[Patrick303]

Originally Posted by elistan

You'll have to report back what you think about it once you're done with the coating. (Oh, and don't forget the anti-slip additive.)

The construction manager recommended putting a bit of sand down in the control joints of the floor, then filling the joint with Sikaflex self-leveling sealant.

Any plans for the driveway? We're new to Colorado - is there anything that can be done to help with snow/ice removal for a north-facing driveway? Sealing strikes me as a way to make it so slippery when wet that it'll be undriveable, but we've heard that the cold stuff won't melt away like on a south-facing driveway that gets sunlight. (And do they use salt here that we need to worry about?)

I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. I'll probably post a before and after pic here too. And the epoxy clear coatings come with the anti-skid, so I'll definitely include that. It would be embarrassing to bust my ass in my own garage!

Maybe we should use the Rustoleum NeverWet on the driveway! Not sure how well that would work. I've lived in CO a long time and never really had too much issue with the driveway. Most snows we get melt off the next day or so. Occasionally requires some shoveling.

They do put salt with mag chloride on the roads sometimes. I usually just make sure to wash my car as soon as possible after a big snow.

[Litos]

Originally Posted by MMMCOOKIES335...

wtf lol?

i was fuckin witchya.

nice house dude....

[MMMCOOKIES55]

Originally Posted by Litos

i was fuckin witchya.

nice house dude....

Obviously ... (shifty eyes)

OT... no shifty eye emoticon? wtf?

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by elistan

Still haven't decided on what to do with the garage floor. I mostly want to eliminate dusting, and prevent stains if I spill anything during an oil change or brake fluid flush. Sounds like ALL coatings, even professionally applied epoxy, are likely to come up after a few years. The floor will likely do some settling in the next few years, so putting tile down right away will probably result in broken tiles.
I'm thinking of doing a penetrating silicone based sealer to help with dust and water, and just using lots of cardboard to catch spills when I'm doing work.

Any anecdotes about garage floor treatments that are at least 5 or 10 years old?

Originally Posted by Patrick719

I'm about to seal the floor on my new garage too. I decided to go with the Rustoleum epoxy clear coating with the stain. I've heard the stories about the colored sealant peeling up after a while and being very noticeable. So I chose the charcoal stain and clear instead. I figure if it does peel up in spots, it will be less noticeable and I can just add more clear epoxy to patch it.

I used the Rustoleum epoxy with the decorative chips at a previous place, and it did start to peel up after a couple of years. I believe the key is applying that clear coat sealant once all the epoxy has cured. It's an optional step, and the sealant was not included in the kit. I'm still debating on what I want to do with the garage floor at my current place.


Nice looking houses guys. Patrick719, my first thought when I saw your house was that it looks just like my friend's place in Castle Rock, then I realized that is where you are as well. Most likely the same builder.

[elistan]

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

I used the Rustoleum epoxy with the decorative chips at a previous place, and it did start to peel up after a couple of years. I believe the key is applying that clear coat sealant once all the epoxy has cured. It's an optional step, and the sealant was not included in the kit. I'm still debating on what I want to do with the garage floor at my current place.

For what it's worth, I just went looking through Rustoleum's website - both their epoxy and their clear coat (called Rust-Oleum® EpoxyShield® Low VOC Premium Clear Coating) are listed as "amine cured epoxy". And they cost exactly the same, so I suspect you can get the same effect by simply doing two coats of the colored stuff if you'd prefer. I'm not sure that'll make it any more resistant to flaking.

There's so many different options, it makes my head spin. Penetrating silicone, top-coat acrylic, polyurethane and epoxy... Each have their strengths and weaknesses. Although thinking about the clear epoxy product - sure, it'll likely come up eventually, but with it being clear Patrick719 brings up a good point that it'll be easy to do spot repairs and have it blend in well.

Nice looking houses guys. Patrick719, my first thought when I saw your house was that it looks just like my friend's place in Castle Rock, then I realized that is where you are as well. Most likely the same builder.

