My new garage floor is coming next week and I would like to paint it.What products has everyone used? I live in southern Ontatio so it gets alot of different weather conditions and its used as a garage.Jacks dragged acrooss it, welding sparks,spills etc.Thanks

 

I would go to the local airport and see what the maintenance departments are using. They can give you a paint name for what works in your area. Some of the two part epoxy paints are expensive and you don't want to waste money testing. Let the concrete cure first. Some floors sweat and are slick, so you put a media like sand in the between two paint applications. then it wears quicker dragging jacks across the floor. If your house is at the lower part of a housing area and you etch or use steel shot to take the concrete cap off so the paint will stick higher ground surface can hydrolic moisture up thru the concrete and lift the paint. These are extreme problems but worth consideration.I have had these things happen in aviation hangar floors. Do you home work. chuck

 

I put 2 inches of styro foam, the blue stuff and a heavy vapour barrier under my floor. I used the U coat-it brand epoxy coating but went with the basic kit. I use my shop as you intend to and it is wearing to the concrete in the heavy traffic areas. I applied it to new concrete following thier directions to the letter, there is cheaper epoxy products on the market, I paid $ 250

 

Make absolutely certain you have the moisture content of that new concrete checked before you put anything on it. It needs to be below 20% - and that may take 6 months to achieve on a new pour.

If you put epoxy (which is probably what you will end up with - Home Depot sells a 2 part kit that works great by the way - if you have HD in "Ontatio" tee hee) on a floor with a high moisture content it won't adhere and it will peel up in square foot patches!

 

U Coat it is the only way to go! 10 x's better than the run of the mill home improvement store floor paint. I put some of the run of the mill down and it is all ready looking like S&*%, and about a year ago (Same Time) we put a U-Coat it down at a friends work shop and we have down more work in it than we have mine and his looks GREAT still. and it is chemical resistant!

Kyle

 

Make sure you get some grit in it. We have had coatings on the floor of the apparatus bay at the Fire Dept that was like ice when it got wet. And most fore trucks have ample leaks.

 

Go to a supplier in your area that deals with commercial concrete contractors. There are products from Sonneborne ect. that are made for com. applications, and you can get advice that is specfic for your area. There are different cure and seals that can be put on fresh concrete that have high solid contents.

 

It's very important to etch the concrete with an acid before painting .
My floor was done about 10 years ago , it was not acid etched and is now looking very patchy and needs to be re done , my mates floor that was acid etched still looks the same as when it was done the same time mine was .

 

I used Rustoleum Epoxy floor paint on mine. I used the Rustoleum floor cleaner and followed all of their directions to a T. Painted the garage floor on the house 15 years ago. It looks great today, only worn off where the cars run in and out. I did my workshop about 2 years ago with the same system. I have spilled all sorts of things on it, dropped stuff, and it cleans up like new. Great stuff if you do it right.

 

I installed black and white race-car type vinyl squares and waited a year till my floor was done.
I am happy with them and evn though I tend to scrub the floor more now,use alot of stuff dragging over the tiles.

 

I kind of thought that the Home Hardware Flexrock Granite looked interesting.

 

I used Rustoleum's two part Epoxy coating on my metal building and in my 2 car garage. I put it on too thin in the metal building and I'm going to redo it after my truck is done. I put it in the two car garage and applied the clear coat too(it's nearly impossible to tell where you've cleared already when you're applying it) and I love it in there. When done correctly, this stuff is great!

 

It does look nice but I don't think you get much coverage/gal and it's fairly pricey, would make for an awsome looking floor though. I've also had fairly good results with an alkalide floor paint in my attached garage that is mainly used as a wood working shop and oil changes during the winter months. I don't park a vehicle in it, it is showing a fair amount of wear but was done in 1988. Regarding the U-coatit that I used in my secondary shop, it was applied on well cured concrete, about 8 months, scrubbed done with very hot soapy water and degreaser, then sprayed with muratic acid, thoroughly rinsed with a pressure washer before applying the U- coatit but still have wear in many places that sees the most traffic and use of floor jacks, sand stuck to the soles of your feet on rainy days,grinding etc. It was coated in 2005 and will likely redo it when this build is done. I don't think no matter what you use, doing the type of work we're into the floor is going to show wear. What I like about any coating is the ease of sweeping and not having to breath in all that cement dust.