Best Concrete Paint

[Ishmael]

I had to take about a year off to tear apart my old barn piece by piece and build a new garage. Unfortunately I didn't have time to paint the floors before I moved in and started working on the DDs. So the floor now has oil on it here and there and I roll the project cars around on dollies with metal wheels. I would like to paint the floor and would like some recommendations as to what is the absolutely strongest paint I can put on there is that will withstand me dropping tools and rolling cars on metal wheels, the odd drop of brake fluid and plenty of oil. I would probably need to find something that could go over oil. This concrete seems to be really porous and gouges easily. It seems powdery when it gets gouged. So I want to protect it before I screw it up. Any suggestions?

[astroracer]

There is nothing you can do. Just as in painting a car, the prep and condition of the substrate is 99% of the job. Painting over a powdering concrete will not protect it. Sounds like the concrete went dry while it was being poured and you can't fix that with a coating. Especially since you are running steel wheels over it. Anything you put over it now will simply delaminate once the concrete "powders" underneath it.
Mark

[jy211]

I had my gargae floor rhino lined. Help up awesome to oil, tranny fluid etc

[mitch_04]

Would it be possible to do a skim coat of concrete surfacer? I'm not incredibly knowledgeable with concrete, but seems like an option.

[mitch_04]

Also, check out Garage Journal's forum, tons of information all directly related to garages. An entire section dedicated to flooring.

[77thor]

I had my gargae floor rhino lined. Help up awesome to oil, tranny fluid etc

Really?!?!

I've never heard of using it like that.

[Ishmael]

It gets powdery when gouged - like a pebble blocking a wheel of a dolly. It doesn't bury the pebble. It doesn't gouge with steel wheels alone. I'll have a guy look at that and I understand that prep is key but do you guys know of a product that will not chip off easily assuming prep is done right and holds up to chemicals? How much did it cost to rhino line your floor?

[absintheisfun]

Really?!?!

I've never heard of using it like that.

Me either....I'd like to see a picture of that if i could...

[68EFIvert]

Diamond grinder to the entire floor and then use epoxy coat. That is what I did and it holds up well. I have a rotisserie and dollies on my cars and if a rock gets between the wheel and floor it will scratch but that is it. I have had brake fluid sitting on it for 2 months and it slightly did colored it but that is it.

[Ishmael]

I went over to garage journal and I think I figured it out. Its a new floor so I don't think I'll need to grind it. My thoughts are epoxy bottom coat with a polyurea clear coat. if I can swing it. I think I need a concrete hardner or densifier first but I have to figure that out.

[minendrews68]

Diamond grinder to the entire floor and then use epoxy coat. That is what I did and it holds up well. I have a rotisserie and dollies on my cars and if a rock gets between the wheel and floor it will scratch but that is it. I have had brake fluid sitting on it for 2 months and it slightly did colored it but that is it.

X2....if you can swing it, this is the ticket.

[68EFIvert]

FYI my floor was new as well but the builder put a sealer on the concrete that I did not want. I had to take it off and now I am glad I did. It is holding up great!

[regal454]

I had to take about a year off to tear apart my old barn piece by piece and build a new garage. Unfortunately I didn't have time to paint the floors before I moved in and started working on the DDs. So the floor now has oil on it here and there and I roll the project cars around on dollies with metal wheels. I would like to paint the floor and would like some recommendations as to what is the absolutely strongest paint I can put on there is that will withstand me dropping tools and rolling cars on metal wheels, the odd drop of brake fluid and plenty of oil. I would probably need to find something that could go over oil. This concrete seems to be really porous and gouges easily. It seems powdery when it gets gouged. So I want to protect it before I screw it up. Any suggestions?

I just did my floor last weekend. My house is 6 years old and had oil spots in the concrete. I am in the homebuilding business, so i spoke to my painter on what product he would recommend I use. He recommended the Sherwin Williams H&C Solid Color Stain. It turned out great.

But as someone mentioned earlier, the prep work is the key to success. You will first have to degrease the garage floor, I used Simple Green and a scrub brush. Next, you will have prep the concrete. This can be done by sanding or with acid. I used Muratic Acid mixed 1:1 with water. Applied it to the garage slab, let it sit for 2 minutes, then rinsed. This realy gave the concrete a rough finish, something for the stain to bite in to. Lastly, I applied 2 coats of stain, waiting 12 hours between coats. I added an anti skid additive to the last coat so the floor isnt slick when wet. The floor turned out great and I would definitely recommend this product.

