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Joseph Ragsdale
02-21-2008, 12:11 AM
Currently I have bare concrete in my shop.

I originally tried to install a floating laminate floor over the concrete, but quickly discovered that it was not practical. A small amount of sawdust made the floor very slippery. Having several cast iron table tops to hit my head on made this a no-go.

The bare concrete I have is stained in a few places and covered with various paint spills in other places. I would like to cover this up for aesthetic reasons. I would also like a nonslip surface that can withstand heavy machines being rolled around on casters.

I was thinking the paint you can buy for garages and auto shops that is slip, stain, and moister resistant. I don't know of any brands and I don't know much of a pain it is to prep and paint.

Any suggestions?

glenn bradley
02-21-2008, 12:30 AM
Two friends of mine were lucky enough to epoxy their garages prior to moving in. One does a variety of things-garage. The other works on motorcycles and drags some heavy rough stuff across the floor. Watching this makes my teeth hurt but the floor finish is unharmed. Pretty impressive stuff. The motorcycle-dude used Rustoleum's product. Not sure about the other guy.

Joe Chritz
02-21-2008, 6:25 AM
Rustoleum two part epoxy garage floor finish.

Indestructible for the most part. Mine if far from pristine anymore but it isn't chipped up unless I took a piece of concrete with it. It is on another planet
from floor paint and it is on the low end of epoxy coatings.

Any finish will be slippery under the right conditions. The chips supplied will help. I put mine on fiber fill concrete so it isn't glass smooth. It isn't to bad, even with sawdust on the floor sometimes.

Joe

Greg Narozniak
02-21-2008, 7:43 AM
When we moved into our new house I made sure I painted the walls of the garage white as well as put down an Epoxy Floor. I went with http://www.epoxy-coat.com/ It is an excellent product, thicker than any of the Borg versions and it has been tough as nails.

I followed all the instructions to a tee and the floor has been wonderful for the two years we have been there. hot tires have no effect nor does dropping very heavy things on it.

The one thing I would have changed was I should have had the floor ground flat. The house was built in early 90s and there are some high spots and some spots that were much rougher than others that made the finished product not as nice as I would have liked in these spots. Not the products fault, just food for thought.

I believe Chris P used a similar "industrial" version and was very happy with it.

BOB OLINGER
02-21-2008, 1:02 PM
Greg,

The Expoxy-Coat website is very impressive. I am in proces of preping my shop floor which is in the basement. Currently is concrete (stained, dirty,etc.). I planned on using the best I could find at Lowes (don't have the brand name with me). Would you recomend this product for my basement shop floor? Thanks

Kev Godwin
02-23-2008, 8:37 PM
Joseph,
This might go against the grain of some, but I use 6 foot wide rolls of indoor-outdoor capet held in place with two-sided carpet tape to keep from sliding. I shop vac them when needed and roll them up and take them outside a couple times of year and hit them with compressed air. It is very slip-resistent and very low cost. I chose grey color but other colors are available. I also chose the nylon type with woven loop, not the plastic type that looks like astro-turf. It is very easy to cut around machines if needed but I didn't do that. Most of my equipment is movable and easily rolls over the thin carpet.
Kev

Doug Shepard
02-23-2008, 8:55 PM
I used a Sherwin Williams epoxy after shopping about for a white to brighten the shop up
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=37683
No problems after 1-1/2 years so far. I also bought some extra additive that's mixed in that provides a bit of grit to the paint. Between that and the color chips there's been no slippage problems even on wet spots on the floor. The only negative on the epoxy paint is having to push excess water from car tires or snow melt outside. It no longer seeps into the concrete like it used to but sits on top until you remove it.

Joseph Ragsdale
02-24-2008, 4:28 AM
It's seems like a pain in the butt having to etch the concrete with acid before applying the epoxy.

I don't have a way to wash away the acid. Could I suck it up with a ShopVac?

How difficult was to to epoxy your floor?

Lee Koepke
02-24-2008, 11:12 AM
I used a semitransparent concrete stain on mine and two coats of sealer. Its not too slippery, and makes the clean up of sawdust much easier.

The etch, primer, stain, and sealer ended up being about $ 0.30 / sqft and that was much cheaper than the epoxy paint. My floor had a few stains and a red tint from the clay and for me, its only a shop floor, I just needed something to make it look clean, neat, and dedicated.

It took the most time to acid etch. I used a mop with several replacement heads, buckets and buckets of water, and reached deep down for my patience. I dont know if i would recommend a Shop Vac, unless you want to toss it. The acid most likely wouldnt react well with the pump function or any metal.

Joseph Ragsdale
02-24-2008, 8:45 PM
I bought the Rustoleum Epoxy Shield two part kit. Grey with blue chips. I'll post pics of my shop when finished :D

George Carion
02-24-2008, 11:51 PM
I've been thinking about coating my garage floor with epoxy too. It has paint, oil, and dye stains that aren't very attractive.

For those of you who went the epoxy route, how does that finish do with paint, stain, and oil spills?

Joseph Ragsdale
02-25-2008, 12:14 AM
I've started to prep my floor. I've got glue and paint on my floor that's a real PITA to remove. I've been using mineral spirits and a razor blade scraper.

The mineral spirits softens the glue and I'm slowly scraping up a gooey mess. As for the paint, the mineral spirits did nothing to help remove it. I could chip a little here and there with the scraper, but not much.

I wonder if I could use my ROS with some coarse grit paper.

Joseph Ragsdale
02-25-2008, 5:37 AM
Just a quick update. The ROS with coarse grit paper works pretty well. What I've been doing is using mineral spirits and a razor blade scraper to remove the thick goo that the glue turns into. After which I run the ROS over it and remove the rest.

