A few questions for those of you who have elected to finish the floor of your workshop.

I’m rapidly closing in on finishing my first real dedicated man cave/therapy room in the pole barn, aka “woodshop” (pictures and story to follow in a few weeks). Insulation is in, walls are up and painted, electric is done, heater install is next week and then I get to start moving equipment and benches back in, WooHoo!

Before I get stuff moved back in, I’m considering the possibility of putting a sealer of some kind on the floor. Other than a few minor drywall mud splatters, the concrete is pretty clean and smooth to start, without any previous oil contaminates to deal with.

Initially I wanted to go with epoxy because it looks good and is pretty tough stuff, but after pricing it, it is going to cost me about $400 to cover 600 sq ft by the time I figure in supplies, etching cleaner, color flakes, anti-skid additive and the epoxy itself– not to mention a few more days of work.

For those of you who have gone the epoxy route – was it worth it? Does it really help with clean up? How slippery does the floor get with normal sawdust not caught by the DC? Any drawbacks to going with the less-nasty water-based epoxy vs two-part epoxy if I’m not going to be driving on it?

Other options for floor finish include concrete paint, concrete stain, and just a clear sealer – all much cheaper than epoxy, but I don’t know how well they will hold up in the long run. If any of you have tried concrete stains or low-cost sealers - are you happy with them, or do you wish you had bit the bullet and done epoxy from the get go?

Any replies or insight will be appreciated.