[icemanrd19]

pic?

[regal454]

77305
This is a crppy cell phone pic, I'll try to get a few better pics later today.

Edit: This is the Silver Gray color, one of Sherwin Williams 10 premixed colors. They can color match this stain to any color you would want. The nice thing about going with a factory mixed color is that unopened cans can be returned for a credit.

[CarlC]

I too did the diamond grinding and epoxy. If I was to do it again I'd still grind but use a stain instead. The epoxy, a top-rated Wolverine product, is not as durable as I would like it to be. Welding will burn it and it scratches pretty easily when parts are dragged across it. The stain will hold up better though it too will stain. Grinding is nice since it smooths the surface and makes sweeping very nice.

[riles]

Concrete stain, looks great and holds up well. I'm going with the brown tortoise shell in mine.

[sccacuda]

I used Dupont Corlar as the base and Imron top coat. The epoxy is not UV stable and will chalk if exposed to sunlight. The urethane top coat is UV stable and tough. If sun never hits the floor, epoxy is fine.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/06/file_zpsb215db0c-1.jpg (http://s1060.photobucket.com/user/340cuda/media/file_zpsb215db0c.jpg.html)

[724tim]

77305
This is a crppy cell phone pic, I'll try to get a few better pics later today.

Edit: This is the Silver Gray color, one of Sherwin Williams 10 premixed colors. They can color match this stain to any color you would want. The nice thing about going with a factory mixed color is that unopened cans can be returned for a credit.

can you add the color flakes to this and use their gloss clear ?

[724tim]

I just did my floor last weekend. My house is 6 years old and had oil spots in the concrete. I am in the homebuilding business, so i spoke to my painter on what product he would recommend I use. He recommended the Sherwin Williams H&C Solid Color Stain. It turned out great.

But as someone mentioned earlier, the prep work is the key to success. You will first have to degrease the garage floor, I used Simple Green and a scrub brush. Next, you will have prep the concrete. This can be done by sanding or with acid. I used Muratic Acid mixed 1:1 with water. Applied it to the garage slab, let it sit for 2 minutes, then rinsed. This realy gave the concrete a rough finish, something for the stain to bite in to. Lastly, I applied 2 coats of stain, waiting 12 hours between coats. I added an anti skid additive to the last coat so the floor isnt slick when wet. The floor turned out great and I would definitely recommend this product.

how big was your area and how is the coverage , I looked at their concrete paint I think they said 1 gallon will cover 250 square feet .

[regal454]

can you add the color flakes to this and use their gloss clear ?

I'm not sure. I would think that you can to the final coat. The first coat really soaked in the concrete. The second coat laid more so on top of the concrete so I would guess you could add flakes.

My garage is 22x24 and it took 3.5 gallons for 2 coats. I also did the curb which took approx. .5 gal.

[BonzoHansen]

But as someone mentioned earlier, the prep work is the key to success. You will first have to degrease the garage floor, I used Simple Green and a scrub brush. Next, you will have prep the concrete. This can be done by sanding or with acid. I used Muratic Acid mixed 1:1 with water. Applied it to the garage slab, let it sit for 2 minutes, then rinsed. This realy gave the concrete a rough finish, something for the stain to bite in to. Lastly, I applied 2 coats of stain, waiting 12 hours between coats. I added an anti skid additive to the last coat so the floor isnt slick when wet. The floor turned out great and I would definitely recommend this product.

I basically did the same. lots of degreasing & scrubbing, etch with m/a. I would let degreaser soak for a bit then use dish washing power and scrub it in with a scrub brush. the stuff is kind of hard and acts like a abrasive until it finally dissolve. But i used epoxy after that. I'm happy.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/07/th_IMG_3772Small-1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/SIBLY/media/House/IMG_3772Small.jpg.html)


can you add the color flakes to this and use their gloss clear ?
I'd suggest against that if it is a 'working' garage. Just makes finding the small thing you dropped harder to see. Looks nice in a parking garage though.

[riles]

Originally Posted by 724tim
can you add the color flakes to this and use their gloss clear ?
I'd suggest against that if it is a 'working' garage. Just makes finding the small thing you dropped harder to see. Looks nice in a parking garage though.

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Great point, never thought of that. May need to rethink the tortoise shell look and just go with a solid color stain.

[724tim]

Did anybody ever use just a concrete floor stain and seal over that ?