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(06-10-2019, 09:58 AM)mound Wrote: I have a 2 car garage, floor is kinda rough shape. Is the cleaning/prep/application of an epoxy surface something most handy folks like us here on this forum can tackle? Or is it best left to the pros (and if so, why?)
I've never done it before.
My brother did his 25 years ago, with an epoxy product he bought at Griott's Garage.
While worn in some places, it still looks pretty good.
One word of caution though.... and he found out the hard way.
The manufacturer stated that he had to clean the floor with a muriatic acid solution....which he did.
It rusted all of his tools that were exposed, or hanging on his pegboard rack.
What a mess.... took him months to steel wool them all.... Ugh !!!
So, make sure you remove ALL metal before cleaning the floor.
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If your current floor is in kinda rough shape, then I believe your new floor with be in kinda rough shape in a new color.
I looked into it pretty hard a year ago. Decided my garage floor wasn't good enough for a real epoxy coating job. Had some small cracks, had some semi-rough spots, wasn't flat & level, etc. Went with a middle of the line coating (good paint?). Let it dry for a week and it still peeled where the car tires park. Oh well, I tried to tell LOML it would come up.
And I did the prep work. Filled in the small cracks, went over it four times with a concrete grinder, acid wash, then coating. Still didn't stick.
If your concrete is nice & smooth, just a little discolored, then go for it.
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Floor epoxy is easy for the handy DIYer. I’ve done it four times on various properties. The key is prep.
I’ve never had a problem with muratic acid but all four were completely empty.
You need to do whatever possible to get any and all oil up. Might take several months. Then you need to clean and etch. I have always done two etchings. And used a pressure washer surface cleaner.
Then you need to let it dry. I have always taped some plastic down and let them sit a week to make sure it is dry and no water is coming up from below.
Then you need to use a solvent based epoxy. All four times I have used rustoleum. The solvent stuff. The water based is garbage.
Then I let it cure for a min of seven days just to make sure.
I have never had a problem with the epoxy. Some are over 15 years old now. Still fantastic.