I bought some paint for the garage flooring in the house we get the keys for on Thursday this week (at long bloody last).

I thought for some reason I’d bought ‘paint’ but seems I have a full on dual mix Epoxy type.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331488559538

So I’m wondering on the plan etc. It’s a 30 year old concrete garage floor, non-smooth, just laid and flattened concrete.

I’ve bought some acid based cleaner for prepping the floor in advance.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160794070272?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

But wondering if I should go for just a single application type paint instead of the epoxy.

Temperatures also play a factor as most Epoxy is recommended to be 15deg outside air temp giving a 10 deg floor temp before applying. However it’s currently unlikely to be that… but I was wondering if the fact it’s attached to the house is likely to make a difference there ?

There’s also the ‘touch-up’ factor of the Epoxy, can I long term store it in 2 containers and if need be, mix up some as a touch-up ?

Bit of a new thing to me all this so any advice appreciated. Even if it’s not what I want to hear LOL.

If you’re worried that its more trouble than its worth then see if you can just return it – he doesn’t mention its a 2-part system in the listing – If you just want ‘paint’ its not really what you’ve got.

Looking at listings for similar stuff seems to suggest other preparations needed for old concrete prior to application – epoxy specific rollers, special spiked rollers for dealing with bubbles in the applied finish and so on – quite a lot of specific, use-once, stuff to paint a few square meters

Depending on what your intensions for the space are it might be more bother than its worth. I had a temp hire on a unit that had the old floor freshly painted with epoxy. Its so slick its was like being on roller-skates trying to work in there – trying to stand up sheets of plywood they’d just slide away from me. Trying to move anything heavy and you just look like a mime-artist.

I used that for my garage and have been very pleased with it. Our floor was also rough, so I used the acid etch. I put mine down in August though, so temperature was not an issue.

One tip- make sure you have plenty of ventilation as the fumes are very strong. I made this mistake on the first coat, for the second coat i left the garage door open.

Mac, I bought it in Dec, so not really realistic to send back IMO. Also as it’s massive it’s likely to be more hassle than it’s worth to send back.

Ventilation yup, plus got a spraying mask i’ll also use…

You’ve bought exactly the correct stuff. Incredibly hard wearing, so unless you cock up the prep or set fire to it, I doubt you’ll need to touch it up for years.

Put a couple of coats on the heavy traffic areas though.

Hth
Marko

You could always heat the garage up first? – Not very eco friendly but better than not being able to use it until summer.

It’ll look like an RAF hangar floor when you’re finished. Dead easy to spot leaks and dropped washers etc.

We mixed ours with some stucco to make it non slip. Only problem is it destroys your soles on your boots.

I would advise that you carefully check the temperature. In my experience (as someone who develops epoxy coatings for a living) if the temperature is too low you are going to end up with a sticky mess. The floor will be colder than the air at this time of year. Forced heating can work as long as there is not too much airflow. If you blow too much air over it may crack or give some interesting finish properties. I wouldn’t paint anything <10C because drying performance drops off very quickly with temperature

Do you have a weight/volume mix ratio or does it say mix the whole lot in one go? You need to get the ratio right otherwise it won’t dry properly. If you know the weight ratio you can simply weigh out some of each part into jam jars to keep for later. It will store as well as any other paint in these conditions – it may settle out a bit but if it mixes in it’ll be ok for 12 months as a general rule. If you mix it I would guess you have a matter of hours before it sets. In terms of touch up you will probably struggle with anything long term. Epoxy doesn’t liek to be overcoated after a month. With light sanding you might have more luck in a low wear area but otherwise you might find it doesn’t stick very well.

If it is formulated properly you should get away with a generic short nap roller for solvent paint and a brush if you want to do anything tricky. Remember not to paint yourself into a corner 😉 Any bubbles should burst if they’ve got there defoamer package sorted.

As with all painting, surface prep is key. Make sure it is done properly and there i no dust.

OK, so we’re pretty much at a consensus that I should use the paint I have, but wait a bit longer till it warms up.

Minor pain that as it means i’ll have to empty the garage for a weekend and store in shed/conservatory or do half and half on a 2 weekend split etc.

thanks guys.

Do you have a weight/volume mix ratio or does it say mix the whole lot in one go? You need to get the ratio right otherwise it won’t dry properly. If you know the weight ratio you can simply weigh out some of each part into jam jars to keep for later

Document just states it’s all of that and all of that…. I thought I could weigh and split into a ratio of 50-50 then use 1 set of 50 for the coat 1, the other set for coat 2, but hold back 10% in jars for later use if needed. ?

he doesn’t mention its a 2-part system in the listing

Well, it does right at the top:

INDUSTRIAL GRADE TWO PACK EPOXY RESIN FLOOR PAINT

Doesn’t really matter lads, I don’t blame the bloke… I bought it. Simple as that… lets not get into debates about ebay auction wording 🙂

just tagging as I got some floors to do later so I sure it come in handy again!

I put an epoxy floor down in my (new to us) 1988 garage. The floor was manky so prep was everything. I rented a concrete scourer (floor buffer with a specialist disc on it) and scoured it before acid etching it. I then filled any cracks or major pits in the floor before laying the epoxy. The scouring was probably OTT but I wanted it to work. We then needed a squeegy on a pole and a normal paint roller on a pole to lay the epoxy (make sure you REALLY mix it properly before applying).
I’d recommend sucking it up and doing the whole floor at once. If not, you’ll end up with 2 halves and it won’t look so good.

Before

After

Outstanding job TooTall,looks great.

