Garage Majal - Anyone acid-wash/stain floor?

[Dangerous Doug]

Considering different floor options for my garage. I've looked at pretty much all the plastic-snap lock options from Race Deck and such. Nice, but a stained acid-washed floor looks pretty awesome.

Has anyone gone the acid-washed, stained, and epoxied route? Got photos? How was the process of acid-washing and staining? Take forever? Like to hear from some of the do-it-yourself guys.

Cheers,
DD

[KirkV]

I will tell you that the acid washed floors I have seen have had peeling problems with them because the epoxy cannot chemicaly bond with the concrete. The diamond ground floors however get rid of the whole surface and it's contaminants thereby allowing for a great surface to bond to.

Mine has been done for just over a year and I love it, but I diamond ground it before I epoxied it.
Just my 2 cents.

[dlang14]

Hey Doug,

I recently had the guys from premier garage come hook me up with flooring as well as cabinets.

Garage Flooring, Tile, Cabinets, Storage and Organization Systems

If you want to see it in person I'm just down in morgan hill. Nice drive over 152 and your welcome to see it.

They were not cheap, but the costs were competitive with all the other higher end flooring companies I talked to. You'll get cheaper quotes from guys using home depot materials of course.

They did a great job, I did have a couple of minor issues and they were prefessional and immediately came out and took care of it. I'm sure I have the guys card someplace.

The only 'negative' is that it doesnt absorb water at all, so if you pull the family wagon into the garage when its raining be prepared for a wet floor, thats going to stay wet until you fix it

Daryl

[ERA 778]

I acid washed and epoxied my concrete floor a few years ago. Since the garage was already at least ten years old, I was concerned about how well the epoxy would hold up, so I cleaned the greasy areas multiple times. Despite all this preparation work the epoxy still came up in some areas. I also had problems where it appears that the epoxy was pulled up onto tires - probably when hot tires driven onto the surface and cooled there. Overall, disappointed by the stuff coming up so easily in the oily spots. Repeated the process two years later with the same results.

I recall reading somewhere that part of the problem could be a lack of a vapor barrier under the concrete. Since probably no one puts a vapor barrier under a garage floor, this could happen to any installation.

I still like the overall looks of the floor and prefer it to the plain dirty concrete, but wish it held up better.

I think the whole process took about three days: one to clean, one to paint, and one to cure. One challenge is what to do with all of your "stuff" that goes in your garage.

[rodneym]

This process brings back memories...

I looked into the plastic tile route but I personally didn't like them. They look great but I didn't like the clicky sound and they lack a solid feel, IMO.

I really wanted polished concrete but couldn't find a vendor in my area who would do such a small space. Business must be good for those guys.

I settled on a professionally installed epoxy floor with the confetti. It looks good, feels good and no lifting. BUT, where my tires sit, the epoxy discolors into an oil shade. It's not lifting, not soft or different in feel, just looks ugly. And I didn't park on it for months after installation. The epoxy seems to be leaching 'stuff' from the tires, either BB's or Avons or a dolly's tires (rubber in general). I feel like making the installer do it over but what a pain in AZZ!

Good luck.

[razerwire]

Used black and white tile, porcelain 12", used half as much of the best thin set. Drive bus conversion on tile and have 4 post lift setting on 1/4" rubber belting. Down about 4 years now. Had race deck and pulled up, had same dislikes as others with the added problems of buckling when I would stop bus or turn bus. Doors face south and race deck would buckle from sun. I did leave 3/4" around edges like instructions said. Put the best epoxy down on other garage I just finished. Was 2 part not mix with water cheap stuff, I do not really like to much. Scratches too easy and seams to stain easy. Had to go with 2 coats to cover good. Only problem I have with tile is that it is slippery when wet. I like to put a few drops of simple green in mop bucket and mop out once in while but you have to be careful until it drys. Just use dust mop to keep clean. Also have 3 tiles cracked where I left the door up and the sun beat on 4 days in 96 degree weather. Easy to pop out and replace when it gets to bothering me. Tile was .75 cents each.
,
'

[Randy Rosenberg]

I didn't acid etch, however since others are sharing what they did, I'll jump on the same band wagon. I used Garage Solutions (Garage Cabinets, Garage Storage, Garage Organization, Garage Floors. San Francisco, Bay Area, San Jose, San Rafael. The most complete garage improvement company. Garage Solutions. Calm. Cool. Very Collected.) for epoxy floors and cabinets. It's been less than a year, however the floor is holding up great. Easy to mop up the dirty drips from wet cars, easy to wipe up oil drips with a paper towel, and easy to either sweep or vacuum when dry. They ground the floor surface before applying the epoxy coatings.

