Epoxy your garage floor...yes or no?

[Don Morris]

My neighbors are doing this and I was wondering if this is "a good thing to do"? Anybody with experience with an epoxied floor?
Thanks for any input!

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

It's great when it is done right. A neighbor did it to his new shop floor but he was impatient and applied it when it was too cold. It never adhered properly and as soon as he started moving stuff into the shop, the epoxy immediately cracked and peeled and looks like it had a bad sunburn. There are epoxy flakes all over the floor always coming up.

[Don Morris]

This is being applied in the middle of summer, on a very warm day after power washing the floor and making sure it is clean and dry. It should adhere really well. If that's the worst problem to worry about, they have it made. Thanks for the alert about putting it down on a cold surface. The same could be said for roofs. My brother-in-law designs the machines that make roofing tiles. He says the tiles are made to be applied in warm weather so the glue melts and adheres to the tile below. He cringes when he sees a team applying a roof in winter in Chicago. Hopefully, the glue will melt enough for the tile to adhere to when the weather warms up and really melts and adheres to the point it is intended. But roofers need employment and it seems they are willing to take the chance no real heavy wind will damage their job until warm weather arrives. Just try to get a guarantee, IN WRITING, from them during the winter months.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Don, there are some garage forums for gearheads, hot rodders, car guys, etc that have a LOT of information on various floor coatings, the do's and don'ts. GOOGLE is you friend in this regard. The one thing I would be cautious about is the slip factor with sawdust. I don't recall any specifics, but I recall some comments (maybe here) about IF the finish is too glossy, the slipping danger may increase with sawdust. Conversely, too gritty a finish makes it a PITA to sweep. Again, I don't recall the specifics, but I seem to recall there was a balance available that did not cause me to rule it out (my "To Do List" keeps growing). Good luck. Patrick

[Chris Padilla]

Check out Ucoatit.com. I have lots of car guy buddies who swear by it. I never used it as I had already used another product but I would do it in a heartbeat in the future.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Real, two-part epoxy- yes. The stuff they sell at Home Depot that calls itself epoxy but is really just enamel paint- no.

[Stan Calow]

I would have said no - just another thing I won't be able to keep clean. Then saw some photos in the September Family Handyman magazine. Google this: Metallic Epoxy Garage Floor Paint I doubt I could afford it, but that would be the ultimate.

[Leo Graywacz]

If it's done correctly the only downfall I know about is it makes the floor more slippery.

Couple of positive things are the look, especially if you get a lighter color it will increase the brightness in the area. It makes sweeping a breeze. Get a nice shop brush, the ones with the fine bristles and you can do a single push clean.

[Wade Lippman]

My neighbor did it and said it makes the floor dangerously slippery..

[Mike Henderson]

I had my garage done professionally and it's great. They start by grinding the concrete to remove the skin on the concrete that has oil and other stuff on it. Then they lay the epoxy. Before the epoxy sets, they sprinkle some color stuff on the epoxy. The guy has "nail shoes", that is shoes with a bed of nails in the sole so he doesn't leave prints in the epoxy as he walks on the epoxy to spread the sprinkle stuff. The next day, the epoxy is cured and they sweep off the excess sprinkle stuff.

Then a few days later, they come back and put a clear coat on top. It is NOT slippery. I've walked on it wet, with sawdust on it, and never felt that my footing was uncertain.

My shop is in the two car section of the garage and my wife has the remaining one car section. I built a wall between the two sections. Her section is fine, no peeling or other failures.

I would recommend you have it done professionally and check out the reviews of the people who do it. If done right, it's a good looking, long lasting coating for the garage.

Mike

[Mark Paavola]

Epoxy coatings work very well if you follow the directions. I epoxied my main garage floor 15 years ago. Still looks good today with only minimal wear. This is my parking garage and welding area. Did my shop 10 years ago and RV garage 3 years ago. All look good and no problems with it being slippery.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

I plan on moving in a year or so and my double car/shop floor is a disaster. What is a reasonable price range for epoxy?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Surface prep is very very important. if it is not clear and proper, grind it (or similar).

[Wayne Lomman]

Surface preparation and pre treatment of cracks in the concrete are crucial as is moisture content. To test for moisture, get a 2 foot square of clear plastic film, tape it to the floor and leave it for 24 hours. If there is condensation, it has to dry longer or you have a problem and the coating will lift. The plastic must by dry at the end of the test.

Having you considered just getting the concrete ground and polished? You don't have to go full gloss which avoids a slippery surface.

Epoxy is OK if it's done right. If not, it is a disaster for the life of the slab unless you spend a lot more money. The comments about slippery vs non slip are entirely related to whether the product is made as non slip or what grade of sand was broadcast over the top of the wet coating and how it was applied.

If you do this yourself, do a test run somewhere out of the way. This establishes the technique to get the finish you want. You then follow that procedure without deviation so that the whole area ends up uniform. Cheers

[Van Huskey]

I say yes.

Go over to garagejournal and you will get all the information you could ever want on epoxy floors and some of the dealers of the high quality stuff have sales and coupon codes there. Do PROPER prep and use a quality coating and you will be happy.

[Prashun Patel]

I agree with everything mike says. I had mine professionally done and it is wonderful. The chips are key. I epoxied my dads about ten years ago without chips and it WAS slippery when wet.

[Mike Cutler]

If it's done right,it's very nice. I do think it's a process outside the DIY category, unless your Jason Roehl.

I've watched them epoxy coat the floors at work for thirty years. I work in a 3 reactor nuclear power site. Temperature seems to be a key factor. They keep track of ambient temps and humidity and have a temp probe in the epoxy also. It's a BIG job from beginning to end. Each step takes at least 24 hours after the old floor coating is ground off.

[Dave Lehnert]

I had a friend do it to the floor of a huge pole building.
When he poured the concrete he ran just short of the moisture barrier underneath. The back half the width of the barn and about 2 foot from the back wall.
That is the only place it has peeled off.

[Alan Rutherford]

I've painted, not epoxied, 2 garage floors. Both were cleaned and etched with muriatic acid. The last one was over 20 years ago and I don't know what kind of paint I used but I was happy with both. I added some ground walnuts shells to the second one for non-skid. Is paint too old-school to consider?