Gunsmithing New house, new garage. . .

LRI

LRI

Lance Criminal
Full Member
Minuteman
    • Mar 14, 2010
    6,335
    7,614
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    Sturgis, S. Dakota
    www.longriflesinc.com
    #1
    I know there's some home builder DYI'rs who have forgotten more about this shit than I'll ever know. So, help please.

    Nutshell: New house. Concrete floor in garage. It's immaculate. I want to keep it that way and I am a dirt bag hot rod car nut during my home time.

    Years ago (1990's era) I put 2p epoxy floor paint on a floor. I wasn't that impressed and neither was the housing inspector on Camp Pendleton. I'm still looking for a piece of my ass from that one, lol.

    When I moved into the new shop 8.5 years ago I literally glued my barrel vise stand to the virgin floor with a marine grade 2 part epoxy. It's not budged once since then and we've hung A LOT of sticks in the last 8.5 years. Was thinking of maybe just buying a 5 gallon pail of the stuff and doing the entire garage floor with it.

    Yay or nay?

     
    #3
    Don't use the flakes, they'll just give the epoxy places to start peeling up. Years ago we applied the epoxy to our entire shop floor, and used the flakes. It went to shit fast. Is the concrete left with a texture, or did they finish it smooth?
     
    #5
    I'll find out what we use at work. It lives through the mechanics and millwrights it will live through anything. I'm getting ready to build a new shop and house, shop and garage are getting black stained concrete, Ashford concrete densification, and mild polishing. I have thought about going epoxy on the garage floor, I just don't know if I want to spend that much. Erik Cortina does epoxy floors he may be one to ask about it also.
     
    #7
    Oh yeah our stuff has flake in it, it's tough, when there putting it down you can smell it in the whole plant, and the coatings people are wearing respirators.
     
    #8
    First choice would be polished, sealed/waxed. It would have been easier to polish before the walls were stood. Think what Lowe's floor looks like. Second would be acid etched and stained. The variegated finnish camouflages wear and tear. My 3rd and least expensive would be a latex based solid stain. If applied correctly with the proper bonding agent it's fairly durable. Best part is if it starts to look dingy just clean and apply another coat. I wouldn't use any of the epoxy finishes. They look good initially but all of them eventually peel and are next to impossible to blend a repair. Think about like a rifle stock. If you were ask to recommend a stock and finish for a hard use rifle would you recomend a nice piece of claro with 10 coats of clear on it or a fiberglass stock finished with an egg speckled matt on it??
     
    #10
    I've had good luck with the Home Depot Rustolieum garage floor epoxy when applied properly. After years of dragging steel across it while fabricating and a ton of floor jack use, it does show wear but for home use, I think it's a good option. If money is no object, I'm sure there's better options. I wish I had time to research polished concrete when I bought my last house and had to move the machines in like now.
     
    #11
    Our attached garage floor is polished and finished with something the builders use. You can't come in hot if you have snow on your tires you might go thru the back wall . I've busted my rear twice walking on wet spots.
    Other than that it sweeps and mops up well.
     
    #13
    There are a lot of options out there. I worked for a company that did decorative concrete and the product held up great but it wasn't cheap. I personally like the looked of the acid stained concrete but if the concrete was sealed then it doesn't work. Here is the product that I applied about 15 years ago and it looks like they are still doing well. http://www.cti-concrete.com/Products
     
    #14
    Epoxy floor coatings, like a lot of things in the construction industry, have come a long way since the 90's, much better now. Before any paint, epoxy, etc. is applied to concrete the surface must crystal cracking clean. If any soap product was ever used, the residual oils must be removed via hot water pressure washer or muratic acid. Stay away from the big box store stuff and go with a high end commercial product.

    Have you considered shop/garage floor tiles?
     
    #15
    Nodakplowboy said:
    Epoxy floor coatings, like a lot of things in the construction industry, have come a long way since the 90's, much better now. Before any paint, epoxy, etc. is applied to concrete the surface must crystal cracking clean. If any soap product was ever used, the residual oils must be removed via hot water pressure washer or muratic acid. Stay away from the big box store stuff and go with a high end commercial product.

    Have you considered shop/garage floor tiles?
    Click to expand...

    Tiling has been on my mind. My neighbor has this in his shop floor. It's nice. Cleans up well and they do car/bike stuff along with light machine work.

     
    #17
    Chad,
    we did the floors of the hangars at Ellsworth back in the late 80's.
    They are coated with a product made by Tenant floor coatings.
    The floors are white and have stood up to grease, aircraft fuel, hydraulic fluid, 300,000lb aircraft parking on them, and everything else you can imagine.
    The only damage I've seen to the floors is in the phase dock where a tug spun it's wheels towing an aircraft in during an ice storm. It had chains on all four wheels, so it scratched the floor.
    There are quite a few companies that do coated flooring for industrial purposes and they are what you will want.

    Stay away from the big box store coatings.
    I did my garage a year ago and the sun is fading it.
     
