Shop Floor Coatings

[Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

What do you suggest for a shop floor coating? I don't want anything too expensive. As a matter of fact, I have considered doing nothing, but I am open to suggestions. I have seen too many "floor Paint" jobs peel up or wear away, leaving a really ugly floor. Lowes has an epoxy floor paint, but how do I know it won't come back up or wear away, especially in places where someone turns the front wheels without the car moving.

Has anyone ever heard of using polyurethane on concrete? They have done that in the aisles of the plant where I work, but I cannot find anyone in maintenance that knows whether it was ordinary polyurethane for wood, or if it was something made especially for concrete floors. It seems to hold up to heavy fork lift traffic, so surely it would do fine in a home shop. I just don't know what it was.

[Tom M]

Hal,

I have used Rust-Oleum® EpoxyShield Garage Floor Coating Kit in our new one car addition. It has been down for 2 years now and holding up so far to grease and oil but the only downside is that it will chip if you drop a sharp edge tool on it. I have dragged my floor jack on it with no chipping problems.

Was thinking of doing the exsiting garage with it someday also.

[Ron Green]

Hal,

My brother and I both used U-Coat-It ( www.ucoatit.com ) which I believe is a epoxy type product. My floor has been down 7 years and his 3 years. We both selected the flakes to be installed to give it the terrazzo look. Both shops are working in regards to hobby use with mine being used harder. Both shops had the product applied by a U-Coat-It authorized company. As with anything in this hobby preparation is the key to everything, period. You can buy the kit and do this yourself. I did try some of the clear poly coating years ago. It turned yellow and began to peel after 3 years. Now the U-Coat-It results;

Standing brake fluid will bubble my floor but not my brothers, both floors you can turn the vehicle wheels all day with no damage to the surface, both floors are easy to clean, both floors will scratch if dragging something heavy across and now the kicker. Both floors you can pull onto with hot tires with any weight of vehicle (6,000 pounds plus) without lifting the U-Coat-It product except with a Amphicar. The Amphicar will lift this flooring with either hot or cold tires. It is the lightest vehicle with the smallest tires and tread pattern, go figure. After trying it in multiple areas with the same results I now use a rug under it.

U-Coat-It is similar to many other products out in the marketplace so I'm sure the results would be the same with them. It I were doing this over I would use the U-Coat-It on all non heavy working areas and leave the working area in concrete or use a rubber mat or use the plastic squares you snap together. I may try some of these plastic squares over some of my flooring that is getting chewed up, plus they come in many different colors and patterns.

Note; U-Coat-It is a 3 step process. The first is cleaning and preparing the surface. The second is applying the paint and flakes. The third is applying the epoxy clear coat that is extremely potent. This process brought out the fire company as they thought a gas main had broke 3 blocks away and were ready to evacuate the neighborhood, but that is another story.

[Matt Harwood]

I've personally had good success with the Rustoleum industrial epoxy, but as Ron said, the key is the prep. I had a professional company apply it, but once it was down, it was indestructible. We still used plastic 1'x1' squares under the tires when we parked the cars, and larger sheets when we were working under them. Good stuff. Here's a photo of the shop where I used to work and we used it (by the way, it was applied in early 1996):

Here's more discussion on shop floors at one of my favorite websites:

Garage Junkies

[Matt Harwood]

Sorry about the huge picture. I'll see if I can resize it. Sorry.

[Guest Skyking]

Packin31, I'm glad you mentioned the Rust-Oleum® EpoxyShield Garage Floor Coating Kit. I seen it in my local hardware store and planned on doing my rear garage this summer.......What did you do to prep yours?

[Tom M]

Skying,

Since it was a new garage when they went to finish the floor I had them put a rougher finish to it compared to our existing garage which has a smooth finish. When the existing garage floor gets wet it is slippery that is why I had them put a rougher finish on the new garage.

For prep all I did was swept it up and then used the EpoxyShield concentrated surface cleaner that came in the kit. I let it dry for a few days swept it again and then started painting. The only thing I didn't do was adding of the Flakes.

[Ron Green]

The flakes are nice as they hide the dirt and scratches however they also hide the little screws and bolts you may drop as I witnessed last night when my wire wheel caught a screw and launched it into the thousands of flakes. Nothing like getting to know your floor from crawling around for 45 minutes looking for a screw. My magnetic didn't pick it up.

