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Any recommendations on what type of paint (epoxy) to use for a residential garage floor. It is about 800 sqft. We park three cars in there during the week. On the weekend it becomes a woodshop or mechanics bay, depending on the project as hand. I am looking for something durable that won’t lift with hot car tires, or spilled solvents. Thanks.
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I used Behr Epoxy on mine, and I'm really pleased with the results. It's available from Home Depot. I had the advantage of having a new, unstained surface to start with. Two suggestions:
- Don't skimp on the prep. Clean and etch like the quality of the job depends on it (it does).
- If you go with the Behr system, make sure you don't leave any puddles of the primer. You want good coverage, but only a thin surface film. Any puddles will never dry, and the topcoat will crackle over them.
*Pete - Thanks for the advise. I did look at the Behr products. Some of the floor is new (less than one year) and some is 40 years old. I will be etching. Fortunately in the older sections there are not large oil stains as in other garage floors that I have owned. What kind of coverage did you get?
*Dave- I recently coated a tool storage area, approx. 600 square feet. Used Rustoleum Epoxy Floor Coating from Grainger or MSC. Rustoleum has a fairly extensive line of water-based floor coatings. Most of the Rustoleum coatings are self-priming but may take 2 coats. The specific line used is based on the type of traffic the floor will be subjected to. From your description sounds like you will be able to go with a light or medium traffic epoxy coating. Because you are coating a garage floor, I might suggest not going with a high-gloss finish. The high-gloss finishes look and clean-up great, however, a little water and rubber soled shoes do not equal a fun ride. Also whatever manufacturer you do use, do not park your car in the garage, after coating, for at least a week to allow the epoxy to cure fully. If not, just a short drive will heat the tires enough to heat the epoxy which will stick to tires until fully cured!!!
*For the primer, I got a little better coverage than what was marked on the can. For the topcoat, I got a little less. With the exception of a couple of areas where I left too much primer, that stuff is on there! I've dropped tools, chemicals, etc without any appreciable impact on the paint. Of course, it's only been down a year, but so far, so good.I had a couple of small oil spots, which I hit repeatedly with their cleaner/degreaser before I etched.Now that I think of it, I hit one other problem. I had to etch twice because the first time didn't work too well. I recommend that you work the etch well with a broom (wear a real respirator for this!!), and keep it on longer than the 15 minutes that the bottle recommends. You want a uniform roughness with no smooth spots left. You're gonna have to rinse it forever , so you don't want to do it twice.Also, don't bother with the extra-skid sand products that you can add. They say right on the package that they weaken the paint, and mine wound up plenty non-skid without any additives (nonskid in New England winter. wet all the time).
*PPG Aquapon plural component epxoy. Go ahead and use the waterborne stuff. No smell at all. Clean the areas real well, acid, etc. Expensive almost $50.00 per gallon. In a three car garage I use every drop of 4 gallons applied in two coats. Do not forget to use an anti skid product. Not sand, buy the good stuff and use as directed 2 cans usually at about $3.00 each, will not sink to the bottom, goes on even. You do not want anyone falling and breaking something. Years ago almost drive into the kitchen after hosing out the garage.