[richpike]

If you've finished your garage floor, what sort of finish did you use? I've been looking at a couple options (epoxy, tile, mat) and here is my initial take:

Epoxy
Pros
-Cheapest
-Looks nice with the flecks

Cons
-Not ideal for a previously finished floor (which mine was painted before)
-Can be slippery when snow/water gets on it
-Hot tire pickup?

Tile
Pros
-Easy to install
-No issues with previous finish on floor
-Can do a pattern
-Not slippery when wet
-Theoretically removable when we sell the house

Cons
-Tough to clean
-Most expensive

Rubber mat
Pros
-Middle of the road price
-Easy to install

Cons
-I'm not ecstatic about the look
-Likely tough to clean
-How durable is it?

Any experience/thoughts/recommendations? If it makes a difference, this is for a 3-car garage (about 700sqft), about 15 years old, and the floor was painted by the previous owner about 10 years ago (and has pulled up/peeled quite a bit since then).

-Rich

[Dackz]

I can tell you from personal experience selling the epoxy stuff when I used to work for home depot that the hot tire pickup IS NOT an issue after it dries. You need to wait a good week or longer before putting the hot tires on it though, that is usually the issue people have, is not waiting long enough. Should you have to park on it, wait 3-4 days to cure THEN put cardboard down where your tires are going and you should not have an issue. And its all about prep, prep, prep. The epoxy will only stick as well as whatever is under it.

[richpike]

Originally Posted by Dackz

I can tell you from personal experience selling the epoxy stuff when I used to work for home depot that the hot tire pickup IS NOT an issue after it dries. You need to wait a good week or longer before putting the hot tires on it though, that is usually the issue people have, is not waiting long enough. Should you have to park on it, wait 3-4 days to cure THEN put cardboard down where your tires are going and you should not have an issue. And its all about prep, prep, prep. The epoxy will only stick as well as whatever is under it.

Good advice. That is what concerns me about my garage - the floor was previously painted (about 10 years ago) and I'm not sure I'll be able to get it up good enough to allow the epoxy to really grab on. Of course, if I can't get it up, maybe it is bonded well enough to not matter.

I'm actually leaning towards the epoxy - I figure it is cheap enough that if it doesn't work out, I could always just tile over it, and it certainly won't look any worse than the current paint on the garage floor

Did you have any experience with the non slip additives - if so, what are your thoughts on using them with the epoxy?

-Rich

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by richpike

Good advice. That is what concerns me about my garage - the floor was previously painted (about 10 years ago) and I'm not sure I'll be able to get it up good enough to allow the epoxy to really grab on. Of course, if I can't get it up, maybe it is bonded well enough to not matter.

I'm actually leaning towards the epoxy - I figure it is cheap enough that if it doesn't work out, I could always just tile over it, and it certainly won't look any worse than the current paint on the garage floor

Did you have any experience with the non slip additives - if so, what are your thoughts on using them with the epoxy?

-Rich

To get the old paint off, you could try to search for some products that remove water based paint, assuming it is. You can scrape it and powerwash it if you can too. Im sure if you googled a few ways to get old paint off the garage floors, there are pretty ingenious results.

As for the non-slip stuff, thats up to you. Some of them come with the color chip flakes which help A LITTLE, or you can simply add some silica sand (Im pretty sure that is what is in those little pouches are) to the mix, but it will make your epoxy spread at a shorter distance, so instead of say 250sqft per gallon you make only get 225sq ft per gallon. Just estimates and it may have changed, but thats about how it works, also depends on how much sand you add to it.

I used to work in the #1 rated paint dept in all of Home Depot (2000+ stores) so, unfortuneatly, I know what I am talking about (although it has been 3 years since I did any of that stuff). As for putting it down, no clue. I sold it and knew about the stuff but actually doing anything epoxy wise, I never had hands on experience.

[raceyBMW]

I would probably say epoxy is the best option, and the one I would do. Problem with tile, especially in the Denver area, is that the concrete garage floors tend to move around and settle/heave, which will break tiles.

I'm sure there are methods out there to strip the old paint off of concrete, probably pretty noxious, but a respirator will take care of that. Definitely can add silica/sand to the epoxy during placement to give it some roughness so it isn't so slick.

[wrickem]

Since you mentioned "Mat", I thought I would dig this picture out and say "DON"T DO IT"!

That was my old car after I backed out of the garage and the "garage mat" was wrapped around my tire. What was weird was that I used this mat for a few years, then for some crazy reason, something must have "adhered" my tire to the mat (probably a squished worm or something else stupid like that).

It took me a shorter amount of time to paint my garage floor afterwards with epoxy, and to fix that crack and seal my driveway, than it took to cut the mat off my wheel.


Just say no to mats, they will wait and betray you one day.

[richpike]

Originally Posted by raceyBMW

I would probably say epoxy is the best option, and the one I would do. Problem with tile, especially in the Denver area, is that the concrete garage floors tend to move around and settle/heave, which will break tiles.

I'm sure there are methods out there to strip the old paint off of concrete, probably pretty noxious, but a respirator will take care of that. Definitely can add silica/sand to the epoxy during placement to give it some roughness so it isn't so slick.

We have a similar issue in Colorado Springs with expansive soils, although we have been very lucky at our house (knock on wood).

And I have done some investigating on the methods to strip off old paint - there are mixed opinions on whether you grind it off (lots of dust, expensive pads made with diamond, etc) or use a chemical (noxious fumes as you mention, may not work as well, etc).