It's kind of a generic "Colorado in the beginning of the 21st century" style. At first I thought Patrick719's builder is the same as mine, but the sign out front is different. I wonder if it'll look dated or generic in 20 or 50 years? I'll see if I can find pictures of our Dallas house we sold a few months ago. Very different in many ways.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by elistan

LOL, no, not in the budget. I was thinking, ultimately, of 12x12 rectified porcelain if I could find enough on clearance sale somewhere for under $1/sqft.

You don't really need rectified. Unless you're going to mud set it and install it dead nuts level you're still going to use grout. Whatever kind of grout you use, make it black. It'll be that way soon anyway. Be sure to check the specs on the thinset you use to ensure it's PSI rating.

We have recently done a few car dealerships. If you want something that won't flake up and is super durable, look into terrazzo. You can find it relatively cheap these days. You can have it poured pretty thin these days and run it up the wall about 4" and make your garage floor watertight. It's a forever floor. Having it polished and sealed is a good option as well. Any floor that will last more than a few years is expensive compared to the DIY applications.

[elistan]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

You don't really need rectified. Unless you're going to mud set it and install it dead nuts level you're still going to use grout. Whatever kind of grout you use, make it black. It'll be that way soon anyway. Be sure to check the specs on the thinset you use to ensure it's PSI rating.

I'd read that rectified is good to minimize (eg, 1/16") the grout lines so there's not quite as much dirty black showing.

We have recently done a few car dealerships. If you want something that won't flake up and is super durable, look into terrazzo. You can find it relatively cheap these days. You can have it poured pretty thin these days and run it up the wall about 4" and make your garage floor watertight. It's a forever floor. Having it polished and sealed is a good option as well. Any floor that will last more than a few years is expensive compared to the DIY applications.

Thanks, I never even considered terrazzo. But how cheap is "relatively cheap"? At $10 to $20 per sqft that a quick search yielded, that's beyond what I'm willing to spend. $1 to $3/sq ft is more what I'm looking for. This is just a personal garage that I'd like to maintain as a relatively clean work area, not a showroom for making money. Besides, as you say, it'll still need sealing just like a regular concrete floor, since the binder is often (always?) concrete, so I'm back to the start of my dilemma.

I'm thinking I'll end up doing it myself, whatever I decide on - and just have to deal with the fact that I'll have to retouch in spots every few years. I know that "you get what you pay for" but I'm not looking to get much - just low dust, easy cleanability, and no short-term unsightly failures. (Hmm, okay, maybe that's a lot to ask for after all. )

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by elistan

For what it's worth, I just went looking through Rustoleum's website - both their epoxy and their clear coat (called Rust-Oleum® EpoxyShield® Low VOC Premium Clear Coating) are listed as "amine cured epoxy". And they cost exactly the same, so I suspect you can get the same effect by simply doing two coats of the colored stuff if you'd prefer. I'm not sure that'll make it any more resistant to flaking.

There's so many different options, it makes my head spin. Penetrating silicone, top-coat acrylic, polyurethane and epoxy... Each have their strengths and weaknesses. Although thinking about the clear epoxy product - sure, it'll likely come up eventually, but with it being clear Patrick719 brings up a good point that it'll be easy to do spot repairs and have it blend in well.

Another option is having the concrete polished, however that can get quite expensive. I am liking the idea of the clear epoxy and will have to look into that.

Originally Posted by elistan

It's kind of a generic "Colorado in the beginning of the 21st century" style. At first I thought Patrick719's builder is the same as mine, but the sign out front is different. I wonder if it'll look dated or generic in 20 or 50 years? I'll see if I can find pictures of our Dallas house we sold a few months ago. Very different in many ways.

So true. When I saw the picture of your place, I thought it looked just like a new Colorado suburban house. Sure enough it was. These places have a "craftsman" style to them which I think will age gracefully.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by elistan

I'd read that rectified is good to minimize (eg, 1/16") the grout lines so there's not quite as much dirty black showing.