    #18
    I have the epoxy coat and it is tough!! 100% solids. It will chip if you drop something heavy and sharp on it but honestly I think mine is too thick and that contributes to it. I have also had good success with the Home Depot stuff given proper prep. Don't worry if you want flakes. They will not affect the durability if you desire them for traction. I do recommend using the clear coat and a grit additive. .
     
    #19
    I stumbled upon a tiling system specific to automotive stuff. I may just go that route. More money per square foot, but it's stupid fast and stupid easy. Couple hours of work vs a week of cleaning, painting, curing, etc... Plus if I kill a tile, it pops out and replaces with no brain damage. The likelihood of this is small since I spend most my time at work anyway, but a neat house/garage is a big deal to Kalli and I so this kinda pencils out for us.

    -The benefits of having all the kids evicted out of the house now. :)
     
    #20
    Not sure how it compares to the newest epoxy coatings...but I'd look into Terrazzo (but it'll sure put a hurting on your wallet)....
    Still used by a company I used to do a lot of work for as a commercial GC - Publix Supermarkets.
     
    #21
    There are some very high strength epoxy systems for industrial uses, that bond to the concrete almost better than concrete sticks to concrete. It will survive 60,000 lb forklifts, 5000 PSI pressure washing etc... very expensive stuff, but nearly indestructible.

    With any flooring system ask about traction when wet. I'm not a huge fan of grit, or chips in the surface, but I had the chance to be on a un-treated floor in a newly built building and everyone thought it was great, until some water was spilled. Someone fell, and got hurt, and multiple others fell trying to help the downed people. It was like keystone cops on ice. The next week the floor was top coated with more of the same coating, this time with grit in the mix.
     
    #22
    LongRifles said:
    I stumbled upon a tiling system specific to automotive stuff. I may just go that route. More money per square foot, but it's stupid fast and stupid easy. Couple hours of work vs a week of cleaning, painting, curing, etc... Plus if I kill a tile, it pops out and replaces with no brain damage. The likelihood of this is small since I spend most my time at work anyway, but a neat house/garage is a big deal to Kalli and I so this kinda pencils out for us.

    -The benefits of having all the kids evicted out of the house now. :)
    Click to expand...

    Would you mind posting a link?

    Dave
     
    #23
    Having developed millions of SF of tilt wall buildings we applied many different types of finishes to concrete slabs including epoxy, polyurethanes, polishing, hardner/sealers and soda blasting. Epoxy finishes are very durable and long lasting as long as the floor is prepped properly prior to application of the finish. We would bead blast fresh concrete slabs once cured for adhesion purposes and to remove any contaminants. In addition, we would measure the moisture content of the slab to make sure it was below manufactures maximum spec. For older floors we would use either TSP or bead blast or both. Any oil spots or contaminant will affect adhesion and needs to be removed. In addition, moisture migrating up through the slab will create adhesion issues. Sonneborn and Tennant make high quality finishes and have used them both and provide detailed specs for prep and application. In high traffic areas we would add silica for slip resistance.

    On new concrete floors we used sealer/hardners such as Lapidolith but not recommended for slabs that are fully cured. Polished concrete can provide nice looks but will need to be sealed for stain resistance. Soda blasting provided a similar finish as polishing but will also need to be sealed. We primarily used soda blasting for cleaning stained floors and removing striping. Both are very expensive on a SF basis. Hope that helps.

     
    #24
    Not feeling the checkerboard pattern(s) (you'll see them in the gallery portion of the site) as other shops I worked in just made you have vertigo and feel like ejaculating your burrito all over the floor after a few hours of work. Solid colors however aren't too bad.

    http://racedeck.com/?crtag=value&gcl....61xZWayy.dpbs

    This one jumps out at me, already have these kinds of lights in the "gay rage".

    [IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/19959373_750453391800745_7202583852535214297_n.jpg?oh=7046fcb7117d0eb1f87f010bb111470f&oe=59FEA467"}[/IMG2]
     
    #27
    Well at this point it matters nothing anymore. Got a call from the seller this am. She's flipped 180*. No longer selling the house. We were signing this week. Earnest and DP check is sitting on my desk. PA and contract are in my inbox from my lawyer.

    You look someone in the eye and tell em something, fucking do as you say. Period.
     
    #28
    LongRifles said:
    Well at this point it matters nothing anymore. Got a call from the seller this am. She's flipped 180*. No longer selling the house. We were signing this week. Earnest and DP check is sitting on my desk. PA and contract are in my inbox from my lawyer.

    You look someone in the eye and tell em something, fucking do as you say. Period.
    Click to expand...

    Yeah that sucks! The property I'm buying is supposed to close next week as long as the current owner completes the dirt work he agreed upon. I'm not holding my breath....
     
    #29
    LongRifles said:
    Well at this point it matters nothing anymore. Got a call from the seller this am. She's flipped 180*. No longer selling the house. We were signing this week. Earnest and DP check is sitting on my desk. PA and contract are in my inbox from my lawyer.

    You look someone in the eye and tell em something, fucking do as you say. Period.
    Click to expand...


    That really stinks Chad.

    You could always head west into the canyon and find a chunk of property and then build on it.
    Not likely to find something affordable though.

    I'm with you on the wishy washy people.
    Hate the fukkers
     
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