[Dangerous Doug]

Great feedback, guys. I'd heard about lifting and wear problems, so it's good to hear from those that have experienced it. My garage is probably 34 years old, and it has a lot of stains from oil and, well, who knows what. There are cracks that would need filling and I assume the thick oil stains would need to be ground off.

That being said, my counter tops are grey and tool cabinets red, with black trim around the base of the walls. I would stain the concrete black with marbled silver and a touch of red, with the clear satin epoxy.

What I've read about epoxy floors is that they need to be waxed every six months to reduce the wear. Any thoughts on the tire stains being caused by the floor wax?

I optimistically think I'll do it myself, but when reality sets in I'll realize I simply don't have the time and will need to hire out the work. So, thanks for the tips on local contractors.

DD

[Derald Rice]

I don't post here very often, but one of the best research tools for a flooring question is The Garage Journal They have an entire sub-forum dedicated to flooring and the various products.

I used Wolverine epoxy and it has been down for about 4 years now. There are no slippage , lifting, peeling, or staining issues at all. The wolverine epoxy is 100% epoxy, with a low VOC. What is applied to the floor stays on the floor, with very little evaporation or gas-off.

As others have said, prep is everything, and the front half of my project was (is) 35 years old, oil soaked to the hilt, and the back half was new concrete. I rented a clarke floor buffer and then used a combo of simple green, and then chased it with muratic acid. It took over a week to dry out before I could do the coating.

One of the major drawbacks with any epoxy is that you cannot weld on it. The sparks and slag will burn it in a heartbeat. Other than that, I do not use my creeper any more, it is very easy to just slide on the floor. And since the floor is sealed, there is very little dust from the floor that gets onto the cars. The entire garage is a lot easier to keep clean. It is also impervious to any chemical, and the weight of the tool box or engine hoist dosen't phase it. I rent the clarke once a year to buff the floor, and also keep a wet mop handy to take care of any spills.

Cost was approx 1.50 per foot.

like I said in the beginning, go to The Garage Journal and read their flooring pages.





Derald.

[Dangerous Doug]

Wow! Nicely done!

[DanEC]

Since no one has mentioned it - what I'm considering using is self-stick vinyl composition tile (VCT). Casters and loads should roll over it OK. It should clean up reasonably well. It will scuff and scratch but could always be buffed up just like any floor if it was an issue. Anyone try this??

[hinoonaz]

Prep is the most important part of any floor epoxy or stain. Diamond grind is the only way to guarantee on an older floor. I too had half new and other half 50 years old. Used Sherwin Williams epoxy (not the kit they sell now and water base) with an diluted first coat and then final coat. It is two part and can get it mixed to just about any color you want. It is not water based. I did not drive on for at least 2 weeks to make sure. Tires do not leave brown marks or anything. When it does rain here it just needs to be dry mopped and looks good. Expensive yet it does great. Has been down almost five years and not one spot of lift or discoloration. Mops up very easy. Again, the prep is most important. I like the idea of black and white checker tile, but the epoxy is easier to keep clean IMO.
Gary

[Rick Parker]

As DanEC mentioned above, the composite adhesive squares could easily be individually replaced when/if needed. ??

[marcocsx3121]

I've tried the do-it-yourself epoxy route and had the same lifting problems others mentioned. Since then, I've used Race Deck in two garages, and if you're even a little handy with a jig saw for the odd corners, it's a fun weekend job to install, even for a large garage.

Not cheap, but easy to clean and IMHO nothing looks quite as good. BTW, pardon the presence of a Chevillay in the pic.