What is the Best Garage Floor Coating ?

[v10enomous]

The hot tires make love to the epoxy as they cool down then when you drive away in the morning the tires want to hold on to the epoxy.

... and alcohol is almost always involved

 

[3whitevipers]

I tried all the various epoxy and paint products out there with professional installation in my 3 car dealerships and finally went to porcelain tile. Stands up to any stain and all floor jack and shop abuse. My service areas look outstanding and are very easy to maintain. I put it in my own garage myself working afternoons only for 3 weeks covering 3350 sq. ft. Cost was $4500.00 or about $1.40/sq.ft. plus my labor. I just dry mop off any dirt tracked in by wet tires. It's some work but I must say that the dealerships and my garage after 3 yrs sill look perfect. I highly recommend it. PM me if you need more info or tips. There was no prep over the raw concrete necessary except for some very simple treatment over the cracks in the original concrete. I really don't think it takes any longer than epoxy or paint if you figure in doing the proper concrete prep work for the epoxy or paint. Be sure to use porcelain not ceramic tile. Porcelain tile is about 20 times stronger and much more resistant to chipping or scratching. That's my .02$ worth after a lot of trial and error---Dave

 

[HPmopars]

Well I paid the big bucks for UCoat-it and it still lifted in a few spots, after a few years. If I had to do it again, I would have just gone down to a Commercial Flooring store and bought the cheapest, yet strongest stuff they make. Slap it on real thick and call it good.

Not sure that helps you but then again I did not have a good experience. I washed and scrubbed the damn floor for a full week before I laid everything down so it just upsets me. My father in law put on the cheapest stuff from Home Depot and I am not sure my UCoat-it held any better than the $50 package he put down. $50 did not even cover the tax I paid for the UCoat-it.

In the end, I don't think it matters. It is all in the prep and prep and prep.

I used UCoat-it and had the same bad results. After doing extra prep work, it is still peeling. Stay away from UCoat-it, my Dad used some "cheap" stuff from a home improvement store and has had way better results at a fraction of the price!

 

[v10enomous]

I tried all the various epoxy and paint products out there with professional installation in my 3 car dealerships and finally went to porcelain tile. Stands up to any stain and all floor jack and shop abuse. My service areas look outstanding and are very easy to maintain. I put it in my own garage myself working afternoons only for 3 weeks covering 3350 sq. ft. Cost was $4500.00 or about $1.40/sq.ft. plus my labor. I just dry mop off any dirt tracked in by wet tires. It's some work but I must say that the dealerships and my garage after 3 yrs sill look perfect. I highly recommend it. PM me if you need more info or tips. There was no prep over the raw concrete necessary except for some very simple treatment over the cracks in the original concrete. I really don't think it takes any longer than epoxy or paint if you figure in doing the proper concrete prep work for the epoxy or paint. Be sure to use porcelain not ceramic tile. Porcelain tile is about 20 times stronger and much more resistant to chipping or scratching. That's my .02$ worth after a lot of trial and error---Dave

I did porcelain tile throughout my finished basement and the guy in the tile store told me that it's popular for auto showrooms. I love the way the basement turned out so I was actually thinking about it. It would have to be a perfect trowel and I would probably have to put a pad under the posts on the lift but I may look into it. I had a few painters out and nobody seems to have experience with the acid stain. One of the painters went wild over my car and said he would only do the work if I took him for a ride and a big discount for a good burnout...

 

[plumcrazy]

if doing tile, look into a product called Ardex for leveling the floor.

v10, if you need help finding, let me know