chipped one right in the middle of your floor.

Those could be unlikely, but I just see it as something I would like to avoid.

You can drop something heavy and damage a concrete/ polished floor just as easy. Also a smooth polished floor will be just as slippery as tiles if its wet ?

Just order a spare pack and stash in the loft for any damage in the future. ( doesn’t everyone do this? )

[JoshSm]

Polished concrete will be at least as slippery, it's not that hard/strong so will be just as likely to chip under a point impact, and unless you know it was a good solid slab it might not even grind/polish to a good surface; finished concrete surfaces usually start off poured with that goal in mind.

Go for an industrial/commercial anti slip rated solid porcelain tile like the Vitra Dotti. They come in a few sizes & thicknesses, are *very* hard, and are the same finish all the way through so even if you did manage somehow to wear or chip one it will look the same. Not expensive either and even have matching edging/skirting/corner tiles.

[Le Gavroche]

Perhaps I’m being too hasty in dismissing tiles!

I’ll have another look before making a final decision.

[DorsetSparky]

When we moved into our new home, we requested that the garage be decorated alongside the rest of the house (as its design is really a pantry, utility room, extra storage, gym and workshop).

They laid Amtico flooring in a herringbone design, just because that's what we chose in the rest of the house and they did it to match. Seems a bit overkill for a garage but makes it a really nice place to be, and Amtico seems very durable. Plus, if you drop anything, you're not going to crack a tile.