Does anyone have experience with a DIY garage floor epoxy or polyurea? I’m not talking about the water based $100 kits from Home Depot, the real stuff. I have a 2 car garage and do light auto work like oil changes, brakes, nothing crazy. I do park in the garage, especially in winter. Professional installers near me charge $8-$10/sq.ft.
I’m thinking one of the products below; a company based in NJ and good customer service. I do plan on renting a concrete floor grinder to prep the floor instead of acid etching. Total cost all in with rental and materials about $1200-$1300.
I haven’t used either of the systems you have listed but I know enough about epoxy coatings to know you don’t want a single-component floor coating.
A two-component coating system uses an activator/catalyst which when formulated properly, is going to give you superior strength, superior adhesion, superior chemical resistance, and better UV holdout compared to a single component coating.
This is from the Armorpoxy / ArmorClad page: Another available option is our 2-part military grade topcoat, ideal for working garages or where fuels and solvents may come in contact with the floor. The 2-part military grade topcoat option is available at an additional charge.
Long story short, single-component coatings are for walls or any other space you want to look pretty.
Someone I know had his garage done like this , they sealed up the baseboards as well. You could literally spray a hose and wash off the ground without it leaking out of the sides.
Nobody asked this but I recently re-did my garage floor with Swisstrax floor tiles. I was considering epoxy given its popularity but one side of my garage sunk so there were multiple cracks on the floor and it’s almost impossible to repair all the cracks and keep the floor even in long term.
The floor tiles perfectly hide all the cracks and it’s easy to clean. It took me ~4hrs to install in a 2-car garage by myself. Couldn’t be happier!
Another popular choice with garage floor tile is RaceDeck. I think the both brands are similar in quality. I went with Swisstrax simply because I found it on sale from one of the retailers.
I’m too lazy to grab my phone for the pictures but you can google Swisstrax/RaceDeck floors. See it yourself!
I’ve been considering doing this, but among the things I do in my garage is a decent amount of wood working. How do they handle stuff like sawdust and being able to clean up easily, especially with the drain through tile design?
It does have the benefit of easy repair if there’s an issue, some amount of retained value should you want to sell them, and the ability to take it with you when you move though.
This is true and I’ve gone back and forth a few times.
I just picture the boss spilling a gallon of milk of something while carrying groceries in or me making a mess of an oil change and not being able to just wipe it up.
For drain-through tiles (e.g., Ribtrax PRO), you will have some dust trapped underneath the tiles. You can just vacuum it clean, but it won’t be a thorough job unless you take out the tiles, which is the reason why I chose non-drain-through tiles. FWIW, I’m a bit OBD about a clean floor. I think most folks would just be fine with vacuuming clean the floor. For liquid spills, you can easily remove a few tiles where the spill is and wipe it clean. If it’s just water, you can leave it to dry out as all reputable garage floor tiles are designed to vent out liquid/moisture underneath.
For non-drain-through tiles (e.g., Diamondtrax Home), you can just sweep or mop it clean. It’s advertised as leak proof, so in theory you can even power wash it, although I have never tried that.
Overall, these garage floors are very easy to keep clean.
That is very true. The cost is probably similar to epoxy. I ended up buying the tiles from an online retailer based in Illinois for a discounted price, and for some reason they don’t even charge sale tax. The tiles + edges cost me ~$1200 for my ~360sqft garage.
But for me, the biggest benefit over epoxy is that you don’t have to prepare/fix the concrete floor. I live in SoCal and almost every home in my neighborhood has cracks in their garages. If I put epoxy on my floor, I would have to level my garage floor first, which cost thousands of $s and then it’s only a matter of time before those cracks open up again.
You wouldn’t have to level your garage floor to do epoxy. You may have to do some fills/patching, perhaps, depending on the condition of your floor. That certainly does not cost “thousands of $s”…
You are correct, again depending on the particular floor, that it may be a matter of time before cracks become prevalent. My main gripe about the tiles is the maintenance and the fact that your floor isn’t smooth. I don’t feel like vacuuming my garage floor, and I don’t foresee being able to broom with many of the tile options.
I guess you are technically correct and maybe I have a higher standard. You can absolute do epoxy without leveling your floor but it’s not going to be pretty when your floor slope towards different directions along the cracks even if you’ve repaired all the cracks.
I don’t feel like vacuuming my garage floor either. That’s why I put in non-drain-through tiles. Maintaining it clean is no different than an epoxy floor except it’s much much tougher as these tiles are designed to support car jacks.
Yes, many brands have coin-pattern non-drain-through tiles. I remember seeing those in Costco. If you desire a super smooth floor (which is probably not ideal for garage), AFAIK, Swisstrax offers Vinyltrax, which is same quality with smooth surface but just pricer.
Cracks get filled and sanded down, if done properly. Again, this depends on how poor of condition the concrete is in. If it is a floor with varying elevations, then you would definitely have to do the leveling layer.
Doesn’t dust/dirt/sand get stuck in the seams of the tiles? How well do they clean off? For example, dust off of the wheels… I would assume you can see that one the tiles after sweeping. Plastic is porous, whereas epoxy should have a smooth finish (i.e. it sweeps fairly clean). I currently have epoxy that I just did this year, but I would like to try the tiles at some point.
), you will have some dust trapped underneath the tiles. You can just vacuum it clean, but it won’t be a thorough job unless you take out the tiles, which is the reason why I chose non-drain-through tiles. FWIW, I’m a bit OBD about a clean floor. I think most folks would just be fine with vacuuming clean the floor. For liquid spills, you can easily remove a few tiles where the spill is and wipe it clean. If it’s just water, you can leave it to dry out as all reputable garage floor tiles are designed to vent out liquid/moisture underneath.