Peeling happens when an old concrete floor isn't properly prepped before the epoxy coating is applied. It's very difficult to remove all of the oil that has dripped onto the floor and been absorbed into the concrete over many years. Residual oil will eventually cause the epoxy to peel off. That's why epoxy coatings work best on new or nearly new concrete floors.

That's why I didn't do it. MotoFloor was the best solution for me.

 

I had a brand new concrete floor that I aged 2 months. Used it very sparingly in that time to keep it as clean as possible. I etched the surface with muriatic acid and put down a Sherwin Williams 2 part epoxy garage floor paint. I let that dry the recommended 30 days before I parked on it. Within 6 months, my full sized truck would lift the epoxy when I parked on it with it's hot tires. I had little patches of concrete where I parked that truck and the epoxy paint everywhere else. Given the effort and care I took, I was very disappointed in the outcome. I don't know that I'll ever have another painted floor, even though I really like the idea of one.

 

Yes my truck with snow tires ruined the epoxy floor.

 

Friend of a friend showed me his garage, he did the full epoxy thing but took a massive shortcut after doing tons of research. No acid, no jet washing - he simply used some sort of industrial sealant for concrete, and then painted. It looks stunning, and I'm thinking of doing the same myself when I can get round to it. My own is a less sophisticated floor paint, not industrial strength but still good enough for working on the motorbikes without much bar the odd scratch here and there and easy to touch up. Doesn't agree with hot Jaguar tyres too much.

Was looking at floor tiles, but the comments about fluid have given me second thoughts - prefer to see the problem and clean it, didn't think about stuff going down the cracks.

 

I had my garage floor epoxy coated this summer. They sanded the concrete. Added a waterproofing coat. Painted a base color. Added the flecks and finished it with a heavy duty clear coat. Took about 3 days to complete and 2+ days to dry.

 

^^ very nice.

I don't think they would be able to get my floor clean enough to coat after 20+ years of Harley oil dripping

 

They sanded a good amount of concrete off.

 

Got the base details for the epoxy paint my friends friend used, swears by it. Im going to try it having seen his place.

 

My new shop will start construction in about two weeks, so fresh concrete. Course it will need to cure before I put anything on it. Definitely will put something on it though.

Oh, and on my old shop I built 25 years ago... I just dumped two gallons of house primer on the floor and rolled it kind of thick. It's still there 2-1/2 decades later, but looks kind of dingy now. It'd probably mop fairly well though.

 

Now that I have been living the epoxy floors, I wash my cars inside the garage. I plan to put a spigot in the garage to make it even easier. Super easy to squeegee the water out after. I also added a dehumidifier to the garage that I have running constantly on medium.

 

My restoration shop used to be a meat processing plant: insulated well, hot and cold water in every room/open area, drains in every floor, epoxy paint in several rooms. There was nothing more rewarding to me than to be able to wash my car with warm water in the middle of winter and have all the water simply drain away. My cars were always so clean that one morning a fellow asked my what type of special paint Mercedes used because my car was always clean, regardless of the weather.
Good times and good memories!

wj

 

Just finished breaking up my garage floor and pouring a new slab. Gonna rent a cement grinder from HD. There are so many different epoxy floor coatings on the market. Lots of choices and very confusing. I looked at the kits that are sold in HD and Lowe’s. Any recommendations/experience on a high-quality, commercial-grade product? Thanks

 

I FINALLY chose a guy to do my new floor... Two coats of bright white Poly Aspartic, with either no flakes or white flakes depending on how I feel on the application day. Grind the surface smooth, prime with something I think, some liquid wet-coat, then a layer. Cure. Another layer. This Thursday and Friday!!! Woo Hoo!!!
About 800 Square Feet and it costs me $2800.
I've been waiting for this shop project to be started/completed for over two years now, since first contact with a contractor to now. Covid did quite a kibosh on it for the first year though. Then shortages of materials.
I still have a two-post lift to buy though. Need the floor first!

 

I checked into all kinds of DIY floor kits and systems. I chose against them all for a few reasons.
I didn't want to take a week to do a messy, heavy and irritating job
I DID want a warranty of some sort, and I DIY then I don't have one.
Commercial products applied with commercial methods tend to provide the best results.
The cost difference between doing it myself and hiring a company was only some hundreds of dollars difference, and with all the cons of DIY I didn't want to make a mess of everything.
I highly recommend getting your floor installed!

 

I'm with CJ on this, have a pro do it.
When I did mine I used muriatic acid to etch the floor, scrubbed the upper walls with ammonia + something and after drying used two layers of industrial epoxy. The lower walls were tiled so at the end I could literally hose down the entire room. I was young and wore a hazmat suit, 2day I'm old and would not undertake that job.
The finish lasted the 12 years I was there.
good luck
WJ

 

I stained my floor with concrete stain and then applied Clear Polyurea per that with some anti slip. I DIY'd it and it was all commercial product but the amount of prep work on a relatively new concrete floor was imho not worth the savings. If I were to do it again, I would outsource the job.

 

@Cee Jay thank you so much for your suggestion

 

My current plan has the garage space (under a single bunk) being elevated about 10 inches above the main floor. The main floor will be Lonseal vinyl. I am seeking suggestions for the best surface for the garage floor, which will be subjected to much rougher service than the main floor.

 

I just had my shop floor done in bright glossy white Polyaspartic. DO NOT USE POLYASPARTIC!!!!!!! Sure, it LOOKS nice, but it is easily melted with every solvent known to man. PVC primer, PVC cement, ABS cement, Brake Cleaner, Carb Cleaner, Electrical component cleaner.... All EAT Polyaspartic. I wish beyond wishing that I'd used plain old Epoxy instead.

 

You live in a fairly arid climate @Cee Jay . too much moisture in the concrete when it was applied? I stained my floor then used a clear Polyurea (somewhat different.) I haven't had that issue. I'm still happy with mine but that's a shame yours is lifting from chemicals.