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MG TD TF 1500 - Need Advice - Garage

Hello Fella's!

Sorry I have not been on in awhile but seems that typically happens to me. I get wrapped up in a million projects and never get to my own. TD was progressing along quite nicely but then I took on the finishing of a '65 B that was mostly done but the restorer just missed the mark. It's now done and my latest project is finishing my garage. I've had mostly bare un-insulated walls for a few years now and have been dealing with the cold. Met a handyman who will (provide material) insulate, rock and spackle in trade for an '80 B I picked up last spring. It's a deal for me and I don't have to hump rock up and install it on my 9foot ceilings.

Anyway, the garage is totally cleared out except for cars on dollies. Since it is so empty and the walls will be done, I'll paint them up garage like and then thoughts of a floor crossed my mind. There is a slight chance I can trade for that too with a '72 parts car I have. Problem is, what type of floor coating should I use. I want to make sure it will hold up to car dollies, engine stands, tools and parts dropping on....The floor is 9 years old, not cracked and has a few oil stains on it. I looked into U-coat but have heard it's not what it's cracked up to be. I'd like something that is maintenance free, will hold up for years and not be a peeling nightmare later on.

What are you guys using and how is it holding up.

Cheers
Vince
vping

What about the racedeck garage floors.
They are strong, easy to clean, easy to install and you can have a lot of paterns.
check this website out www.racedeck.com

Dirk
Dirk Roels

I should also mention that the budget is super low on this one. If I can keep the project under $400 for a 20' x 24' garage, it'd be a big bonus to me.
vping

I did that Rustolium do-it-yourself epoxy garage floor system about 2 years ago. Bought it at ACE Hardware. Looked great for about a year. But it has NOT held up as expected! Some areas that get little traffic are peeled off and some that get beat up a lot are ok? Don't ask me why? Bottom line is it will need a re-do when I get the TD project completed. I cannot recommend this product. You get what you pay for. Hire a pro!
efh Haskell

My take: money is best spent elsewhere.

My father painted, scraped, and repainted his garage floor for years. Then he had a professional sandblast and clean the floor and put down a professional two-part coating. Even that has adhesion problems in certain places. Concrete is porous and water vapor can come up from below and cause the finish to lift. On an older concrete floor it is very difficult to fully remove oil, etc., from the concrete, which will compromise the adhesion of any product you put on the surface.

One other thing to remember. When water puddles on the surface of these sealed surfaces they are as slippery as ice. You can avoid the problem by mixing some sand into the product before application.

If what you are after is an improved appearance, a concrete stain may be a better option.

Larry
Larry Shoer

If you want something thats going to hold up Vince then find somebody that does airplane hangers. The stuff is nasty as hell but holds up to hot jet tires and jet fuel. Have no idea what it costs. Stuff I used curdles up like cottage cheese at the sight of gasoline. Wouldn't recomend it to anybody. Came from agent orange. Behr I believe.
LED DOWNEY

Another factor they didn't mention in the "training video" DVD it came with was the presence of those "fibers" in some newer concrete floors. Our floor is about 5 years old and after you do the acid wash phase we saw the fibers poking up sort of like peach fuzz. Perhaps that is part of our problem but who knows at this point?
efh Haskell

Vince - Have you given any though to the roll type floor covering carried by Eastwood (I think) or Griot's (I know that they carry them). Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

In 1997 I used the Porter gray concrete coating on new concrete- don't remember the exact name. It had some majorly noxious chemicals in it, and I had to use an appropriate industrial resporator. No peeling, but the stuff is still slippery when wet, and gasoline/solvents soften it. Looks pretty ugly by now. Wish it was bare concrete! For the walls, the builder used furring strips on the concrete block/wallboard, painted that all black, and installed 1/4" pegboard everywhere. Perfect to hang junk on! Unlike the floor, that workeds really well. George
George Butz

Vince, I've tried garage floor paint from Sherman Williams that isn't supposed to lift, it does and look like crap after one year. I then covered it with an interlocking vinyl tile I got from Lowe's, looks great but puckered a bit last winter. I wish I had used racedeck as Dirk suggested. My barn is 40X60 and the stuff from Lowes's cost around $3,200.
Bill Brown

If I can ever afford it I am going to install porcelain tile in my basement work area. I know many say it can crack and break and chip but you can always replace 1 or 2 tiles.
I considered the racedeck but seems to me there is alot of space under them to trap moisture and whatever else gets spilled in your shop. I researched it and some people say no problem and some say they take theirs up every now and then and clean under them which would be a pain.
Griots has available 16" black and white porcelain tiles that are exactly what I want but way to pricey....I got a TD to spend money on.
Richard Taylor TD3983

Looking into the Eastwood site now and took a quick glance at the Racedek but did not notice price per square foot.