No pressure now weeksy 😉

LOL I don’t think my garage and his multi storey car-park lot are on quite the same scale … or budget !

I live in the US now, so a double garage is more normal. I am also as cheap as a cheap thing, hence doing the job myself. That’s my mancave I’m investing in!

Still too cold for paint, so giving serious debate to carpet tiles.

Any thoughts ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221410930913?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&var=520284974880&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

What about that interlocking vinyl/rubber tiling checkerplate stuff?

IA – Member

What about that interlocking vinyl/rubber tiling checkerplate stuff?

Mostly it’s a bit ‘spongy’ for motorbikes and leaves indentations everywhere etc. Especially as i’ll be putting bike on paddock stands etc.

I have started the painting though 🙂 another coat tonight

Well i had a long chat with Crust regarding floor tiles and we did some WWW browsing and came up with this.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-trade-floor-paint-grey-2-5ltr/74591
Screwfix No Nonesense Grey floor paint. Seems people are happy with it going straight onto a concrete floor. Dries well and quickly…

So I shot into Screwfix and the bloke reads what I want and says

“Do you want grey or red?”

“WTF, Red ? Ducati red ? ” (is he kidding ! what the **** do you think I want) errrrrr… “Red please.”

LOL.

Whipped most things out of the garage and cracked on with the painting. It’s pretty decent.

Phase 2 is on Weds which is masking up the bottom brick height and painting the bottom brick and making it all neat and tidy. Little bit of touching up stuff where it’s not quite gone fully into the concrete and obviously moving the workbench and sorting the last bit under there and the feet. I’ll then re-asses it and decide if it’s getting a 2nd coat this week. But obviously time constraints are coming into play as we’re fully moving house on Saturday… so, not sure yet.

Thats great, when you’re done can you pop round and do mine?

Nice! My project for the spring 🙂

Someone’s knicked yer boik 😀

In the end as you saw above I went with standard paint. I only managed to get 1 coat down and it’s …. ‘ok’… it’s not wonderful but it does the job of stopping the dust, Although looking back now, maybe grey was a better colour choice. I expect it to change in mid summer when I get an opportunity to have some warm weather for a few days.

The layout actually hasn’t worked out too badly at all. Wasn’t as I initially planned, but is certainly acceptable in a space context.

[URL=http://s248.photobucket.com/user/weeksy59/media/848/DSC_0142_zpsedxahoyt.jpg.html][/URL]

Thought I’d update the thread as time has moved on and so has the garage.

I found myself kneeling/sitting/lying on the floor far too often, along with the fact that the paint is quite easy to chip/mark, I decided to come up with plan B.

Quick bit of Ebaying and a lunchtime drive and £20 lighter, my garage went from the above, to the below.

All in, cutting and fitting took about 3 hours or so, I need to take it up today through the middle as I’ve got to drag a couple of tonnes of sharp sand through there for the patio I’m building for Mrs Weeksy, so I’ve currently left it only just lying on the flooring, but I’m debating carpet taping it down at least on the edges, maybe in a grid pattern, but in honesty, it barely moves as it’s fitted to the edges.
I’ve got about 8-10 tiles left over as spares…

Completed. Ignore the cement, it’s going in the patio next week!

I’ve got to drag a couple of tonnes of sharp sand through there for the patio I’m building for Mrs Weeksy

Seems a bit excessive. Wouldn’t it be easier to just wrap her in a bit of old carpet and chuck her in the canal?

😆

I used double sided tape on the tiles I had for years, was great. Especially from working on my Westfield and Lotus. Then they got a big ragged and took them all out and fitted a rubber flooring, as the water doesn’t soak into it like floor tiles etc.

For the price of them, for example

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300-CARPET-TILES-DENIM-BLUE-COLOUR-COVERS-75-SQUARE-METRES-HEAVY-DUTY-GRADE-B-C-/251994551986?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3aac0bb6b2

I don’t mind them getting worn over time as they’re easily replaceable. Especially after having done them once I can just use all the tiles as templates for the tricky bits in the future.

Hope i don’t get in trouble for this but anyone who doesn’t fancy DIY

Check out my site http://www.prestigegaragefloors.co.uk/ 😳

Thought I’d resurrect this thread rather than start another, so I should be getting the keys to my first house in two weeks and my first job is to paint the garage, for the floor I’ve bought an epoxy kit so that’s sorted but the thing I need some advice on is the walls, they’re a mixture of concrete block and bricks, I’ve googled it and there are a load of mixed opinions on what to use so what would you guys recommend, masonry paint? Emulsion? Emulsion watered down?

Here’s a pic of te walls to get an idea of what they’re like.

Cheers,
Ash.

I did my concrete block garage with masonary paint (Sandex on offer at screwfix at the time). First coat watered down a little, maybe 10%. Applied with a brush to work it into the blocks. Three coats for good coverage on the blocks.

Found this brush the best of the few I tried…

http://www.screwfix.com/p/hamilton-performance-masonry-paintbrush-4/14712

Edit: found a picture I’ve posted on here previously….

Yeah, as above I just used masonry paint on the walls…

I just used the cheapest matt white emulsion I could find. Initially watered it down a bit but stopped bothering, it’s cheap enough that it doesn’t matter if it soaks in on the first coat.

Came out nice. Need to do the floor now.

Walls were just generic white emulsion paint from B&B, I used about 18L on the whole garage, I bought a paint sprayer which was massively easier for the 2nd coat.

I used ‘value’ white emulsion from B&Q, didn’t bother watering down. Took 3 coats but went on fine.

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I’ll see which of the two is on offer and go with that.