Shop wall and floor finish questions.

[dbhost]

On the walls...

Are there any special considerations aside from a pure white color to help remove the dungeon feel, that I need to take into account for the paint?

I am almost considering painting a piece of wall with that whiteboard paint for sketching up ideas on the fly...

On the floors.

Has anyone here painted, or otherwise coated a concrete shop floor such as a garage or basement?

How did you prep the surface?

What did you use to make sure it was...
#1. Easy to keep clean.
#2. Durable.
#3. Comfortable.
?

I worked in a shop once that had some sort of urethane coating on the floor that was somewhat rubbery. The stuff was impervious to oil, brake fluid, coolant, solvents etc... The wetter it got, the more grip we had with our boots, and the rubbery surface offered a little tiny bit of cushion. I am kind of hoping to figure out how to get something like that in my garage workshop. I figure if it can hold up to a production auto repair shop, it can hold up to a recreational woodworker and 4x4 builder...

I am hoping to go with either an almond color, or a very light gray. I don't want white on the floor as I think with the white walls and white ceiling that would be too much white...

[siliconbauhaus]

It would probably be less hassle to just go buy a couple of cheap whiteboards than to try to paint one.

For the floor, as long as the room is conditioned you could go with VCT for a cheap yet durable floor covering.

[dbhost]

Those tiles, will they put up with auto work in there as well? I will be needing to yank out both diffs from my truck to slide in limited slips and gears, not this year, but next...

[siliconbauhaus]

If you put the 2 -3 coats of sealant on them afterwards they'd probably hold up fine

[radhak]

I painted my garage floor 3 years ago with


and am not so happy with it. It peeled off at various spots and now I have to do it again. I admit, my prep may not have been perfect, though at that time I thought I had labored a lot just to clean the floor; but I rarely park cars on it, and the only wear-n-tear is from sparse people-traffic (just me, mostly).

The redo is a painful thought, particularly because I have to move all the stuff out, and am not sure I wanna spend the money on a POD.

But it sure is cheap, compare to the rest. Just one kit ($70) + some cleaners is all you need. Everything else worked out to around $3+ per sq. ft. At that rate LOML was ready to lay out a complete tile-floor and claim the garage as an additional room ! I nixed the thought quickly before it gained traction!

edit : a friend of mine has actually laid out real tiles in his garage and displays his sports memorablia there.

[dbhost]

I am contemplating the idea of HOW to prep. It looks like I need to fully clear out the garage (UGH!), pressure wash with driveway cleaner solution, let it dry, most likely go over THAT with a mop and something similar to TSP to get any remaining residue up, let that dry off, and then hit the floor with the concrete paint. Is that right?

[just started]

I haven't tried these yet but have them on my list

http://www.gladiatorgw.com/catalog/c...eSubCategory=5

Saw them used on DIY network a few times.

Art

[thrytis]

Covering the floor will make a huge difference in making it feel less like a dungeon. Pick your color wisely for maximum reflection while not showing dirt.

VCT is pretty cheap, probably around the cost of two coats of a high quality epoxy. It provides a little protection for dropping tools, though it will dent under heavy concentrated weight so you would want to use a piece of plywood under your jacks if you care about the dents. Individual tiles are replaceable, so you don't have to empty out the shop and redo the entire thing if a section gets badly damaged. It takes an occasional washing and a coat of wax periodically, how often depends on how rough you are on the floor and how shiny you want to keep it. I haven't done mine for months and months, though it can really use a good scrubbing. After too many waxes, you have to strip it down and recoat.

I think the key to epoxy is good surface preparation. VCT requires some scrubbing too but is more forgiving.

For an overload on shop floor information, check out Garage Journal's flooring forum.

[radhak]

I am contemplating the idea of HOW to prep. It looks like I need to fully clear out the garage (UGH!), pressure wash with driveway cleaner solution, let it dry, most likely go over THAT with a mop and something similar to TSP to get any remaining residue up, let that dry off, and then hit the floor with the concrete paint. Is that right?

Actually, much more vigorous than that. At the very least you need to get an industrial strength 'grease cleaner' and go over that once, or more. Of course they recommend something called 'acid etch', which is really something - you need heavy-duty fume-mask for that. If you go thru Eric's link, they discuss even tougher ways of doing it ('diamond grinder' !!!). Now, I always thought all that was overkill, but what do I know - mine did not turn out well !

I'd say tiling is much costlier than epoxy; even VCT would be around $1.80 to $2 a sq.ft, while epoxy would be around $0.50 sqft at the most. Rustoleum was less than $0.30 sqft.

edit : no, I stand corrected. There's epoxy, and then there's epoxy; this discussion is up your alley : Epoxy and Tile (Brands+Prices)

[siliconbauhaus]

If your not fussy about the colour you can get typical grey vct for under $1sf That was the price the last time I looked so it may have gone up like everything else.

If you count the time involved in prep for epoxy vs vct the cost is probably equal.

[thrytis]

I'd say tiling is much costlier than epoxy; even VCT would be around $1.80 to $2 a sq.ft, while epoxy would be around $0.50 sqft at the most. Rustoleum was less than $0.30 sqft.

VCT at Lowes or HD runs $0.68/sq ft, though if you have time to wait and choose a color that they don't carry in the store (they only carry about 3 different colors in store, out of about 50 different colors), you can wait until a 20% off special order flooring sale they run a few times a year. In addition to that you'll need adhesive at $10-20/gallon (took me 1.5 gallons for 400 sq ft), polish for $20/gallon (enough for five coats on 400 sq ft), transition strip for doorway at $10 for 16 feet, 100 lb roller for $15/day rental, tile cutter for $15/day rental, and notched trowel at $10. I spent probably about $100 on these extras plus the cost of the tile.

I originally was going to do epoxy, but despite trying about 10 different cleaners and acid etching twice, i had spots that still weren't clean enough for epoxy to stick. I was going to have to rent a shot blaster for around $250 to prep the floor, and if i was spending that much i wasn't going to put the cheap epoxy on. With the cost of renting and good epoxy, it was cheaper for me to put down VCT.

[ironhat]

Great looking floor, thrytis!! I used Dura-Cote. It's the stuff that you see in the packets of ad cards in the mail. Anyway, I couldn't get everything out of the garage for the prep either so I did everything in sections. I moved and stacked stuff to one area, scrubbed and wiped up by hand, getting the dust and dirt up. Then, I did the area again with sodium tri-phosphate, scrubbing the oil stains. Wiped up with clear water again and then I painted. I only have a couple of spots where I was derelict in how much I scrubbed and the oil ate its way through. I still have to scrape and spot clean them but the surface is holding up pretty well. I do recommend that you keep the floor as pain as possible as in none of those big flecks that are so popular when you put down an epoxy. It's hard enough finding things that I drop but they sure could get lost in those flecks! Still, I sure do like thrytis' floor. Pretty classy!