I guess it all depends on what look your wanting to go for with the floor. The element overlay that Jim G mentioned looks like a good option to go with.
Scott, I'll answer your question as posed. You asked for the cheap approach. This has been considered an acceptable approach. Apply 2 coats of Sherwin Williams H&C solvent based concrete stain sealer in the color of your choice. We would add 50% Xylene to the first coat and recoat full strength at 90 degrees to your first application. Preferably front/back on the first coat and left/right on the second. It will provide a reasonable surface for your needs. After deeply cleaning the
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floor, the whole job can be done for under a hundred bucks and a couple of days. (No warranty, tho..). Be sure the room is WELL ventilated and wear a ventilator. Seal off the door to the home with tape and plastic sheeting. A floor fan helps. Good luck!
I installed an epoxy floor in a garage. You will need to acid wash, and rince with a hose, allow to dry. Mix the 2-part epoxy, and roll on. My kit came with flecks to sprinkle on while it was wet. I used the Quikcrete brand from Lowes. Kit comes with acid wash and paint. Just need rollers, brush etc.
The concrete stain is a good option but you don't need the solvent based stain if no car will be in the garage; the latex based will give the same results with no respirator.
clay, that's amazing - rinse w/a hose ???? any pro would have neutralized the acid w/either baking soda or ammonia then rinse prior to staining,,, then again, we can't use apron/vest store epoxy kits - they're not the quality our clients appreciate nevertheless it worked for you,,, we never use solvent stain so have to bow to peace on that,,, again, no paint is traffic resistant, tho
Ref Acid Stain. Looks great in pics and I'm SURE a good concrete guy could do a good job. Same guy that did my interior floor, did concrete wrap-around of the sunroom. Came out TERRIBLE. I've talked to a few concrete guys about the garae floor and they all say the same......get it done by a pro, and even though I also did mine with Quick-Brite, the floor can flake /peel after a while.
Enough water and elbow grease will neutralize the acids once they have completed their reactions. Without ph strips, a dyi'er is taking a risk in knowing if they got it all neutralized. Acids should not be used except as a last grasp attempt to profile a surface beyond a smooth state in advance of the epoxy coatings. Acids will weaken the top surface. Shot blasters and or diamond grinders with the right drivers matched to concrete hardness is the best way to prep in advance of epoxy
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installations. Light foot traffic will generally not cause epoxy to lift, improper prep will. Again... the cheapest, most resilient diy approach is 2 coats of solvent based H&C concrete stain sealer, post good prep..... As its a garage with incredible ventilaton, unless there are extreme sensitivities to these vapors, it will provide a sealed , relatively durable surface to light foot traffic that can be easily touched up with locally derived materials. Stay away from "paint".
we weren't in the trade to make sure artisans had a job scrubbing w/'lots of elbow grease' ergo the ammonia/baking soda, buffer, & blk pad,,, not only must the acid be neutralized but the remaining mineral salts ( what supplies color to the concrete's cement's free lime ) are also removed,,, think we might be entering the ' experience factor ', gary - unless you have it, reading all the directions, watching all the u-tubes, reading/posting on forums, & visiting all the w-sites won't help
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you do anything except realize something's wrong ;-) we have more than enough experience removing h & c after a painter claimed the work
@ Clay. Without access to professional prep approaches, acid will give you a surface profile. There are still several issues with improper neutralizing and leacing it down too long. usually, its better than nothing, but time will tell if it will hold or not....
@Amazing Imporvments. I put it down in a previous condo I owned. It was still good 3 years later, before selling it. I will say, it helped sell it. We also did park our cars in there, not tires and all, and no peeling up. I was happy with it. I now own a home with a painted floor, I would like epoxy, but do not want to bother getting up all the old paint to do it right now.
Some of the success of the application comes from the porasity of the concrete. If it is porus, it will absorb some of the material and allow for a more stable connection to the surface. A bit of good luck!
