any body do their own floors theirs self and if so what did you use

Concrete sealers are a dust proofing at best. If you want to protect your floor from stains, epoxy coat it and get the benefit of a wearing surface/coating too.

The hot ticket in industry is polished concrete. Way too many epoxy failures to count.

Polished concrete was hot 10 years ago. Commercial grade epoxy like

https://www.stonhard.com/

installed by professionals doing proper and required floor prep, does not fail.

If it was something that was going to be used for basic use (i.e. a workshop, back room in the basement etc., ) you could probably use one of the DIY applications. But having experience with sealers, polished finished, and epoxys depending on what the current age, condition, and planned use of your area is will drive what you need.

Sealers - there are several different kinds on the market - you could even get the "wet look" or "swirl finish" to cover up existing conditions. However, you really need a good acid wash prior to putting this stuff down (a PITA) so the surface is clean and has been prepped to accept the coating and bond to the surface. Fairly inexpensive - but wear and tear wise (especially with a lot of twisting turning, etc) they tend to not last a long time. At least not long enough you could not justify using another slightly expensive method.

Polishing - is pretty affordable and looks good - but if your slab is old, well worn, spalled, or heavily stained etc., - it probably won't look very good in the end. Polishing tends to not clean up those issues but sometimes exacerbate them. Another thing with polishing that you spend a lot of $ in filling the cracks and reparing areas before the grinding is done. Another thing to consider is surface grip - polishing gets slick easily. When I am spec'ing floor finishes - I don't steer people away from polishing I just want them to understand the different levels of traction standards. And with being used for an automotive application - oils, grease, fluids....it can get pretty slick quick. It is still open to staining as well.

Epoxy - the key to an effective epoxy finish is in the prep of the surface and that comes from making sure you have the right mil thickness for the coating. Too coarse a prep and too thin a material - you have cracks, splits, and delamination. Too fine a prep and regardless of the material it does not bond well. I have found the BEHR & Sherwin Williams commercial lines have a pretty good product for epoxy applications - and you can get a variety of colors, patterns, and most importantly grip options. Here in Ohio there is a company I have seen installations by - Gorilla Garage - comes with a great warranty and the installations I have seen in garages and basic use pole barns / small warehouses has been very good and tends to hold up well.

** And not "everyone" knows how to install everything. I would definetly make sure the installer of whatever you choose is approved by the product supplier. Most of the failures I have seen is because they had people working with the product that were not trained and did not have the knowledge of the application.


As I like to tell people "Money is what you pay - value is what you get".

CrewMan…KNOWS!

Dont waste your time with a sealer if you plan on spilling oil or any other chemicals on it. I was in a hurry and I put a sealer on mine when I built my shop, looked great when it was done. 6 years later not so much, looks like shyt

As I said

I sealed my garage floor with clear concrete sealer not long after it was poured, about 25 years ago. I wanted to stop the concrete dusting which it has done. The heavily used areas have worn away but it's done it's job over the years of abuse it has had. It was never slippery and it did wear away with gas and other chemicals that have been spilled. Plenty of oil on the floor as it was a commercial shop when first built.

Certainly depends on several factors, including budget and type of use.
When I built my shop, I had a larger tractor with snow chains that would end up in there if needed. Well, no way epoxy is going to hold up to that and come out looking good. It is vulnerable to scratches and indents. Burn marks from welding of course. If you do a lot of fabrication, and don't want to protect the floor from everything you do, IMO the epoxy is a poor choice. I worked in a factory that was epoxy coated end to end. Beautiful and easy to clean for a cabinet factory. But no forklifts were allowed on it. And when you had to, marks could be an issue. Slide a pallet even a couple inches and you have damage that you have to address with annual repairs. For me, this just wasn't practical. If I were making a show place that would be one thing. But my shop is all about practicality and efficiently getting things done.

I used a cure and seal product. It was really decent for a few years, and started degrading after that. Really, all I want is to ease cleanup/dusting, and avoid stains when possible. And certainly I don't want a safety issue of something that can be slick when wet. I will be looking at some options coming up. There are some who have used tile successfully in working shops.

Good discussion. I agree nothing looks better than a great epoxy finish but I have seen way too many production floors with failed epoxy that were supposed to be done by professionals and they look terrible when they begin to chip. I like the polished concrete look too and it's less headache in the long run and less initial cost. Too each his own. Good luck.

My shop floor is 6,000 feet of light grey epoxy. It was expensive but it is durable and nice. Does not scratch easy and oil and chemicals just wipe up.

I did not have them put much of the anti slip stuff on there which does make it easier to clean but is slippery when wet.

I do think the preparation is the key to making it last and look good. They came in with some machines that bead blast it with metal beads and it vacuums them up and removes them with magnets. I think with out the machines and prep work they did you would never get as good and as durable of a job.

Epoxy looks nice if
You never drag anything across the floor
You never use a grinder that sparks on the floor
You never use a cutting torch
You never drop anything on the floor
You never hammer on any parts sitting on the floor
You don't mind slipping on any wetness on the floor

If you like to wipe your floor with a soft diaper to polish it. Epoxy is for you.

Remember how you feel when you get your first scratch in the paint on your car...You will get that feeling a lot with an epoxy floor.

Seal it and have a functional shop.

My neighbor did a DIY from a big box store. Looked terrible, didn't last, no way a chemical etch would be enough for adhesion.

The result of his was the biggest selling point for me to hire a well known local professional for ours attached garage used strictly for parking. Mine turned out amazing, too nice to walk on, smell lingered a little longer but absolutely zero regrets.

Every professional installer in my area buys the same product, from the same vendor. Don't recall the source, but probably not hard to find. I'd imagine if you bought the same product, did a GOOD diamond grind, it would be similar to sealing an asphalt driveway and may not turn out horrible.

quote:

Remember how you feel when you get your first scratch in the paint on your car...You will get that feeling a lot with an epoxy floor.

That was my experience as well. Obviously the plant was well prepped, as we never had any issue with pull up of the product. But scratches, gouges and such drove the plant manager nuts. I thought he would need to be tranquilized when we had to move equipment.


That said....what sealers have folks used with success? Anyone use tile in their shop? ceramic that is.

Mine has proven pretty durable but yes, I do not like getting it scratched or damaged.

Once again I think it is all in the prep in how they cleaned and etched the surface to give it a good surface to adhere to. I do not think you could ever get as good of a job with Do It Yourself kits.

Bucky
Armstrong VCT tile, or Armstrong SRF if you want a non-slip tile.

The VCT is available from Home Depot and Lowes.

It is what they use in supermarkets. They have HiLo traffic and pallet jack use on the floor every day.
The color goes all the way through the tile so any marks are pretty well hidden.
If you really mess it up...you can scrape up the damaged pieces and put down new in no time

plan was just to park on so i figured something not so expensive would work but maybe not and it is a new pad six months old

quote:

Originally posted by Hotrod Corvette:
Bucky
Armstrong VCT tile, or Armstrong SRF if you want a non-slip tile.

The VCT is available from Home Depot and Lowes.

It is what they use in supermarkets. They have HiLo traffic and pallet jack use on the floor every day.
The color goes all the way through the tile so any marks are pretty well hidden.
If you really mess it up...you can scrape up the damaged pieces and put down new in no time

Took a look at that yesterday. That's an option. Although I do eventually have to ask myself how much better that would be over just a clear seal over the concrete. In my case, it may not be much different or better.

Oh, one thing that I have to do in my shop that we always do in industrial floors is caulk the seams. If you don't, dirt gathers and distributes from there all the time, and they are a pain in the rear to clean. Sweeping almost assures them of filling up.