I'm wearing a $30 3M respirator, ear protection, and eye protection. The ROS is loud, kicks up fine dust against the concrete, and kicks up small particles which get thrown in my face. If you're going to do this, spend the money on good protection.

The paint on the floor is getting noticeably thinner after scrubing with mineral spirits several times and running the ROS over it a few times.

This is slow going, but it's going :D

(My poor ROS. I'm curious to see how well my Porter Cable 343 holds up to under these conditions.)

Chris Padilla
02-26-2008, 12:17 PM
I was going to suggest www.ucoatit.com (http://www.ucoatit.com) but I see you are deep into your prep work already! :)

In doing my floor, I did pretty much as you are doing. I etched it with Muriatic Acid when I had it as clean as I could stand it and then painted away.

Scott Velie
02-26-2008, 1:51 PM
I have unfinished concrete and I really hate it. It is hard on the back let alone dropped tools. SOMEDAY I will put wood down like a real wood shop should have.

Randy Garrett
02-26-2008, 6:37 PM
My garage floor was painted by the previous owner. Will I have to strip off all of the paint before I start to prep the floor?

Thanks, Randy

Chris Padilla
02-26-2008, 7:50 PM
Randy,

First, welcome to Saw Mill Creek!

Second, if the paint is bonded very well, it probably is fine to paint over it but make darn sure it is bonded well.

You might check out the www.ucoatit.com (http://www.ucoatit.com) site I posted earlier...lottsa good info there.

Joseph Ragsdale
03-02-2008, 2:32 AM
I finished painting my floor and I'm waiting for it to dry. It looks pretty good from a distance (looking in from the door to my shop).

Hopefully it bonds to my floor!

A few things I noticed/experienced:

I had some latex paint on my floor that was a real bear to strip. Earlier I commented on using mineral spirits and a ROS to sand and remove the paint and glue. It turns out this didn't work very well. What did work was using a latex paint stripper and a razor blade scraper.

The paint stripper stripped most of the paint, but there are some spots that I left. In some cases, the paint stripper would strip one layer, but leave another layer underneath.

I figured if paint stripper and a razor blade scraper can't strip the paint off the floor, it's pretty well bonded.

Inbetween cleaning and prepping, I rinsed the floor with water several times and used my ShopVac to suck it up from the floor. This was very slow going and took a lot of patience.

Joe Chritz
03-02-2008, 4:35 AM
Nice sig line.

Joe

David Parker
03-02-2008, 1:47 PM
Hi Joseph,

I'll soon be ready to paint my basement shop floor with the Rustoleum latex Epoxy Shield kit. Did you add any anti-skid additive to your mixture? If so, how much?

I'd prefer a smoother floor, but don't want it to be slippery when layered with fine sawdust or spilled liquids. Lowes didn't have the Rustoleum anti-skid agent, but had a different brand (American Tradition) of anti-skid powder made out of crystalline silica that comes in an 8 oz. can. It recommends one can per gallon of paint, but I don't want my floor to be like sandpaper - just to have a little traction. Thanks.

Dave

Joseph Ragsdale
03-02-2008, 7:10 PM
I didn't add the anti skid. It was one of my original intentions, but I just wanted to be done with it. I'm tired of messing with my floor :D

Louis Rucci
03-03-2008, 2:53 PM
I do also and plan to cover it with Tongue/groove subflooring.

Joseph Ragsdale
03-03-2008, 5:08 PM
What do you mean by the subfloor Louis?

Hey Dave, as I said, I did not add the anti skid, but I just finished another coat and painted over the paint flakes. This leaves a textured surface that does a good job of hiding the imperfections in my concrete floor. I actually really like the way it turned out.

The surface should give just a little bit more traction, but without the "sand paper" feel.

I recoated my floor because I didn't like the way the paint flakes looked. With the paint flakes, it look like someone had a new years party or birthday party. I also spent more time with the paint roller making sure I evenly painted the surface of the floor.

Final observations:

Spreading the paint flakes over the floor and then painting over the flakes gives a textured surface without having a colorful confetti on your floor. It does a good job of hiding the imperfections in the concrete.

Even though the box says "one coat," two coats looks a whole lot better in my opinion. It's not terribly expensive to buy another kit, so I recommend doing this. The first coat acts as a primer and will give you a feel for painting a floor. You can also buy a kit that is designed for two coat application.

Unlike what I had thought, painting a floor isn't like painting a wall. The epoxy will pool if you don't take care to use the roller to paint evenly.

Douglas McKenzie
03-03-2008, 11:44 PM
Joseph,

First time on here and stumbled into your thread because I am considering covering my garage floor. I am a construction manager for a Health Care Provider and have been introduced to a new flooring product made of vinyl. We have used and abused this product in several of our facilities with great results. It is standing up to pretty abusive commerical use. It has a very good coefficient of friction and has been very slip resistant. If you are looking for a good wood look floor check this one out. http://www.konectousa.com/ The flooring is very heavy and durable and waterproof. Good Luck

Doug

harry strasil
03-04-2008, 7:08 PM
FWIW when I worked for a carnival we used silica sand for sandblasting sprinkled on metal slopes and wooden platforms after painting for a non skid surface.
As I have a disabling back injury, I purchased the 2 ft square interlocking floor mats from Ptree woodworking at the KC wood working show. just ordered 2 more packages 16 pieces for $34.99 easier on back and legs and no worry about dropping tools on the concrete or slipping around.

Greg Booli
01-27-2020, 10:59 AM
Well, I had concrete but i found it too dull, so i went for a carpet (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Zerorez+Carpet+Cleaning+Pros/@36.0282856,-115.372309,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c8d1b45c2ca2fd:0x51e19 0da8641d447!8m2!3d36.0286115!4d-115.0921221) that is both aesthetic and warm.