# Garage floor paint or epoxy?



## dprimc

A 17" floor machine with a nyla-grip pad will be sufficient. Wet vac the slurry before it has a chance to dry. If you rough the surface too much (grinding) it will show through the finished product.

Oil will cause problems if not treated, and one of the worst offenders can be Armour All. If they have sprayed the tires in the garage it can seep into the concrete and cause real adhesion problems. 

I love the "my friend did it, and it didn't work" comment. I have a friend that put a screw through his water main hanging cabinets in his garage...doesn't mean hanging cabinets doesn't work???


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## SuperiorHIP

:laughing: awesome analogy.


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## Michaeljp86

dprimc said:


> I love the "my friend did it, and it didn't work" comment. I have a friend that put a screw through his water main hanging cabinets in his garage...doesn't mean hanging cabinets doesn't work???


 Some people belong in the P&R section


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## dprimc

P&R section???


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## Gough

dprimc said:


> P&R section???


Politics and Religion.


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## RadRemod

I had use epoxy on a garage floor on a garage conversion last year and was very impressed. We cleaned, degreased, and etched it before applying. Waited a day or 2 to dry then applied according to the instructions. 2 days later I had a load of wet lumber set on top of it. To my surprise the floor was undamaged by the time we got to the bottom of the pile a week later!:thumbup: If my garage was ever empty I guarantee I would apply epoxy, but that will never happen.:sad:


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## Michaeljp86

You need to rent one of these, get the concrete clean.

http://www.lattaequipment.com/products/surface_preparation_equipment/concrete_floor_grinders/


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## dnconstruction

thanks guys all the info will be wisely used!:thumbup:


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## kansasflooring

epoxy is my favorite, but most of the comment are spot on - surface preparation is the difference between a lifetime floor and one that fails, there's not much in between.


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## abacab

I tried using Valspar porch and floor (or porch and garage, not sure) on my basement floor, got it wet briefly and it peeled up where ever water sat on it. The paint had been down for two weeks. It seems to hold up to traffic, the plumber dragged a hot water heater over it and it didn't affect the paint.


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## kansasflooring

i have a client that used epoxy-coat epoxy for the garage, when i saw it, it had been down for 4 years and looked great for a product bought off the internet. although he ground down the floor...not sure how many HOs go that far on the floor prep


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## JCAHILL4

*I did it, and liked it, mostly.*

I did the epoxy floor in my 20 year old garage. There were stains from rust, someone spray painted, oil and grease, even grass stains on the concrete. 

I decided it needed to be done for easy of clean-up and the look of a clean garage. Sooo, I used a floor buffer with the stiffest pad I could find. I scrubbed with muriatic acid and buffed the floor, then set my de-humidifier in the garage to run for a full day to pull all the moisture from the floor. 

I have a 1 1/2 car garage so I bought a kit to do a 2 car garage. It barely made it. I used what I had left to do an extra thick coat where the tires sit from the car. 

It turned out good for the most part (ran the de-humidifier again to dry the paint extra, extra good). I parked the car in the garage 72 hours after painting, however on that day it was raining outside and the tires were wet. 3 out of the 4 tires picked up the paint. However no problems since then. Lots of snow, ice and salt fell from the car this winter and it was every easy to squeegee out. This summer I power washed the whole garage and it looks good. My only complaint it I think I need at least one more coat. The acid and grinding made the pours in the concrete to open up more. I think one more coat would fit that. I have seen the pro's use a squeegee to apply epoxy, which would fill in and fix my problem. 

Word of wisdom, if you paint it, it becomes a maintenance issue. You will have to paint it again, and again, and again. Plain concrete always looks normal.


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## dprimc

JCAHILL4 

What product did you use? I'd guess the tire peel had to do with the quality of the product since it sounds like your prep should have been adequate.

Thanks, Dave


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## madrina

if you don't diamond grind epoxy will peel. why don't you polish the concrete? 

epoxy with an aliphatic urethane sealer will never scratch, chip, take on stain..and no the non skid doesnt really make it harder to sweep. it wont be as smooth as plain epoxy but still, its not going to make it hard.


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