Quote:
Originally Posted by Don
Which ever product is selected, proper floor prep is essential for adherence to the cement. Might also want to check for moisture content in the floor. One way is to tape on four sides a piece of plastic and leave/observe for a day. If there is moisture trapped inside the loose plastic, floor covering results could either be marginal or not long lasting.
A commercial vendor used this approach on my floor and recommended not applying the floor material.
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This is 100% correct, preparation is the key and in this game, quality materials=better floors. The concrete MUST be completely void of any contaminants and it takes some work to get to that perfect level or preparation (pressure washing is only the beginning.) It will likely include some grinding and possibly acid etching unless the floor is brand new. I would suggest you go to
www.garagejournal.com and like this forum, there are tons of threads on materials and methods. I spent 6 months reading and researching and decided that if I could build a Cobra, I could do my floor and garage first. I had bare concrete 4 years old that had standard wear,
oil and tire stains and overspray. Using processes from the garagejournal forum, I prepped the floor incessantly for 2 weeks and then used Devoe Coatings 224HS for the base, chips from colorchips.com, and then two coats of 379UVA topcoat. I finished the floor last fall and can tell you that I have HAMMERED the surface while rebuilding this car. Dropped parts and jackstands,
oil, metal shavings, etc and the floor is like brand new, and no hot tire lift. Lots of work, but I highly recommend you researching before you do anything. And if you want it to perform well, the $70 Home Depot solution is not the answer. Devoe products are 70% solids epoxy and aircraft hangar quality. I have $500 in materials and prep invested in the floor (but lots of sweat) and the best estimate I could get was $3000 from a contractor. The $2500 savings went for the Snap-On box.
Bare floor as the cabinet work started:
Cabinets in and painted:
Floor with beige base, tan/brown/black chips and double urethane clear-coated:
Nintey days ago when the REAL work started:
