I don’t know how many of you want a durable floor that is easy to clean, and looks great. Well I did. I had a garage built recently and before the floor ended up looking like the parking lot at the local auto parts store I decided to protect it.
I first looked into the stuff you can get at HD or Lowes - Rustoleum epoxy 2 1/2 car garage kit (only 500sq/ft coverage). I bought this kit and read the directions, and then did some research on the Internet. :read: I found several sites that had people who liked it but were disappointed at the durability and the amount of prep work. Most epoxy coatings like this one require you to have a VERY clean floor, and it has to be 100% bone dry. This doesn’t sound hard, but you would be surprised how much moisture the floor will have even after days of drying. Tape a piece of plastic to the floor over night and check for condensation in the morning. If there is condensation then the floor is still too wet.
There were also several complaints related to this saying that the coating would “lift” on hot tires. :gunright: Other complaints were for mis-matched colors due to multiple cans being used. Most companies agreed that you should mix all the cans of the color coats to make it uniform. Most all of the people that complained to Rustoleum for one reason or another were sent replacement kits to re-do the floor. That is the good news. The bad news is you will have to sand the whole floor down to coat it again and the warranty is only 1 year.
Now as for the UCoatIt epoxy www.ucoatit.com , it is just as much prep work, costs ALOT more, and goes down in 3 coats. It also has a lifetime warranty, and the 2-car kit will cover up to about 600sq/ft. This was important to me since my garage is just under 600sq/ft, and I would have had to buy multiple kits of the Rustoleum. The biggest “plus” for the UCoatIt was the fact that you apply it to a WET FLOOR! You still have to clean an acid wash the floor, but it can’t be dry for this to work. It is also VERY important to note that with all the epoxy kits I looked at, the outside temp MUST be 68 - 80 deg with > 50% humidity to work well. Any more and it will dry too fast and vise versa.
Basic steps:
Sweep (a lot).
Wet/pressure spray the floor to remove dirt.
Squeegee excess water out.
Spot clean grease spots.
Mix 1/2 gal of Muratic (sp?) acid in ~4 gal of water and spread even on sections of the floor as you use a stiff brisol brush (on a pole) to scrub the floor. Rinse clean when done.
Use the other 1/2 gal of acid in another ~4 gal to repeat last step.
Rinse and squeegee after done 2 more times.
Dampen the floor and mix your “bond coat”. Roll it out in a thin even layer. If you want the no-slip surface sprinkle the aluminum oxide (sand like stuff) on the wet areas. Allow 4-6 hours to dry.
Once dry, mix the color coats and roll out a full even coat. If you purchased it, spread the Flek chips on top of the wet color. Let dry 4-6 hours.
Now you mix the solvent-based clear topcoat. Roll it out full and even and allow 1 to 7 days to fully dry. It will be ok to walk on the next day, but you don’t want to drive on it for a week.
I have had it down for more than 1 month now with no signs of damage. I have not beat on it yet but I am sure over time I will. Now for some of the shots: :stare:
Prep
After 2nd coat + color Flek
After gloss coat
Enjoy. This project was about $20 in cleaning supplies, and $500 in UCoatIt.
