http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/in+your+garage/garage+flooring/gray+floor+paint%2C+1+gallon.do

it’s been down 15 years and all it needs to look new is a good mopping. while my garage is not like a pro shop i have swapped moters and trannys in it. my current project is a 53 chevy that i’m putting a 500 caddy moter in.

later jim

When I painted the trailer I made, I used Sherwin Williams Macropoxy and some dripped on the floor. I couldn’t chisel this shit off the floor it sticks so good. Plus it can be tinted, and you can save the leftovers for a year in a separate container. I think the coal tar epoxy is cheaper if you don’t mind black - this is what they put on railroad tank cars. Either one is usually in stock if you have a Sherwin Williams close by, and runs about $100 for two gallons one each of resin and hardner.

You want a hard trowel finish. Most things like sidewalks get a broom finish for traction, as the hard trowel finish is pretty slick. After the concrete is floated and sets up a little, you proceed with trowelling. You can do it by hand, but most finishers use a power trowel, otherwise known as a trowelling machine.

You can search the forum at http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/ for other opinions.

I used a real epoxy kit in my Texas garage and 4 years later it was still fantastic.

Moved to California and found this kit, followed the instructions to the letter and less than 6 months later its awful. Hot tires would lift the finish, it stains and ( as mentioned above ) looks like crap.

I’m thinking that the glass smooth surface of most home garages are too slick for epoxy to adhere properly, not to mention the presence of grease and the amateur level skill in application probably would make this a less than ideal solution. Also, for slab on grade you have to make sure you have good drainage, or the hydrostatic pressure from the ground water can delaminate your coating or cause spalling in the concrete. If you’re worried about that, go for a siloxane sealer instead. Seals the concrete, but allow moisture to pass through.

But hey, if you are going to do this project yourself, look in your local phone books for epoxy suppliers. Most will sell to anyone. It’s pretty much the same process as the EpoxyShield, plus you can add as many coats and colors as you want. Just don’t buy one of those “kits” they sell online. Talk to your local supplier and they will give you all the tips you need, and you’ll get a better product.

I also thing the sprinkles look cheap.

We had our shop area professionally epoxy coated, and it has stood up great since it was done in 2003.

I decided to use the Rustoleum Epoxy kit in our shipping area in 2004. I had watched the pros do our main shop area, so I knew how to do it. Pressure washed the concrete with a degreaser, worked in a dry degreaser / cleaner on the hard spots, rinsed, mild muriatic acid etch, rinse, rinse and let air dry. Coated with the Rustoleum kit.

Within months it was showing wear. If we drop a shipping label or a piece of clear packaging tape onto the floor, and don’t pick it up right away, but go to pull it up later, it will pull some of the coating up. We have an office chair with rollers in the shipping area as well, the area under the office chair is severely worn… almost to the bare concrete. These are light duty plastic rollers.

I don’t consider our shipping area severe duty, our shop is, but I would think our shipping area sees the same kind of traffic and use that a home garage or shop would. The Rustoleum product does not stand up as well as I would have liked.

Oh, I didn’t use any of those dumb flakes. It is my belief that the kits that contain the “decorative flakes” are meant to trick your eye once the actual epoxy coating starts to chip. You’re never going to see the chip in the epoxy with tons of multicolor flakes embedded everywhere else. Aside from that, I think the flakes just look dumb.