I joked with my wife that I should just carpet the garage

-Rich

[richpike]

Originally Posted by wrickem

Since you mentioned "Mat", I thought I would dig this picture out and say "DON"T DO IT"!

That was my old car after I backed out of the garage and the "garage mat" was wrapped around my tire. What was weird was that I used this mat for a few years, then for some crazy reason, something must have "adhered" my tire to the mat (probably a squished worm or something else stupid like that).

It took me a shorter amount of time to paint my garage floor afterwards with epoxy, and to fix that crack and seal my driveway, than it took to cut the mat off my wheel.


Just say no to mats, they will wait and betray you one day.

Whoa! That is enough to convince me - thanks for the advice.

-Rich

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by richpike

Whoa! That is enough to convince me - thanks for the advice.

-Rich

I was hoping you'd see it my way . You won't be sorry.

[raceyBMW]

Originally Posted by wrickem

Since you mentioned "Mat", I thought I would dig this picture out and say "DON"T DO IT"!

That was my old car after I backed out of the garage and the "garage mat" was wrapped around my tire. What was weird was that I used this mat for a few years, then for some crazy reason, something must have "adhered" my tire to the mat (probably a squished worm or something else stupid like that).

It took me a shorter amount of time to paint my garage floor afterwards with epoxy, and to fix that crack and seal my driveway, than it took to cut the mat off my wheel.


Just say no to mats, they will wait and betray you one day.

holy crap, lol, that's terrible!

[mattsfeir]

My house has an epoxy floor and I really like it. The prior owner had it professionally done and it has held up great for me the past 8 years. It does have the flecks, but no grit added. It can get slick, but I've never fallen on it and always wash cars in the garage, so have spent plenty of time on it when it's plenty wet. The lack of grit does make it very easy to clean with a push broom and a large squeegee. After washing the cars, I pour a pine sol/water mix around and use the push broom to scrub the entire floor, then squeegee out all the dirty/excess water, then it's spotless. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't add any grit.

I have zero experience applying it. 3 friends have applied store bought epoxy (Lowes, Home Depot) wanting their floor to look like mine and it hasn't held up very well at all. I don't know all the details on their prep work, but one did rent a large sander/grinder. Based on their experience, I'd skip the store bought stuff. There are some good info/reviews over at garage journal forum.

[Snkypete]

I did my garage floor with the U-CoatIt UFleck-AF.

Likes : Love the epoxy flooring, everything cleans up amazing well.

Dislikes : If I had to do it over I wouldn't use the flek, I would instead add some abrasive. Having lived with the flek for a few years I've grown tired of that look and the floor can be somewhat slippery after washing the car in the garage. Also no matter how 'random' I attempted to throw the flek, you can still see it sectionally if you look close enough.

I waited the appropriate amount of time since it was new construction and have had no issues with it lifting, even with one car which doesn't get much drive time in the third bay. The double bay I can see signs of where we drive in/out every day but haven't bothered to check if it is actual wear or just needs polishing.

[richpike]

Nice - thanks guys for the insight/recommendations.

mattsfeir - you mentioned the garage journal forum - is that on E90post?

Thanks,
Rich

[mattsfeir]

It's a separate forum, be prepared to waste a lot of time over there, lots of good garage info/ideas.

[richpike]

Originally Posted by mattsfeir

It's a separate forum, be prepared to waste a lot of time over there, lots of good garage info/ideas.

Sweet! Thanks - the garage is "my" part of the house (the rest is my wife's, and I'm totally cool with that ), so this is a great recommendation - I imagine I will be spending a fair amount of time on that site

-Rich

[javt03]

Originally Posted by richpike

If you've finished your garage floor, what sort of finish did you use? I've been looking at a couple options (epoxy, tile, mat) and here is my initial take:

Epoxy
Pros
-Cheapest
-Looks nice with the flecks

Cons
-Not ideal for a previously finished floor (which mine was painted before)
-Can be slippery when snow/water gets on it
-Hot tire pickup?

Tile
Pros
-Easy to install
-No issues with previous finish on floor
-Can do a pattern
-Not slippery when wet
-Theoretically removable when we sell the house

Cons
-Tough to clean
-Most expensive

Rubber mat
Pros
-Middle of the road price
-Easy to install

Cons
-I'm not ecstatic about the look
-Likely tough to clean
-How durable is it?

Any experience/thoughts/recommendations? If it makes a difference, this is for a 3-car garage (about 700sqft), about 15 years old, and the floor was painted by the previous owner about 10 years ago (and has pulled up/peeled quite a bit since then).

-Rich

All i can tell you is to go ahead with epoxy, from my own experience i have a 50 foot sq garage made with epoxy and it is completely worth it
https://www.formsdesigns.com/

[Soden82]

I appreciate this thread, as I plan to epoxy the garage in my new home.

I'm going to use a generic kit from Home Depot but I'm weary about the prep work involved. Read that you need a serious degreaser, vinegar, and water in order to clean it and it helps to have an orbital buffer type machine or a sander.

[IllSic_Design]

Originally Posted by Soden82

I appreciate this thread, as I plan to epoxy the garage in my new home.

I'm going to use a generic kit from Home Depot but I'm weary about the prep work involved. Read that you need a serious degreaser, vinegar, and water in order to clean it and it helps to have an orbital buffer type machine or a sander.

No you need to acid etch it at least, degreaser/vinegar/water isn't going to do it IMO