Large Garage concrete sealing.

[CatBird]

I have just finished two buildings with a floor space of about 10,000 sqft. 5,000psi concrete and power troweled finish. I am looking for a good floor coat that can seal, clear, and keep the concrete wet look, maybe with a stain, slightly mottled look would be good. The slabs have been cured for two months, but I just got the roofs up and there is quite a bit of puddles, maybe 1/2" deep. The concrete guy was in a hurry and did not get leveled as should have been done.

I suspect there is deep moisture in the slabs and with all the humidity/rain it is not really drying out. All this, I think a water based sealer would be best allowing the moisture to come through. 

 

Does anyone have a product that could work? 

[auburnseeker]

Ah a concrete floor.  I wish I was that far along.

I was told by a friend that works for the state to look into whatever they use to coat the concrete bridges with.  Whatever sealer that is it has to be good stuff if it can handle heavy traffic,  plowing salt/ sand.  That's what I'm going to look into when I get that far along if ever.  He has done several floors with heat in them.  A friend just did his with a paint type product and had to strip it all and redo it.   

If you have electricity on the site,  you can set up a couple of even box fans and that floor will dry up faster than you think. 

good luck and let us know what you decide on and how it performs over time. 

[CatBird]

33 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

Ah a concrete floor.  I wish I was that far along.

I was told by a friend that works for the state to look into whatever they use to coat the concrete bridges with.  Whatever sealer that is it has to be good stuff if it can handle heavy traffic,  plowing salt/ sand.  That's what I'm going to look into when I get that far along if ever.  He has done several floors with heat in them.  A friend just did his with a paint type product and had to strip it all and redo it.   

If you have electricity on the site,  you can set up a couple of even box fans and that floor will dry up faster than you think. 

good luck and let us know what you decide on and how it performs over time. 

 

Thanks for your input. I am very pleased with the buildings. I wanted them to fit the landscape. My first building is a garage with four rollup doors with two four post lifts inside. 30x60 (1800 sf). This is where our cars will be maintained and repaired. I wanted two lifts because sometimes you have to wait and get parts when one car is up. 

 

The picture shows before the end trim was installed. Each bay is 15 feet wide and 30 feet long. Room for toolboxes and work benches. 

The second building is 100x80 (8,000sf) which will be to display and house some of our classics. 14 foot eaves and 18 feet at the peak of the roof. It has exceeded my expectations! I hope you can come visit sometime. 

 

I am still in the cleanup and slogging through mud around the big building.

I have minimal electricity, and plan to clear the puddles after a light pressure washing tomorrow. A friend has some giant squirrel cage blowers and a 120k diesel torpedo heater. It is good to have friends. Apparently there is nothing I can do about the puddles. About anything would crack in a relatively short period of time. 

Edited January 3, 2019 by CatBird (see edit history)

[Turn5]

I recently had my new concrete floor coated by TSR Concrete Coatings.  They are located in northern Illinois, so I doubt they will be able to help you in Atlanta.  They use a polyurea product that remains flexible and they warrant it for the life of the product against chipping, cracking etc.  Better than epoxy which dries out with age then cracks and chips.  There are a lot of companies providing concrete coating services, so check your local area.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Turn5 (see edit history)

[Marty Roth]

Look into a product called Anti Hydro International

 

Back in the 1960s my former father-in-law was their sales manager.

The product was used in sealing highway surfaces, and also possibly making them less skid-prone (as I recall from 50+ yeras)

 

https://www.anti-hydro.com/

 

https://www.anti-hydro.com/main-product.php

 

http://builderdepot.com/showbrand.ihtml?id=14453

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Anti-Hydro-Original-Gallon-Container/37571603

[Steve Hammatt]

Bill

Nice looking building.  I'm sure it will work well for you.  Yesterday I was doing some shopping for the wife (at Costco) and that gave me a chance to look at some storage racks they have on sale.  HOWEVER, I did notice that the concrete finish of this Costco (and others I've been in) is fantastic.  My suggestion is to find out who the builder or project coordinator for Costco and get the details.  At least it will give you more information, which is always a good thing!

[95Cardinal]

If I were doing a new floor, I would probably go with polished concrete.

Here's some work done by a company in Atlanta:

https://flawlessgrind-polishflooring.com/projects/

 

This is what you see in many commercial and industrial facilities.

[Robert G. Smits]

I have been told that polished concrete is not resistant to oil stains.  I used Epoxy Coat on my 6000 sq ft  building 6 years ago and have been very happy with it.  Lowest bid was $4.00 /sq ft.  I did it myself for $2000.00.  Many of my cars drip and there has been no staining.

[29 franklin]

Very Nice garages. I used Sherwin Williams industrial 2 part epoxy with Sherwin Williams Rexthane clear over it.  It looks like the day I did it. Be careful with some products as a hot tire will remove the finish. This product works in all situations. gas, oil, chemicals, hot tire,   turning tire .  The concrete will have to be completely dry. I think there is a special product to level out the floors that would not break apart. I will have to check .  That is a shame the contractor did not do a better job.