You can't over prep a floor before applying paint if you want it to stick. Making sure all the oil, grease, dirt, etc is off is essential. Some products use a muriatic acid wash to etch the concrete while others recommend a machine that roughs up the concrete.

[Bhigdog]

I used an epoxy 2 part system thats been down about 6 years of HARD use. It's been indestuctable. The key to good adhesion of the paint is the concrete MUST be clean, dry, and at least 30 days old and the floor MUST be etched with an acid solution to give the concrete the "tooth" to hold the paint........Bob.

[RVAnderson]

Ron, next time take a flashlight and shine it parallel to the floor, as close as you can get it to the floor. The missing part will cast a long shadow thataway and it's easy to spot.

[Amphicar BUYER]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Nothing like getting to know your floor from crawling around for 45 minutes looking for a screw. </div></div>

I though you were talking about me in Celina last year at the Eagles?

[1937hd45]

I had the concrete poured two years after I built my garage. I asked around and got the BEST guy in the area to float it, turned out he was a car guy. I explained I wanted a PERFECTLY smooth floor and had been saving my money for this job. It turned out just as I wanted it. I applied Tompsons Water Seal to it within the first few day if memory is correct, looks as it it did in 1987. Oil cleans up without leaving any stains. Far better that paint in my opinion.

[Ron Green]

RV, this part was little bigger then BB and I had to look around and under 3 cars. And I knew the needle nose would slip and it would launch, there was no doubt about it!

John, yes it was an Amphicar part (the screw on the back of the clock). But we had more fun at Celina crawling around (hopefully on a floor). 27 days and counting, are we there yet!

[RVAnderson]

Even so, Ron, try it: Set it on the floor and turn the light on it. You'll be surprised. I was!

[Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

Thanks to all.

37HD,

What does the concrete look like after applying the Thompson's Water Seal? I've used something similar on a wood fence. I saw on the can where you could use it on concrete, but have never tried it. From reading the responses about epoxy lifting and that sort of thing, I had just about decided to leave it like it is, but it sounds like Thompson's would not be a bad choice.

[Ron Green]

Hal, as per my post above I did try a clear type coating prior to the epoxy type paint. It was great to wipe up oil, etc as it sealed well. It was a commercial product somewhere in the $50 a gallon range and sold at a concrete supply company and for contractor use only.

It was ok except it turned extremely yellow after 3 years, still scratched like everything else and did lift in spots after a few years. Thompson products are probably not has heavy duty and are made for the average Joe's use. I wonder if they would hold up anywhere near the commercial stuff of which I wasn't to happy with?

[ex98thdrill]

Is there anyone out there who has any connections to the racing shops in Charlotte?

If you've ever been to any of the big race shops (Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc., etc.) Those floors are flawless. It would be interesting to see what they use on their shop floors, when it was applied, and how often it gets redone. With the amount of workers/cars that go through that shop, those floors probably see more wear and tear than what most of us do in our own shops. The guys from these big race teams would be able to tell you what works and what doesn't work

[Tom M]

The Acura Dealer new building where we bought our car from has some sort of coating on their floors. Not sure what but seems very durable. Probably expensive to have done thou.

[ex98thdrill]

Very true, but remember that sometimes you get what you pay for.

[Matt Harwood]

You know this thread is 17 years old, right?

[avgwarhawk]

1 hour ago, Matt Harwood said:

You know this thread is 17 years old, right?

Hopefully the floor covering suggested in this thread are still holding up. 

[Ron Green]

11 hours ago, avgwarhawk said:

Hopefully the floor covering suggested in this thread are still holding up. 

Yes holding up fairly well considering my floor (1,000 SF) is heavily used and abused almost daily.

[TAKerry]

Bare concrete! And no need for a super thick slab. The sub base is the important part. If the current floor is really bad I would be willing to bet its whats underneath that caused the problem, not the concrete.  For most applications 4" is fine. I have built quite a few firehouses in my time and the most we ever poured was a 6" slab. Prepped right, and the correct re-inforcement are a must. A lot of people talk about concrete slabs like HP. They think bigger is better. Not necessarily the case.

