Paint shop floor

[Mike Morgan]

My shop has a sorta' old bare concrete floor. It is tough to sweep. Does anyone have experience and suggestions about painting old concrete in a shop? All input will be appreciated. Thanks, Mike

[johnny means]

One of my shop neighbors just painted his floor with some Home Depot garage floor paint. Seems really durable (he is still rearranging machines, no marks yet) and is beautiful, blissfully sweepable. I will be doing mine when I get a chance.

[Doug Shepard]

The majority of the job will be in cleaning, patching, and prepping the floor but you'll be glad you did it after the paint's down. Sweeping up is a breeze vs. the bare concrete.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=37683

[Andy Bardowell]

One of my shop neighbors just painted his floor with some Home Depot garage floor paint. Seems really durable (he is still rearranging machines, no marks yet) and is beautiful, blissfully sweepable. I will be doing mine when I get a chance.

Just curious about a couple of things Johnny, what was the brand used and was it an epoxy mix? How did you guys do it did you move everything out of the shop or the move and paint method.

[mike holden]

Andy,
I painted my basement floor with an indoor floor paint, a latex. This was almost ten years ago and I have no complaints. Does not show any particular wear, the only scratches I can account for when I dont think *ANY* floor would have resisted (took out some concrete).
I did it by the move and paint method, and I did NOT take any special care to clean the floor beyond sweeping. The bare floor was about 35 years old and had paint stains and concrete patches on it.
I would do it again, but in a different color. I chose a peachy color and would go for a more traditional grey next time.
Mike

[Stan Mitchell]

I just did my garage and shop area (800 sq.ft. combined) a month or so ago and am fairly pleased with it. I'd expect a true industrial coating would be much nicer - but also quite a bit more $. The concrete was pretty rough and porous - so I didn't know what to expect.

I used the Rustoleum Epoxy Shield two-part, solvent based coating which was pretty simple to apply. If you read the reviews on this product you'll find that the prep work is the key to a successful application and it's also the most work. Rolling the actual coating on is a breeze.

I've been parking vehicles on the garage portion for several weeks now with no visible marks or wear. You can drop heavy tools on it without leaving a mark.

You'll want to completely empty your shop first because you'll be scrubbing and washing the old concrete pretty aggressively in preparation.

The final product has been very durable so far. I didn't put a clear coat on it - so it's not shiny like vinyl flooring. It sweeps well and cleans up easily which was what I was wanting.

Rustoleum says that each two-gallon kit covers 350 square feet. I used three kits and applied the product fairly generously and still had a half gallon left over. Oh, and it still has a bit of that oil based paint smell after more than a month.

Anyway, that's my experience.

[Alan Trout]

When I owned my machine shop I painted the floor with an epoxy floor paint. It is still on that floor and holding up almost 20 years later. Mine was an ITW product and was excellent. It wore like iron was easy to apply and made floor sweeping much better. I would highly recommend painting the floor with epoxy floor paint.

Good Luck

Alan

[Mike Morgan]

Thank you all for your helplful replies. Mike

[David Hostetler]

I tried replying previously, but for some reason this particular thread didn't like my other system...

I wanted to reiterate what the others said about prep. The key to success with a garage floor coating is good prep work. You will want to TSP the heck out of that concrete, fill any cracks etc... You do NOT want TSP getting on your lumber, or equipment. I would STRONGLY suggest you rent a POD or something similar to clear the shop out, do the work, apply the coating let it dry then move back in...

The Behr epoxy / garage floor paint is pretty well regarded. I don't recall the brand but I have seen one in a Wood Magazine special publication that used powdered rose quartz for color. It looks gorgeous in the magazine.

Another option is DriCore panels. You get some added insulation, and a softer surface to stand on. Less leg fatigue.

[Rob Russell]

I just did my garage and shop area (800 sq.ft. combined) a month or so ago and am fairly pleased with it. I'd expect a true industrial coating would be much nicer - but also quite a bit more $. The concrete was pretty rough and porous - so I didn't know what to expect.

I used the Rustoleum Epoxy Shield two-part, solvent based coating which was pretty simple to apply. If you read the reviews on this product you'll find that the prep work is the key to a successful application and it's also the most work. Rolling the actual coating on is a breeze.

I've been parking vehicles on the garage portion for several weeks now with no visible marks or wear. You can drop heavy tools on it without leaving a mark.

You'll want to completely empty your shop first because you'll be scrubbing and washing the old concrete pretty aggressively in preparation.

The final product has been very durable so far. I didn't put a clear coat on it - so it's not shiny like vinyl flooring. It sweeps well and cleans up easily which was what I was wanting.

Rustoleum says that each two-gallon kit covers 350 square feet. I used three kits and applied the product fairly generously and still had a half gallon left over. Oh, and it still has a bit of that oil based paint smell after more than a month.

Anyway, that's my experience.


Great first post - welcome to SMC.

[Maurice Ungaro]

I've done two garage floors (26 x 42, & 18 x 22) with the Rust-oleum epoxy system, and have been VERY happy with it. The prep is key, and I would suggest getting a high volume fan to move some air over the floor after you scrub and rinse it.

Another added bonus is that it lightens up the appearance of the place.

[Doug Mason]

I used the rustoleam product as well--I think from Sherwin-Williams? You can see the floor in the Pic. It has held up very well. I used the sprinkles--and am glad I did.

123301

[Prashun Patel]

Depends what you want. I've done all manner from cheap porch floor paint, to resin modified, to full epoxy.

If you are going to park heavy equipment on it or hot tires and you want it to look good and not lift, then you really need to do epoxy, taking care to clean and etch the floor beforehand.

If, like me, you don't care if it gets beat up, and yr primary motivation is dust control & sweepability, then you don't need to go nuts with the prep; just rinse it with water and scrub down any oil spots with TSP. There's lift off where the heavy equipment moves, but it serves its purpose.

[Ken Garlock]

Hello, and welcome to the creek, Mike.

When we built our home in 2002, our painter used Sherwin Williams Tile-Clad 2 epoxy two part floor paint. It is as tough and a fifty-cent steak. :eek: Since then, S-W has introduced one part pre-cat water based replacement.

We have the original Tile Clad in a 3 car garage, 2 car garage, and my shop. The only damage in 7 years is some staining where battery acid leaked onto it, and places in the shop where I dropped heavy items. The paint didn't chip, the concrete did.:cool:

Take time of swing by a Sherwin Williams store and talk to them.