Attention Rev Heads: You'll Never Find A Better Garage Floor

Garage floor epoxy flooring is a tough, long-lasting coating that you paint onto the concrete. An epoxy garage floor resists grease, oil and many other substances that would ruin ordinary paint.

Garage floor epoxy cleans easily and can be found in a variety of colours (if you look hard enough), so you can keep your garage floor sparkling clean and attractive for years.

However, the reality of this challenging project is, one, not all concrete floors will hold epoxy floor coatings, and two, preparing concrete for epoxy floor coatings can be labor intensive and tedious.

That said, this story will help you assess your concrete’s condition, show you how to clean and etch it, and demonstrate how to apply an epoxy garage floor coating that will handle car traffic, chemicals, oils, salt and scraping better than any other paint or stain.

As with any other paint job, success with using garage floor paint lies in the prep work.

Plan to spend the first day removing oil spots, cleaning/degreasing the floor, etching it with a mild acid, and scrubbing, vacuuming and rinsing (a lot!).

Day two is for filling cracks and applying the first coat of epoxy flooring, which is followed by a second coat on day three.

This job doesn’t require many special tools.

But to do the best job (and save your back), we recommend that you rent a walk-behind power floor scrubber with a stiff brush attachment.

Brushes work better than scrubbing pads on concrete, but buy two pads if a brush isn’t available. Also, rent a wet vacuum if you don’t own or have access to one.

Lift the corner of a plastic bag that’s been taped to the garage floor for 24 hours. If it’s dry underneath, you can proceed with a garage floor epoxy coating. If you see moisture under the plastic, don’t coat the floor with epoxy; water pressure will break the bond.

Before you even consider an epoxy garage floor, test to determine if dampness is coming up through the concrete from the ground.

If moisture is evident, your floor isn’t suitable for epoxy.

Also, forgo the project if a concrete sealer was previously used (you’ll know a sealer has been used if water beads up when applied to the surface).

If you’re dealing with a new slab, you must wait a minimum of 28 days, preferably two months, for the floor to cure and dry thoroughly before applying a epoxy flooring.

And if you’re dealing with a previously painted floor, the best advice is to remove the paint, especially when you’re applying a solvent-based epoxy flooring that could soften any that remains.

If your concrete passed these tests, make sure the weekend weather passes, too.

The temperature of the concrete must be a minimum of 12 degrees celsius, with an air temperature between 15 and 32 degrees for optimum garage floor epoxy curing/drying.

Dip a stiff-bristle brush into a cleaner/degreaser and scrub oil stains aggressively.

Wipe up with cotton rags or paper shop towels.

Repeat the procedure until the greasy feel is gone and water droplets no longer bead up on the surface before your epoxy garage floor project.

Wet the entire floor with a hose, then scrub back and forth using an electric floor scrubber with a brush attachment (or a coarse scrubbing pad if a brush attachment is unavailable).

Pour cleaner/degreaser mixture onto the floor as you go to keep suds going on your epoxy floors task.

Push a rubber squeegee along the floor and pool the soap mixture into smaller areas.

Vacuum up the solution for proper disposal.

Before etching concrete with the acid solution, hose down your entire driveway and several feet beyond the sides of the drive.

This aids in the final rinse out of the garage so the material will flow more easily down the driveway.

Now sprinkle the 10:1 ratio of water to muriatic acid mixture and power-scrub the floor (with a rinsed brush attachment or new pad).

When you’re finished, take your hose and nozzle end and flood the floor with water, spraying the material out of the garage for a good 10 minutes (diluted muriatic acid can be rinsed with large volumes of water into a storm sewer, according to the manufacturer).

Rinse off the power scrubber brush/pad, then scrub the wet floor one last time for 5 to 10 minutes.

Finally, rinse out the entire floor and driveway two to three more times.

The concrete surface should now feel like fine-grit sandpaper.

If not, you need to repeat the acid washing.

Finally, to speed the drying process, squeegee out any remaining pooled water, and take a rag and dry any remaining spots, cracks or chipped areas.

Leave the garage door open overnight to speed drying.

CAUTION!

Always add acid to water, not water to acid and wear an organic vapour/acid respirator.

Power-scrub the area for 5 to 10 minutes.

Repeat sprinkling/ scrubbing for each section, making sure the entire floor stays wet.

When you’re done, spray a large volume of water on the floor to flush the residue out.

Power scrub again, then rinse two or three times. Let the floor dry overnight, until it appears white.

The final critical decision is what type of garage floor epoxy to use.

Epoxy floor paints are tough resins that come in two separate parts that you mix together just before you apply them.

You can divide them roughly into three types: 100 percent solids, solvent based and water based.

The 100 percent solid type is almost pure epoxy; it doesn’t contain solvents that evaporate. These products are expensive and difficult to handle because they harden so rapidly. They’re best left to the pros.

The solvent-based epoxies typically contain from 40 to 60 percent solids (epoxy). They penetrate and adhere well and are the choice of most pros.

And they’re often available in a wide range of colours, which is one reason we chose this type for our demonstration. But they do have some drawbacks.

The solvents are powerful and potentially hazardous; you MUST use a respirator (a 3M 5000 series respirator with an organic vapour/acid gas filter, or the equivalent in another brand).

The respirator must fit tightly to your face so you don’t breathe the fumes. In addition, you must ventilate the garage well and keep other people away from the odours.

Solvent-based epoxy floor coating also may be harder to find.

Some paint specialty stores may carry them but otherwise you’ll have to go to an industrial supply–type store.

Check the Yellow Pages under “Paint, Wholesale & Manufacturers” or “Industrial Equipment & Supplies,” or look online.

The water-based epoxies also have two parts that you mix just before application. And they also typically contain 40 to 60 percent solids. The benefit of this type of epoxy floor coating is that there are no hazardous solvent fumes.

Whether you’re working with solvent- or water-based epoxy, we recommend that you apply two coats to get enough build for long-term wear and durability.

“Build” refers to the thickness of the dried epoxy film. Typically, an epoxy with a higher solid content will give a higher build. And, in general, prices tend to reflect the amount of epoxy in the mix – the more epoxy, the higher the build and the higher the price.

For a two-car garage you’ll need 7.5 to 11 litres per coat (depending on the percent of solids in the epoxy you buy—read the container).

Check the cans for coverage to make sure you buy enough.

CAUTION!

Wear appropriate gloves, eye and lung protection, and rubber boots, according to the product labels.

Turn off gas to the water heater or any other appliance located in the garage.

And take precautions to keep children and pets away from the garage and driveway.

First thing in the morning, after the floor has dried overnight, fill 0.6cm cracks and larger, plus holes or spalled areas, with an epoxy crack filler, available at home centres.

Use a plastic putty knife to scrape the surface level and smooth.

Let this dry for four hours (check label directions) before you begin painting your first coat of epoxy.