My dad is a faux finisher and had stained several concrete floors to look like marble and such. Really amazing how it looks. This might be a cheap and clean enough looking option that I won't have to worry about getting ruined or slipping on. (seems like you might be able to just stain it again!!. I'll just stain it to look like grease stains!!

vping

Vince, you might look at www.garagefloor.com/ they have a nice selection.

Bill
Bill Brown

X2 on the aircraft hanger paint. That's what I use. It isn't cheap, however. Enough paint to cover a 400 sq. ft. floor will run around $400-500 and that doesn't include floor prep. Just like auto paint, preparation really is everything when it comes to this stuff. My floor still looks very good after many years of general garage work.
Steve S

I also did a small section with some black/white garage tiles (the "automotive wing" I call it) that snap together. Looks great but if you hose it off (which I do) the water squirts out from underneath for about a week. Someday I'll have to lift it up and sneek a peek :( nah...
efh Haskell

Knew you might pipe in Steve. It's held up well to jacks and dropped tool/parts? How is the slippery factor? Where in the HE double hockey sticks might I obtain such hangar paint?
Vince
vping

...you guys are making me cry...... patio blocks...patio blocks.... oh the shame of it all.....
gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

I have a paint on (one of the kits you purchase for garage floors). I did a pretty good job of making sure it was prepped correctly over 1 year old concrete and it has chipped and lifted.

I bought one of the roll out mats. It works fine. Grooves are not so high as to cause issues for tools rolling on it.

I would love to go with the rubber squares, but $$$$$ is better spend on the MG's
Bruce Cunha

I like the coin matt. Check it out at
http://www.allmats.com/site/439205/page/664574

Mike
Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

Vince, porcelain tile laid with cement mortar will hold up and you can search for a good deal on prices. The only thing that hurts a hard tile floor is freezing temperatures if moisture is present in the joints. After the tile is laid, a good sealer over the joints helps. PJ
P S Jennings

Vince, there is also a new product that is out that goes under tile called DITRA. http://www.schluter.com/6_1_ditra_function.aspx
It provides a moisture barrier plus allows for expansion and contraction. I had concerns that it would not hold up to a cars weight and contacted the manufacture and they assured me it would and that their products was being used in airport using airport transfers tunbridge wellss and malls where there was alot of heavy traffic and heavy equipment.
I have a friend who found a good grade tile at a discount building supply for less than $1.00 a square foot and had it installed in her garage and loves it.
Regards,
Rich
Richard Taylor TD3983

Hi Vince, any smooth paint coating will be slippery when wet, and this stuff is no exception. My feet went out from under me once when I foolishly went in with wet shoes. The cure for this is to mix sand in with the paint which will give a very nice grippy surface. The only disadvantage of the sand is that it's impossible to mop the floor without tearing the mop to shreds! Since I live in a dry area, I chose to leave it smooth for easy clean up. But, I have a hard standing rule that no one is ever allowed in the garage with wet feet, period.

The paint has held up extremely well over the years, in fact better than expected. I will admit that I'm careful about what I drag across the floor though. If you drag an engine or axle around then you will probably scratch through the top layer into the epoxy. Nothing that can't be touched up, but I prefer to avoid this type of damage when possible so I keep things on rubber wheels and try to not be too brutal to the finish. I also mount my jack stands on wood bases, so they have never dug into the floor.

That said, I do plenty of heavy work on the floor and with reasonable care have suffered very few blemishes. The bond between the epoxy layer and concrete is stronger than the concrete itself, so the only way to go all the way through this stuff is to chip the concrete itself, which I've done a few times.
Steve S

This thread was discussed between 16/09/2010 and 18/09/2010

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