Well I wasn't sure if I should ask this on here but since I saw the thread on trouble lights I thought why not. I have just completed my new shop and before I get it all full of my sacred crap I need to paint the concrete floor. Just wondering what has worked well for all you guys out there.
Don't paint it if you do fabrication work and use a MIG welder, plasma cutter, torch, grinders etc. I painted my floor with epoxy paint and it looked great. After a couple of years you see every spot where flying sparks have hit the floor leaving tiny burn marks.
Try going to the Garage Journal the HAMBs sister site for garages. They have a whole section on flooring and every imaginable type of flooring is discussed.
Dont paint it unless its a show room. If you work there dont paint it... It will NEVER last no mater what you put down even "garage floor paint" is junk and will peel and is slick as crap when wet or stuff spills on it. DONT do it. seal the concrete and go to work
Too many times this has come up. A little research beforehand would have revealed a world of concrete color and hardener options that you mix right into the concrete for a very nice and durable colored floor that would never need re-finishing or be affected by welding sparks etc. My father had a red colored harderer -color powder mixed into the concrete for the floor of his shop and it turned a beautiflul deep brick red color. A very nice floor. Painting or coating a floor is at best a compromise especially if you plan on welding ,cutting or rolling heavy items on equipment with heavy duty steel wheels.
When using HD-015 you still have to degrease and etch the surface prior to applying. I do alot of welding/cutting/grinding and this product has withstood plenty of hot metal without showing any signs of burn marks.
This. It will look like crap when the inevitable oil, coolant, gear lube and welding sparks stain/mark it. I myself like the look of a greasy, stained shop floor.
I'd just put a clear sealer on it. I work in a warehouse, and the old warehouse had nothing on the floor and you could not sweep it with a dust mop type of brooom, it would leave half the dirt behind. our new warehouse has some sort of clear sealer on the floor and it sweeps up great. I think this stuff would be found in a janitorial type of business. painting it with some color to look pretty seems a bit goofy to me.
Yeah, I read all the advice from others both here and at the Garage Journal. On my new floor, after waiting 30 days for it to cure, I went to Menards and bought two kits of epoxy grey. I scrubbed the floor and then etched with muriatic acid. Scrubbed it again and rinsed three times. Rolled on two medium coats. This was three years ago. Heavy welding...MIG, TIG and cutting torch do leave their little bit of marks behind. But I learned to put a piece of heavy fire-resistant matting under the welding bench. And I also use the same material under my chassis or whatever. No problems. Still looks good...to me. I think the preparation is just as important as the product, maybe more.
I have always used concrete stain on New garage floors and every few years I purchase another 5 gallons and apply another coat of stain. The hot tires do not peel it off like they peel off paint. The floors are done a machine color grey and I also do four feet up each wall with the same color just in paint and then a red four inch strip all around the walls and the rest of the walls are painted semi gloss white so that when you put on the fluorescent lights at time the light bounces off the walls and makes it much brighter. Each time I do this the shop looks brand new again for another few years. Jimbo
I gotta agree. Any of the current coatings that see a lot of fabrication cutting and welding, chemicals like brake clean, heavy duty degreasers, dropped hammers, steering boxes, etc will not hold up. I was going to coat my new 50 x 14 slab, but decided the work of coating and trying to protect it was not worth the effort.
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