[1937hd45]

11 hours ago, wibago said:

Hey, our tenant is moving out at the end of the month and we're taking over another 3500 sq ft of shop space. plan is to demo the entire floor (4" thick concrete and cracked really bad) and pour a whole new slab probably ~8" thick or so. once the slab is in, really wanna do a nice durable coating. any suggestions on what stands up to use/abuse? thanks.

Thompson water seal everything else will come up where a tire sets on it. 

[TAKerry]

What is the end use. If its going to be a shop, leave it bare. If you want something pretty porcelain tile is nice. I really wanted to put some kind of coating on my home garage floor, almost got the diy epoxy at one point. Ran into some free plastic tile (generic race deck) now my car parks on that.  For all of the expense and research people do for epoxy and the likes (which are generally good products with limitations) Pop did the poor mans version in his garage a number of years ago. He painted on porch and deck paint for concrete that he bought at the local paint store. Just a regular paint. Put a couple of plastic runners down for the tires and pushing 20 years now it still looks fine. It could stand a new refresher coat but he has been gone for 15 yrs now and mom could care less.

[60FlatTop]

Last year I put inexpensive sheet vinyl flooring from Ollie's on most of my floor. I left one car space bare concrete for heavy work. I don't even have $400 in the job. Cheap enough to just buy another sheet if it gets damaged. I put a transition strip in one high use area and contact cemented judiciously. I am quite happy.

 

Some of the work progressing.

 

My slab is 4", free standing, and 1,000 sq. ft. and poured in 1988. I did not continuously maintain it above freezing until 2010. The winter minimum is now 42 degrees and up to 68 while working. It is a slab with no key arch or footer. I was warned against overdoing the design by the builder. It would float of the ice ball under it during the years unheated, maybe a couple of fine cracks but no lifting. It has weathered very well.

I want to raise the roof in the rear 20' for a four post lift. I will put in piers at the lift foot points because there may be voids under the floor from my furry little burrowing friends.

 

An 8" floor may bring some issues of its own just from the mass. I have been involved in industrial construction where the thinner floor was cut out and deeper, higher compression flooring was installed at high stress points. Like my woodchuck piers, that approach should be considered.

[Century Eight]

I had my mine professionally epoxied 15 years ago,  (it was called a slightly different name but pretty much the same) and I still love it.  It still looks great, has a little tire pickup though.  I use it to store old cars but it is not heavy shop use.  

If you are pouring new concrete, be sure to use expansion joints of your choice, my guy said dont go bigger than 9 x 13 if you want to avoid cracks.  He was right, I still have NO cracks in a 48 by 64 foot building 15 years later. 

 

The reason I chimed in is that if you really don't want a coating, consider dyeing it or staining it.  My son did that and his is beautiful and indestructible.  You can even choose a design and you wont spend much money.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Century Eight (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

As to the concrete, get a good finisher and take his advice. Do not micro manage this process. Expansion joints and control joints are indeed necessary but completely different things. FWIW I have a 24 x 40 slab poured with fibre mesh, 4" thick. No joints at all (against my professional judgement but reassured by the finisher). 5 years on and not a single crack! I have told my customers for many years, 2 things I can guarantee about concrete, it will get hard and it will crack.

[tenugent]

I had a friend use a industrial clear concrete sealer like the big box stores,walmarts,etc. He told me he got it from a industrial supplier.The stuff I've been around was toxic.Ask a concrete finisher for details.

[Hans1]

6 inches of 3500 lb mix, re rod,  fiberglass in the mix, Thompsons water proof.......................10K two post lift,  all well for years.

[yachtflame]

When I built my shop/barn in 2001, I had the floor poured by some local cement guys. I had laid down a moisture barrier of 10 mil plastic then put in the rebar and screening for reinforcement. I never thought I’d be here in the winter so stupidly didn’t put in any tubing for radiant heating. When I wasn’t looking, the cement guys went around poking holes in the barrier so the cement would dry out quicker!!! 🤯 

 I was told to wait 1-2 weeks before putting down the epoxy coating that I’d bought for it. By two weeks, I had started moving things into the shop but figured I could coat one side then move things and do the other after it cured.

 There is 6 gallons of epoxy still on the shelf 22 years later! The natural cement has been doing just fine!

[TAKerry]

Once you move stuff in a garage its tough to move stuff back out!