Thanks, I never even considered terrazzo. But how cheap is "relatively cheap"? At $10 to $20 per sqft that a quick search yielded, that's beyond what I'm willing to spend. $1 to $3/sq ft is more what I'm looking for. This is just a personal garage that I'd like to maintain as a relatively clean work area, not a showroom for making money. Besides, as you say, it'll still need sealing just like a regular concrete floor, since the binder is often (always?) concrete, so I'm back to the start of my dilemma.

I'm thinking I'll end up doing it myself, whatever I decide on - and just have to deal with the fact that I'll have to retouch in spots every few years. I know that "you get what you pay for" but I'm not looking to get much - just low dust, easy cleanability, and no short-term unsightly failures. (Hmm, okay, maybe that's a lot to ask for after all. )

Ok, so it's cheap relative to the longevity, performance and durability you'll get from it.

I was talking about just having the concrete polished and sealed.

I have the same dilemma, i want a nice garage floor but, it's a garage floor and i don't want to spend time and money on something that is going to look like crap in a year or two. So i would want to do something that would last a long time, but those options are all expensive. Especially since i've got 1500 or so square feet of garage floor to cover. So, it's just bare concrete.

I do have some nice cushioned anti-fatigue carpet in front of the work bench.

[Litos]

here is my POS starter house - sorry, it's the only one I got.

4bdr (all upstairs), 2300sqft.

I hate it because of the layout, but in about 6 or 7 years I plan on getting another one.

[Litos]

oh god - I found pictures of it the day we got our keys HAHA !!!!!

[bumere90]

^ man that's not a bad house

[Litos]

Originally Posted by bumere90

^ man that's not a bad house

it's not "bad", it's just boring.

cheap home builder - cheap house.

my next house will be much classier - columns, wood floors, door entrances, bigger yard, better lighting fixtures, etc.....

only paid $137K for it...

[JiveTurkey]

Originally Posted by Litos

it's not "bad", it's just boring.

cheap home builder - cheap house.

my next house will be much classier - columns, wood floors, door entrances, bigger yard, better lighting fixtures, etc.....

only paid $137K for it...

I know how you feel. The first home I bought was a townhouse, not that there was anything wrong with it, but it just felt boring. After the second year in the townhouse, I set a goal to pay it off as fast as possible, to save money, and to build a better house. It has been five years since I paid it off. You will get there with lots of patience and a goal. BTW Your home looks better than my townhouse did. Thats a great looking starter home.

[elistan]

Found some pics of the house in Dallas we sold earlier this year. I don't think it's the smallest in this thread, but it isn't big. 1300 sq ft!

[Litos]

^^^^ gorgeous floors.

i'd like my house a thousand times over if I could get flooring like that.....

[Nkc]

Originally Posted by Litos

oh god - I found pictures of it the day we got our keys HAHA !!!!!

and you've managed to have us see the backside of your wife again. Well played sir, well played.

[pkimM3r]

Nice homes guys. In la for 1.5m you get a nice condo LOL.

[Litos]

Originally Posted by Nkc

and you've managed to have us see the backside of your wife again. Well played sir, well played.

[Billup]

Originally Posted by Nkc

and you've managed to have us see the backside of your wife again. Well played sir, well played.

I didn't even notice there was a house there for a few minutes. Looks like Litos has a nice backyard to play in. Nice.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by Litos

it's not "bad", it's just boring.

cheap home builder - cheap house.

my next house will be much classier - columns, wood floors, door entrances, bigger yard, better lighting fixtures, etc.....

only paid $137K for it...

That's a sweet first house. Will make a great rental when you're done with it. You'll like it a lot more when it's making you money!

That's what we did with our first house. It was cheap, we paid it off in under 10 years, now it's producing close to $14k a year after insurance and property taxes. Since it's paid off it was easy to get a $75,000 credit line secured by the house. Just about ready to use that money to purchase 2 more rentals.

So don't go hating on your house!

[Litos]

Originally Posted by Billup

Looks like Litos has a nice backyard to play in. Nice.

tried it - she won't ever let me do it again.

#girthproblems