Doing your Garage Floor is easy. I would save 90% of the hard work is in the preparation. The prep being removing everything out of the garage. Shop Vacuum the Floor. Then Acid Clean your Floor, using a Tampico Brush to clean the surface. Be sure to have a Powerful Fan to help expedite drying. Then use copious amounts of water to flush out the Acid wash. Let dry over night with Shop Fan. Next Day, use your Shop Vacuum to blow out the dust/dirt. Vacuum the cracks. Use Elastrometric Caulk
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for the floor. One day for that. Next day it will appear to have gotten sucked into the cracks. Reapply. Very similar to dry wall mudding! Once your satisfied. Scrape off excess. Blow dry the floor. Damp Mop. Blow Dry again. Then start Epoxy coating your floor the next day. At Minimum for a DIY'er 4 days!
that's why we prefer shot-blasting or diamond grinding - turns a 4day job into 1 or 2 days,,, not a fan of just water flushing whem diluted ammonia is so much more forgiving & works much better,,, using acid ' breaks ' the surface glaze & result in a much better ' grip ' for the epoxy,,, cracks are best repaired w/filled epoxy ( we use #36 alum oxide ),,, here's another tip - when placing the top coat, mix in fine aggregate for slip-proofing the surface,,, mix it well then place the mix
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in cornrows to heat-sink the rising temp & delay the epoxy ' set ',,, backrolling till move the coat where its needed,,, just keep an eye on the square footage to achieve manufacturer's recommended mil thickness
When it comes to an even distribution of aggregrate, adding it to the "mix" may not always be your best approach. You will need to know the right aggregrate size and match it to the mil thickness of the coating its being added into. If you are applying multiple coats, it is better to broadcast the aggregrate by hand by taking a pinch and tossing it UPWARDS into the air. When it falls into the wet base coating, it will provide a much more controllable floor pattern. If you are mixing a
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lot of aggregrate into the coating, the above approach has been used for years along with specialty epoxy/aggregrate roller covers and notched squeegies. For DIY'ers, you will find better results this simple way.
even pro broadcasting ( feeding chickens ) leaves slight aggregate ' corn rows ',,, the average diy'er won't have blowers avail for applying any additive be it grit, flake, OR chip,,, the best way is still using sher-wms ' shark's grip ' mix'd into the top coat - its fairly durable & won't fall out of suspension quickly,,, the finish coat can be applied w/squeegee & backrolled w/o disturbing either the gloss appearance OR grip. want simple ? don't throw it - you have no control,,, this
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doesn't mean gary's wrong - we just take different roads to the same destination.
We will have to disagree with Its Really C on this one. Shark grip is so fine, its not to be "tossed". It is, however, designed to be used with extremely thin mil coatings like a concrete stain. Otherwise, it will fall below the surface of the coating, negating its value. You need to match your grit to the mil thickness of the coating. When you mix the grit into your coating material, you can run into some ugly applications. The DIY'er will more likely wind up with very uneven
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aggregrate distribution as their ability to maintain aggregrate suspension will make for some very uneven floor patterns. Not sure how "it's really C" broadcast their grit, but we don't have any issue with "aggregrate corn rows" appearing from tossed grit distribution. Tossing is the easiest method for the DIY and leaves the most even distribution patterns. ONE NOTE: You should be wearing spike shoes or at least Roman Sandals. Otherwise, you will be walking thru your coatings and thats a real Mess. Roman sandals can be found at Northern Tool and spike shoes at most concrete supply companies. Otherwise, be sure you match your grit to the coating and be sure to do 4 X 4 areas. One roll north, south, followed by and immediate east, west roll, then move to the next area. Don't overroll the grit coating. GOOD LUCK !
we'll agree to disagree on techniques,,, that reminds me - need to call brian & have him return our spikes, 18" roller frame, & stick - at least he brought the 4" grinder back ;-)
He really got screwed by that unlicensed and uninsured staining contractor. Without our intervention, he would have lost over $3K. I'm sure he has your stuff. He's a good contractor himself.
AMAZING - i got a ' call the other guy ' answer when i called him for the 4TH time about returning our tools we loaned him - but that's ok - atlanta's still a small town
gary, i'm beginning to think brian brought it onto himself - still no call from him, his manager said to call you for the tools, & we had to replace the stuff for other jobs
Best, CP